Mason Young
Tulsa World OU Sports Reporter
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NORMAN — R Mason Thomas used an inside swim move to slither past a Kent State offensive tackle and into the backfield, then hammered Golden Flashes quarterback Devin Kargman from behind and jarred the football loose.
Gracen Halton picked the ball up and returned it four yards for a third quarter touchdown, giving the Sooners their first defensive takeaway of the season in their 44-0 win over KSU Saturday.
“He made a great move, one of the quickest moves I’ve ever seen,” Halton said of Thomas. “He made a move, made the play, got the ball out. … Gotta start now, gotta start somewhere.”
On its scale of 0-100, Pro Football Focus graded Thomas as OU’s best defensive performer in the Kent State game (94.3). Thomas registered a career-high six tackles, including two tackles for loss and the touchdown-producing sack. He was mostly just glad to finally deliver a takeaway for his unit.
“Thanking God,” Thomas said. “Finally got one. Because (Robert Spears-Jennings is) dropping balls in practice. He’s talking about me dropping balls. We haven’t had a turnover and Coach V’s talking about it, playing with fire. Now that we finally got one, it feels like a monkey off your back, like a relief. Definitely a relief.”
OU entered play Saturday as the only team in the country that hadn’t generated a turnover in 2025. The Thomas-Halton takeaway Saturday was actually the first turnover for the Sooners’ defense since last year’s season finale against LSU when… Halton forced a fumble and Thomas returned it for a touchdown. Another defensive TD had been a long time coming
“I couldn’t tell you why it’s like this,” Thomas said. “Whatever God’s doing, it’s like this for right now that we just forced a turnover in the fifth game. But we’re not pressing. Playing our ball. Not playing to the opponent. Playing OU.”
Here are more takeaways off the PFF snap counts, passing charts and performance grades from OU’s win against Kent State:
Breaking down Michael Hawkins’ passing vs. Kent State
Filling in for the injured John Mateer, sophomore backup quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. completed 14-of-24 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns.
Much of Mateer’s success this season has come on passes between the numbers and that was the same for Hawkins. Over the middle of the field, Hawkins went 10-for-14 for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
The offensive line kept Hawkins clean on 21 of his 27 dropbacks (77.8%). Hawkins passed 12-for-20 (60%) for 112 yards with a clean pocket. On the six dropbacks when he was pressured (22.2%), he was 2-for-4 (50%) for 50 yards and a score.
Kent State only blitzed Hawkins on eight dropbacks (29.6%). He went 4-for-7 (57.1%) for 46 yards and all three of his touchdown passes came against extra rushers. When not blitzed (70.4%), Hawkins went 10-for-17 (58.8%) for 116 yards.
In summation, Hawkins and his O-line did a good job of handling the heat, but Texas figures to turn up the fire more often than did Kent State. To beat the Longhorns, Hawkins will need to be more consistent and efficient when not under pressure.
Grades of the game
Pro Football Focus assigns a number grade, with zero being awful and 100 being perfect, to every aspect of a football game. Here’s how the Sooners graded out versus Auburn:
Overall performance – 86.8
Offense – 74.0
Passing – 63.5
Pass blocking – 68.6
Receiving – 66.7
Running – 77.2
Run blocking – 66.0
Defense – 90.3
Run defense – 93.3
Tackling – 81.0
Pass rush – 84.3
Coverage – 72.7
Special teams – Not available
Notes: OU registered its best defense, run defense, tackling and pass rush grades of the season in a complete, dominant effort. For the offense, it was the worst passing grade of 2025, but the second best running grade and the best run blocking grade.
Snap counts, individual grades and other observations
1. The Sooners played 33 guys on offense and 35 on defense against Kent State. Overall, 68 players is the most to see the field in a game this season for OU.
2. Ever-consistent Arkansas transfer Isaiah Sategna was the Sooners’ highest graded offensive player (79.4) versus the Golden Flashes. Sategna finished with four catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
3. Freshman left tackle Michael Fasusi played all 67 snaps on offense, which was a welcome sign after he missed the Temple game due to an ankle injury and only played nine snaps in the Auburn game.
4. OU’s preferred starting offensive line played most of the game, providing valuable reps ahead of OU-Texas. Jake Maikkula joined Fasusi in playing 67 snaps, Derek Simmons played 54 and Febechi Nwaiwu and Heath Ozaeta both played 45. Simmons was OU’s highest-graded run blocker (77.1) and Nwiawu was the top pass protector (84.9).
5. Tory Blaylock got the start and played the most snaps among running backs (36), but Jaydn Ott saw a serious uptick in opportunity (29 snaps). Ott has only played 32 snaps through four games prior to Saturday.
6. Javonnie Gibson played 28 snaps in his season debut, relieving Keontez Lewis, who started but left the game in the first quarter due to injury. Sophomore Ivan Carreon also got more playing time with Lewis out. He played 29 snaps, which trailed only that of Deion Burks (49) and Sategna (38).
7. David Stone, making his first career start with Damonic Williams and Jayden Jackson out as healthy scratches, played the most snaps of any OU defender (32).
8. Safety Jaydan Hardy played the most snaps at his position (24) and was the Sooners’ highest-graded defender in coverage (88.2) against the Golden Flashes.
9. Kendel Dolby logged 27 snaps at the Cheetah position against Kent State. Dolby made his season debut playing cornerback against Temple, then didn’t see the field versus Auburn.
10. Cornerback Eli Bowen started and played 23 snaps in his first game of the year. That was second-most among corners behind only fellow starter Courtland Guillory (26).
mason.young@tulsaworld.com
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Mason Young
Tulsa World OU Sports Reporter
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