NORMAN – Oklahoma crawled out of the locker room against Maine.
The Sooners punted and allowed the Black Bears to score a touchdown, an early setback that caused some concern among the fan base at Owen Field.
But run back Jovantae Barnes quickly get everything back on track.
He ripped off a 74-yard run on OU’s second possession that was initially ruled a touchdown but later returned to the 1-yard line.
Two plays later he finished the job and scored.
Jovantae off to the races @vontaeeb | pic.twitter.com/a7m1mPtPgf
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 2, 2024
“It felt good. I still think it was a touchdown,” Barnes joked after the game. “They might say otherwise. But it felt good to break one and just celebrate with my boys.”
However, the 74-yard rush was just a warning shot for Maine’s defense.
Barnes shredded the Black Bears, finishing with a career-high 203 rushing yards and three scores (also a career best) on 18 carries. He also added 19 receiving yards on one catch while tanking OU’s 59-14 win.
“He’s doing something,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said after the win. “That was a really great job. “Again, as we know, he’s been playing really well here in the second half of the season and continuing to catch the ball out of the backfield.”
After the game, Barnes was mostly focused on getting back in on Sunday to start the process over ahead of next week’s meeting with No. 25 Missouri.
But his teammates raved about the junior running back, who has battled injuries all year, preventing him from building on a strong freshman campaign.
“It was great to see,” OU quarterback Jackson Arnold said. “Obviously I wasn’t here his freshman year when he played really well. And I came in last year, I was waiting for Jovantae because everyone kept talking about how fast he ran and this and that and he just had injuries last year and I couldn’t see it.
“And to finally see it come to fruition this year was really amazing. I am very proud of him.”
The performance followed a few fun outings for Barnes.
He rushed for 70 yards on 17 carries in OU’s loss to South Carolina, and he was the Sooners’ best offensive player against Ole Miss’ strong rushing defense a week ago when he carried the ball 16 times for 67 yards and caught five passes for another. 57 meters.
The spark, Barnes said, starts during the week as he prepares for each opponent.
“It all starts during training,” he says. “I think that’s my biggest thing and I’ve been trying to get better at that and also start watching extra cassette tapes and making sure I see things that other people might not see. I think I did a good job on that.”
Barnes’ uptick in production is crucial for Oklahoma’s offense, which has struggled mightily with consistency all year.
“It also opens up a lot for us in the passing game if we can run the ball like that,” Arnold said. “And also credit to the o-line. They block their butts and that was clearly visible today. But if you can run the ball like that, it opens up a lot of space in the passing game, which is good. It complements each other and makes our offense possible.”
The Sooners will need to stay even against the Tigers next weekend as OU looks for its sixth win to gain bowl eligibility.
“It feels good, but we can’t celebrate too much,” Barnes said. “I think it’s a good time to come away from this as a team and continue this as an offense. Go to practice next week, just work.” It was a good start to something.”