Game Notes: Oklahoma vs. Clemson

Oklahoma

Clemson

December 29 | 4:30 p.m. | Orlando, Fla.

ESPN

On the Air

Online

Twitter

NOTABLE

OU Bowl Streak Now at 16 Seasons, Meets Clemson For FIrst Time Since 1989 Citrus Bowl

- Bob Stoops is 6-1 vs. current ACC members (3-0 vs. Florida St., 1-0 vs. Louisville, 1-1 vs. Miami, 1-0 vs. North Carolina).

- The Sooners are 9-2 in their last 11 neutral site contests and have won four of their last five bowl contests.

- OU is 64-15 (.810) vs. non-conference foes under Stoops, including seven straight wins over the past two seasons.

- OU is 50-26 (.658) vs. AP Top 25 foes under Stoops with a 7-2 mark against their last nine ranked non-conference foes.

- Clemson is 60-26 (.698) overall under Dabo Swinney, going 21-12 (.636) vs. non-conference foes.

- The Tigers are 0-2 under Swinney vs. current Big 12 programs, losing to TCU (9/26/09) and West Virginia (1/4/12).

Both Teams Impressive When Hitting 30-Point Barrier; Clemson Leads FBS in Total Defense

- The Sooners are 52-3 (.945) when scoring 30+ points vs. non-conference foes under Stoops, including 28 straight wins.

- Clemson is 45-3 (.938) overall under Swinney when scoring 30+ points, including 21 consecutive victories.

- The Tigers are 2-7 in non-conference games under Swinney when permitting 30 points or more.

- The Tigers are 7-1 in their last eight games, allowing 12.6 ppg. Clemson has held six of those eight foes to 17 points or less.

- Clemson leads all FBS schools in total defense (259.6 ypg) and ranks seventh in scoring defense (17.6 ppg).

- The Sooners rank 19th in the nation in total offense (480.5 ypg) and have 30+ points in their last 10 victories.

- Oklahoma has won 36 straight games when holding foes to 21 points or less, including 10 wins vs. AP Top 25 opponents.

- Clemson is 5-19 (.208) under Swinney when being held to 21 points or less, losing 11 of its last 13 such contests.

- The Tigers have allowed an FBS-low 168 first downs and rank third in pass defense (161.9 ypg) and third-down pct. (28.1).

OU Boasts Nation's No. 8 Rushing Attack; Ross and Hodgson Stand Out on Special Teams

- OU ranks eighth in the FBS in rushing (268.6 ypg), a mark only two Power 5 teams can top (Georgia Tech, Wisconsin).

- Perine (131.6 ypg) leads all freshman and is ninth overall in rushing. His 427 yards vs. Kansas (11/22) were an FBS single-game record.

- Perine set an OU record with 791 rushing yards over the last three games, breaking Billy Sims' three-game mark (693 in 1979).

- OU is sixth in the FBS with 39 rushing TDs. Perine is tied for fifth in rushing TDs (21) and tied for eighth in FBS in scoring (124).

- OU is 67-2 (.971) when rushing for 200+ yards under Stoops, topping that mark six times in 2014 (375.8 ypg over last five games).

- In its nine wins, Clemson has allowed 580 rushing yards (64.4 ypg and 1.9 yards per carry) and three rushing TDs.

- In its three losses, Clemson has given up 592 rushing yards (197.3 ypg, 5.0 yards per carry) and seven rushing TDs.

- Nick Hodgson is second in the nation, hitting 67.9% of his kickoffs for touchbacks.

- Alex Ross (32.0) is third in the FBS in kickoff return average and has two kickoff returns for touchdowns.

- All-Big 12 CB Zack Sanchez is tied for seventh in the FBS with six INTs. All-Big 12 LB Eric Striker was fourth in the Big 12 in sacks (7.5).

- OU's three leading tackles are all sophomores - LB Dominique Alexander (98), LB Jordan Evans (87) and S Ahmad Thomas (65).

- Oklahoma is even (19 takes/19 gives) in the turnover column, while Clemson is nearly identical at +1 (19 takes/18 gives).

Sweet 16 - Active Bowl Streaks

Oklahoma has earned a bowl berth for a 16th consecutive season under head coach Bob Stoops. Only three squads own longer active streaks recognized by the NCAA.

