Jackson Arnold scored two rushing touchdowns and threw for another as No. 15 Oklahoma defeated Tulane 34-19 on Saturday.
Arnold passed for 169 yards and ran for 97. Freshman running back Taylor Tatum had a touchdown catch and a rushing touchdown, and Deion Burks caught seven passes for 80 yards to support the Sooners.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables was pleased with how the Sooners bounced back after their narrow 16-12 win over Houston in their previous game.
“You go into a week where there’s a lot of questions and concern, if you will, and they did a great job of managing the week and focusing on what they need to do to improve and get better and take another step forward,” Venables said.
The Sooners (3-0) won their last game before their first Southeastern Conference matchup next Saturday at home against Tennessee.
Oklahoma knew Tulane would be a tough opponent. The Green Wave had just lost 34-27 to then-No. 17 Kansas State the week before. The Sooners also remembered barely beating Tulane 40-35 in 2021.
Tulane (1-2) put up a strong fight but came up short. Darian Mensah completed 14 of 32 passes for 166 yards, and Makhi Hughes ran for 71 yards and caught a touchdown pass.
“Very disappointed in the outcome today,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “Frustrated with a lot of things I think we could have done better. Hat’s off to a good opponent. They’re a quality football team. They’re very talented in a lot of spots and they’re well coached.”
Oklahoma kept Tulane to 279 yards and ended the Green Wave’s 10-game road winning streak.
Oklahoma defensive end R. Mason Thomas made a big impact late in the game. In just over four minutes, he had three sacks, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, and broke up a pass. His most important play was sacking Mensah, causing a fumble, and recovering it to stop Tulane’s last chance with 1:40 left.
