Report card for Oklahoma Sooners vs. Maine Black Bears

Jackson Arnold made his second straight start and played error-free football. He went 15 of 21 for 224 yards and two touchdowns through the air, plus 45 yards and a touchdown on nine runs on the ground. Michael Hawkins Jr. also saw some action in the second half. Hawkins was 3 of 5 for 60 yards and had three carries for 30 yards.

For the most part, Arnold seemed comfortable against the weakest competition he's ever played against and came through on some big plays. He wasn't asked to have too much of an impact on the way the Sooners ran the ball, but it was an encouraging performance for the sophomore.

The opposition is becoming much tougher going forward, but Arnold has looked more stable since replacing Hawkins in the middle two weeks ago.

If you had told me before the season opener that Jovantae Barnes would be the best player on OU's offense this season, I wouldn't have believed you. But here we are, nine games in and that is absolutely the case. His play over the last three weeks has been the best thing about the offense.

Barnes ran for 203 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries, repeatedly breaking through the Black Bears' defense for big gains. It's his best game as a Sooner and he'll be the workhorse for the rest of the season. Hopefully he can build on this performance.

His backfield mate Taylor Tatum also found the end zone and had 48 yards on 10 carries. If it weren't for a bad Sam Franklin fumble on an option pitch, the running backs would get an “A+” for their performance.

Oklahoma is still hoping to get a few of its starting wide receivers back for the final three games of the year. Other than that, the guys they had today were enough to get Jackson Arnold the job done. The only players with more than two receptions were JJ Hester and Jacob Jordan. Hester had a career day, including a 90-yard touchdown grab from Arnold.

Aside from these two, the ball was passed to a handful of other players. Because Oklahoma ran the ball so well, there was little need to put the ball in the air more often than necessary.

The Sooners are looking for wideouts who can help them win next month, and perhaps today was a promising start for Hester and a good follow-up for Jordan.

Oklahoma's tight ends have taken a lot of heat this season, and much of it is justified. However, the run game blocking was better in this game. Obviously it had to be less competition, but you'll expect growth from this unit.

Bauer Sharp came free for a couple of catches and Kaden Helms caught his first career touchdown in the second half. Perhaps more importantly, the Sooners were able to execute some of their core running concepts effectively and not play 10-on-11 when they handed the ball off.

There were no procedural penalties on this session either, and Sooner fans would like to see that trend continue next week.

Much of what was said about the tight ends also applies to the offensive line. Without three starters, they blocked the run well and gave Jackson Arnold more time to throw than he was used to. It was the eighth starting combination in nine games for OU, a testament to the injuries and poor play that happened on offense.

Again, you have to take the competition into account, but keeping Arnold cleaner is a good step forward. The running game has been a really encouraging part of this offense, and that was solidified brilliantly on Saturday.

Without some of the key players, OU's offensive line played well enough for the Sooners to gain nearly 700 yards of total offense.

Once again, the Sooners won the inside game this week. Maine was led in rushing by quarterback Carter Peevy, who had 30 yards. The Black Bears only had 107 total rushing yards as defensive tackles continue to be a major strength of this football team.

You'd want more pressure on the quarterback, and Peevy was able to escape and hurt the Sooners a few times outside the pocket. This could be due to the absence of Ethan Downs, who is often a containment player in this role. OU got a few sacks, but that mostly happened later in the game when they were in control. When Oklahoma is able to rush the opposing QB, they are at their best on defense. With their ability to stop the run, it will be something to watch in the future.

Oklahoma's linebackers appeared out of position on the Black Bears' first drive of the game, but held on for most of the rest of the afternoon. Players like Danny Stutsman, Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie performed well and it's good to see their play rewarded with a win this time.

The Sooners played a few different people at the Cheetah again this week, and even without Kendel Dolby, there are still some things to like about this place. The middle third of this OU defense wasn't always spectacular, but they were effective and were on point after Saturday's first attack.

Oklahoma's secondary gave up a lot against Maine, but it was definitely a better performance than last week against Ole Miss. Again, it depends on the competition, but you'll take positives wherever you can get them this year.

One of them is freshman Eli Bowen, who continues to play well. OU's cornerbacks will need to play better next month, but if your offense can perform, the fullbacks' margin for error increases.

Robert Spears-Jennings forced and fumbled early in the second half and had another good game. Peyton Bowen also played well at safety. The Sooners have a tendency to break coverage occasionally, and that was evident on the first drive. After that, things went much, much better in the secondary and on defense overall.

Oklahoma clearly won the battle for field position on Saturday, largely because of the Black Bears' poor punting performance. A big return by Peyton Bowen was called back due to a penalty, but other than that there wasn't much special for OU's special teams.

Zach Schmit was perfect on extra points and made a field goal, continuing to make kicks since becoming the starting kicker. It has to stay that way in the next few weeks as he has had to deal with failures in the past. You love watching the Sooners avoid mistakes on special teams, but now you'd really like to see them force mistakes and change the game with this unit next month.

Oklahoma should have won this game by a big margin, and they did. After a very slow start, the Sooners found their place and ran away with the game. They scored on all but two drives (the opening punt and the Sam Franklin fumble).

It was an FCS opponent, but you wanted the defense to continue to dominate, and it did. They also wanted the offense to execute at a higher level and they did, especially on the ground. Jovantae Barnes needs to be the focal point when the Sooners have the ball moving forward.

Brent Venables and Oklahoma are 5-4 this season and are hoping to pick up their second SEC win next week when they take on Missouri. They are now just one win away from reaching a bowl game. It won't be easy to pick up a win in their last three games, but there is hope they can build on their best performance in over a month.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X and like our page Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.