Longest Active Bowl Streaks
No.	Team	W-L	Of Note
22	Virginia Tech	9-12	Reached seven BCS bowls
18	Georgia	12-5	Went 11-3 in bowls from 1997-09
18	Georgia Tech	6-11	Last bowl win vs. ranked team in 2001
16	Oklahoma	8-7	Reached FBS-best nine BCS bowls

All-Time Bowl Wins/Berths

Alabama and USC are the only two FBS programs that own more bowl wins and berths than Oklahoma. Exactly one-third of those all-time OU bowl berths have come under Stoops.

Most All-Time Bowl Wins/Appearances
Team	Wins	Games	Last Bowl Result
1. Alabama	35	62	L, 31-45 vs. Oklahoma (2014 Sugar)
2. USC	32	50	W, 45-20 vs. Fresno State (2013 Sun)
3. Oklahoma	28	48	W, 45-31 vs. Alabama (2014 Sugar)

Stoops = Consistent winner

No FBS coach owns more consecutive seasons of eight or more wins at the same school than Stoops at OU and no Power Five school can top OU's 15 straight eight-win seasons.

Active Power 5 Streaks - Seasons with 8+ Wins
No.	Team	Coach(es)
15	Oklahoma	Bob Stoops
15	LSU	Nick Saban, Les Miles
8	Oregon	Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly, Mark Helfrich
7	Alabama	M. DuBose, D. Franchione, M. Shula, N. Saban
7	Nebraska	Tom Osborne, Frank Solich, Bill Callahan, Bo Pelini

Smashmouth Sooners

The Sooners are averaging 268.6 rushing ypg and 6.1 yards per carry in 2014, by far the best marks of the Stoops era. OU's 39 rushing TDs are OU's second-best total dating back to 1999.

Best Oklahoma Rushing Seasons Under Stoops
Yards/Game	Yards/Carry	Touchdowns
1. 268.6 (2014)	6.1 (2014)	45 (2008)
2. 223.9 (2013)	5.2 (2013)	39 (2014)
3. 208.4 (2004)	4.8 (2012)	34 (2007)

Ranking Perine's season

A look at where freshman RB Samaje Perine ranks this season in various categories.

Perine by the Numbers
Rank	Category
1st	Among FBS freshmen in rush yards per game (131.6)
2nd	Seasonal rush yards by OU freshman (1,579)
T-2nd	200-yard games in one season at Oklahoma (3)
T-4th	Seasonal rushing touchdowns in OU history (21)
T-5th	Among FBS players in rushing touchdowns (21)
7th	Seasonal rushing yards in OU history (1,579)
T-8th	Scoring in the FBS (126 points)
9th	Among all FBS players in rushing yards per game (131.6)
10th	Seasonal rushing yards by an FBS freshman (1,579)

Top 10 Rush "D"

The Russell Athletic Bowl is one of three bowls featuring a pair of FBS top 10 rushing defenses in Oklahoma and Clemson.

Yards Per Game	Team (W-L)	Bowl
84.8	Penn State (6-6)	Pinstripe
88.7	Alabama (12-1)	Sugar
93.7	Louisville (9-3)	Belk
94.8	Boston College (7-5)	Pinstripe
97.4	UCF (9-3)	Bitcoin St. Pete
97.5	Michigan State (10-2)	Cotton
97.7	Clemson (9-3)	Russell Athletic
107.1	East Carolina (8-4)	Birmingham
107.7	Baylor (11-1)	Cotton
109.6	Oklahoma (8-4)	Russell Athletic

Rushing Differential Tells the Sooner Story

Oklahoma ranks third among FBS schools in rushing differential - the difference between rushing yards gained and rushing yards allowed per game. The top three teams in that department have a combined 28-10 (.737) record this season.

Yards Per Game	Team	Own	Opp.
+195.1	Wisconsin	314.0	118.9
+164.8	Georgia Tech	333.6	168.6
+159.0	Oklahoma	268.6	109.6

No-Sack Zone

OU has permitted an FBS-low 8.0 sacks in 2014. The record low for OU under Stoops is 9.0 in 2004.

Sacks Allowed	Team	Sacks Allowed Per Game
8.0	Oklahoma	0.67
10.0	Georgia Tech	0.77
10.0	Michigan State	0.83
10.0	New Mexico State	0.83

Sooner Scoring Stats

Oklahoma ranks 10th among FBS squads in scoring, averaging 38.9 ppg. The Sooners have averaged over 30.0 ppg in 15 of 16 seasons under Bob Stoops. The 2014 campaign currently ranks as the sixth-best scoring season of the Stoops era and is the club's best performance since averaging 39.5 ppg in 2011. Clemson (30.1 ppg) ranks 57th among FBS squads.