We Too Deep Rings True in 10th Title Run

For this year's Oklahoma football team, the next man up helped claim the next Big 12 Championship.

The manner in which the Sooners won their latest conference crown was apropos of how they overcame obstacles the entire season to capture their 10th Big 12 title in coach Bob Stoops' 18 seasons.

Tribulations came in many forms. There were injuries, suspensions and defections. Whatever the setback, when an OU player went down, another stepped up. Sometimes a player went down, another stepped up, while yet another moved to another position.

"Nobody's ever belly-ached about it and had a negative thing to say about it," Stoops said of his team constantly overcoming adversity. "No one says anything about our luck. It doesn't matter. Think anybody's going to be feeling bad for us when we're missing a guy? We've missed all kinds of guys this year. I lost count. I couldn't even keep up with how many we've been down throughout the whole year. It doesn't matter. In the end, we still got a win, and our guys have done that."

The conference clincher came with a 38-20 victory over Oklahoma State on a cold and soggy Saturday at Gaylord Family ? Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and marked the first time in history a Big 12 team won the conference championship on its home field.

All this transpired for OU despite a 1-2 start to the season in non-conference play. Rather than succumb, the Sooners instead endured and will ride an eight-game winning streak into the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 2 against an opponent that will be revealed Sunday afternoon after the final College Football Playoff standings are announced.

Stoops said he's liked every Big 12 title his teams have won ? no matter where the venue ? but claimed this year's crown on Owen Field was special.

"That was a big deal to the players through the week, that we've never had the chance to hoist a Big 12 Championship trophy on our own field," Stoops said. "Did we need any more motivation? I wouldn't think so, but the players thought it was pretty cool to be able to do that here."

With the Big 12 Championship game not officially returning until next season, Saturday's intrastate regular-season finale served as the de facto, winner-take-all conference title game for the second straight season.

True to its name, Bedlam brought its share of adversity.

Senior wide receiver and Heisman Trophy candidate Dede Westbrook literally was knocked out of the game, suffering an apparent concussion midway through the second quarter on a wicked hit from OSU safety Jordan Sterns. Despite exiting after just 24 snaps, Westbrook still had time to catch four passes for 111 yards, which included a dazzling 69-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the second quarter.

OU's remaining receiving corps stepped up as quarterback Baker Mayfield ? another Heisman candidate ? somehow managed to complete 13-of-19 passes for 288 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions while throwing in a steady drizzle that fell throughout the game.

"I bet those six (incompletions) were drops," Stoops said. "We had more drops than we've ever had, and again, I'll give the guys a pass today. It rained pretty much the entire time, so wasn't the easiest to hold on to the football. Baker, again, was just outstanding: scrambling, finding players downfield, making big plays."

Stoops mentioned several receivers who helped out in Westbrook's absence, including Geno Lewis and Jordan Smallwood. "There's quite a few guys who stepped up and made plays when we needed them to," Stoops said.

Junior running back Samaje Perine was injured early in the fourth quarter and taken directly to the locker room for further evaluation. On the first play of the Sooners' next possession, fellow running back Joe Mixon delivered a breathtaking 79-yard touchdown run that wound up setting the final margin.

Perine re-emerged from the locker room for OU's final possession of the game and had 11 carries in a 12-play span to help drain the clock. He finished with a season-high 239 yards on a career-high 37 rushes (6.5 yards per carry) and now stands No. 5 on the school's all-time rushing list with 4,036 career yards. He needs 82 rushing yards to tie Billy Sims' OU career record.

Proving there can be class even in Bedlam, Perine dropped to one knee to down the ball at the 2-yard line despite having an open path to the end zone. From there, the Sooners downed the ball once more to burn the remaining time.

Samaje Perine drops to a knee in the closing seconds.

Stoops said Perine's decision to take a knee did not come from the OU coaching staff. "That's on him," Stoops said of Perine, "and God Bless him. What a class character guy ... That's him."

As usual, adjustments were made at halftime after the teams played to a 17-17 draw in the first half. But for the Sooners, it was more like a U-turn.

The Cowboys had 186 yards rushing and 260 total yards by halftime. Meanwhile, OU gained just 40 yards rushing before halftime then had 301 rushing yards after intermission. The Sooners had 40 total yards in the first quarter and finished with 629.

"Really, it kind of flipped the script at halftime," Stoops said.

In his post-game interview session, Mayfield confirmed he will return for his redshirt senior season next year.

"That's the best I've seen him play," Sooners offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said of Mayfield. "He didn't really throw a bunch. He threw it 19 times and I would say, probably 18 of those were spot on. His decision-making was outstanding. He was great in scramble situations. In those kind of conditions, he was awesome."

And Mayfield made it known Saturday that he'll be back in 2017. More awesomeness on the way.

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