STARKVILLE, Miss. — Oklahoma’s first trip to Starkville was successful. 

The Sooners got back on track with a 23-15 victory over Mississippi State Saturday afternoon behind another strong defensive showing. 

Brent Venables’ unit got the best of former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s crew, and the OU offense moved the ball well enough to see the Sooners improve to 4-3 in 2026 and 2-2 in SEC play. 

The Bulldogs fell to 4-3 overall and 2-3 with the defeat. 

Oklahoma left tackle Michael Fasusi started for the first time since the season-opener, which helped the offense put up 469 total yards — the most of the season — at Davis Wade Stadium. 

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Nothing Comes Easy

After the loss to Kentucky, Venables bemoaned the chances OU had to “knock out” the Wildcats. The Sooners didn’t capitalize, and Kentucky was able to turn things around late. 

Oklahoma got an opportunity to prove it learned from its mistakes in Starkville.

Just before halftime, the Sooners embarked on a 14-play, 96-yard touchdown drive to go up 10-0 — a possession capped off by an excellent scramble from John Mateer that allowed him to find Isaiah Sategna for a 36-yard score.

OU needed just one play to get going after halftime. 

Tory Blaylock broke off a 47-yard run, the Sooners’ longest of the year. Two plays later, Mateer calmly lofted the ball over the Mississippi State defense to an open Rocky Beers for a touchdown. 

The defense got another stop, but then OU helped the Bulldogs out. 

After a 21-yard catch-and-run, Beers tried to hurdle a defender and a helmet dislodged the football. Former Sooner Kendel Dolby recovered the fumble, though it looked as though he may have had a foot out of bounds. Six plays later, the Bulldogs were in the end zone. 

Oklahoma answered with what appeared to be a touchdown drive, but Beers had the ball punched out of his hands in the end zone. Instead, OU settled for a field goal to go up 20-7. 

Tate Sandell had an opportunity to make it a 23-7 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but he missed his second field goal of the day. 

Thankfully, the Oklahoma defense was able to protect the advantage.

Defense Finally Gets Support

Even if the offense hadn’t gotten going, Venables’ defense had things pretty well in hand. 

Mississippi State totaled just 126 yards of offense in the first half, and the Bulldogs’ most productive drive was brought to an end with an Owen Heinecke forced fumble on first-and-goal. 

Bulldog quarterback Kamario Taylor looked hobbled to start the game, and he was taken out at the start of the second quarter after running from OU’s pressure early. 

Backup Parker Puckett didn’t fare much better. 

The Bulldogs converted on 1-of-11 third downs, and they were held to 2-of-5 on fourth down. 

Venables’ unit totaled four sacks, which included a productive outing from defensive end Adepoju Adebawore, and the Sooners finished with six tackles for loss. 

Tate Sandell Struggles in Odd Outing

Oklahoma’s kicker won’t want to visit the south end of Davis Wade Stadium anytime soon. 

Last year’s Lou Groza winner finished 3-for-6 on the day, with all of his misses coming at the same end of the stadium.

His first miss came on a 45-yard attempt kicking toward the south end zone. He then was able to nail a 30-yard field goal kicking the other direction before he missed a 45-yard attempt to start the fourth quarter. 

Sandell finally got one to go, but that kick was taken off the board by a penalty for an illegal formation, and after moving five yards back, he missed the ensuing 41-yard attempt. 

Finally, Sandell got one to go with five minutes left in the game. 

It added to what has been an odd year for the OU kicker. 

He’s now missed six field goal attempts in 2026. In his prior three seasons, Sandell had missed eight kicks total. 

Yet, he was clutch after missing his first attempt in the Cotton Bowl, and he walked off the Red River Rivalry to down Texas. 

Venables kept throwing his left-footed kicker into the game. He trusts Sandell despite the misfires, but the OU kicker needs to work his way out of the funk for the remaining five games of the season.