The Oklahoma Sooners hosted the Auburn Tigers on Saturday afternoon in Norman for what was billed as a return to the state for Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold, who transferred from Oklahoma to The Plains this past offseason.

Arnold’s return was not a friendly one as he wound up being sacked an absurd 10 times during the defeat, which would set an Oklahoma program record. The Tigers took a 24-17 defeat in what was a thrilling game for most of the afternoon until the Sooners shut things down late.

It was a trading of punts and field goals until midway through the second quarter when Isaiah Sategna III for the Sooners got the first touchdown of the game via a controversial play in which Oklahoma pretended to have an illegal man on the field and subbed him out, leaving Auburn unaware they were going to snap the ball as Sategna was wide open for the score.

The Tigers were able to tie things up by halftime though on an Arnold goal line fade to Cam Coleman where the sophomore star went up and plucked it out of the air.

The only score of the third quarter was a Sooners field goal as things hit an offensive stalemate for a while before a second field goal early in the fourth put OU up 16-10 and left Auburn in desperate need of a big drive.

Arnold and the Tigers offense responded with an incredible 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive in which Arnold would convert a 4th and 11 with his legs and Malcolm Simmons would finish it off to give Auburn its first lead of the game.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Oklahoma responded just as quickly with a 75-yard touchdown drive of their own capped off by a dramatic John Mateer rush to put his team back on top for good.

A missed two-point conversion gave Auburn one last chance to win the game, but once again, Arnold was sacked, this time for a safety to put a final stamp on things.

Arnold finished the afternoon 21 of 32 for 220 yards and a touchdown with no picks, looking a bit shaky and inaccurate at times but he can hardly be blamed the way he was under pressure all day long. Coleman had 88 yards and a score while Mateer establishes himself as a real Heisman candidate with 271 yards, a passing touchdown, and of course the winning rushing score.

Things don’t get much easier for Auburn next week, who travels to College Station for a top-ten game against Texas A&M before their bye week and getting to host Georgia. As for OU, they will handle Kent State next week before facing Texas two weeks later. The Sooners very well may be a candidate for the College Football Playoff, and Saturday afternoon was a statement that this is not the same team as last year.