Don't Stop Believing

At a college football program that ranks No. 5 in all-time victories with 905, never before has Oklahoma overcome a bigger deficit in victory than it did Saturday night.

Trailing 28-3 after the first 19 minutes and playing without one of the nation's premier receivers in junior CeeDee Lamb, the Sooners clawed their way back for a heart-thumping 34-31 road victory over Baylor in a battle for first place in the Big 12 Conference at McLane Stadium.

"We all felt like we had a chance," OU head coach Lincoln Riley said of his team's fortitude. "Not one person on this sideline didn't believe it... You've still got to go make it happen."

The Sooners found themselves down 25 after Baylor transformed two OU turnovers into 14 points. "We were so amped to play this game, maybe too much honestly in the beginning," Riley admitted.

Saturday's game-winner came with 1:45 remaining on a 31-yard field goal from freshman Gabe Brkic, who remains perfect on the season, converting 37 for 37 on PATs and 12 for 12 on field goals.

"We all felt like we had a chance. Not one person on this sideline didn't believe it."
- Lincoln Riley

The outcome forged a tie atop the conference standings between the No. 10-ranked Sooners and No. 13-ranked Bears, who are both 9-1 overall and 6-1 in Big 12 play.

A potential rematch awaits Dec. 7 at 11 a.m. in the Big 12 Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The OU offense entered the game on a record-setting pace at 9.3 yards per play this season, but its second-half surge against the Bears came from the sheer volume of plays.

The Sooners thoroughly dominated after intermission, out-producing Baylor in total yards (368-69), first downs (22-4), total plays (58-16) and time of possession (24:20-5:40). For the contest, OU ran a season-high 95 plays and gained 525 yards (5.5 yards per play)

Heisman Trophy candidate Jalen Hurts committed three turnovers, fumbling three times (losing two) and throwing an interception. One fumble came just before he entered the end zone with 4½ minutes left in the third quarter and OU trailing by 14.

"I put us in a horrible situation, and we found a way to come back. I love it," Hurts said in a postgame interview on the field.

Despite repeatedly getting pounded by a hard-hitting Baylor defense, Hurts still managed a game-high 114 yards rushing on 27 carries.

"I think that shows the heart of this team, the courage, the character that we have, the ability to overcome adversity," Hurts said. "You're remembered for what you do in November, so it's a big-time win today."

The Sooners have now won 19 straight November games with the last loss coming Nov. 8, 2014, against Baylor in Norman. OU has won 40 of its last 43 games (.930) against Big 12 opponents dating back to the 2015 season.

During the comeback, Hurts frequently was engaged in conversation with teammates on the sideline. Asked what his message was, Hurts said, "You can never get too high, never get too low. I know I made some critical mistakes and I know that those guys are always watching me, so I wanted to try to set the right example for them so that there's always an opportunity, there's always hope, to get it done. We got it done today."

Hurts completed 30 of 42 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns. Those completions were spread to 10 different players, none of whom was Lamb, one of the frontrunners for this year's Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation's most outstanding receiver. Riley said Lamb sat out for what he called a "medical decision."

"A 25-point comeback without CeeDee Lamb," Hurts said. "That speaks for itself."

The comeback surpassed the 21-point deficits the Sooners overcame at Iowa State in 1970 and at Kansas State in 1981. According to ESPN Stats & Info, OU's 21-point deficit is the largest overcome to defeat an FBS team that entered the game 9-0 or better since NCAA classification began in 1937. The previous record was 17 points by USC against 9-0 Notre Dame in 1964 and Nevada against 10-0 Boise State in 2010.

One week prior, Iowa State trailed by 21 at halftime (35-14) in Norman and nearly pulled off the upset by outscoring OU 20-0 in the final quarter before being stopped on a potential game-winning two-point conversion with 24 seconds remaining.

Before a national television audience (ABC) on Saturday night, the Sooners also trailed by 21 at halftime (31-10) and completed the task with a 24-0 second-half shutout against the previously unbeaten Bears, who were riding an 11-game winning streak dating back to last season.

Reeling off back-to-back poor performances against Kansas State and Iowa State the previous two outings, the Sooners defense responded by forcing two key second-half turnovers, including a game-sealing interception from redshirt freshman linebacker Nik Bonitto at the OU 38-yard line with 29 seconds left and the Bears driving for a potential score.

When cornerback Parnell Motley forced a fumble (recovered by safety Pat Fields) on Baylor's first possession of the third quarter, it was the Sooners' first takeaway in 340-plus minutes and 23-plus quarters (Sept. 28 against Texas Tech).

"You're remembered for what you do in November, so it's a big-time win today."
- Jalen Hurts

"We started fast, but we didn't finish," said Baylor coach Matt Rhule, who had guided his teams at Baylor and Temple to 38 straight wins when leading or tied entering the fourth quarter. "As bad as that was, at the end we had a chance to win it. That's my message to our guys: You still had the ball, a chance to win it."

OU won for 23rd time in its last 24 true road games. It has also won each of its last seven true road games against teams ranked in the top 10 of the Coaches Poll.

"Credit to Oklahoma, they made the plays in the second half to come back," Rhule said. "At the end of the game, they made one more play than we made."

The Sooners have scored at least 34 points in 20 straight games and in 31 of the last 32 contests. The 20-game streak is the second longest nationally since at least 1980 (Oregon scored at least 34 points in 23 straight games from 2011-12).

OU will be home for the last time this season when the Sooners host TCU on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. A limited number of tickets are still available. Order online or call the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU.

Players Mentioned

Nik Bonitto

Gabe Brkic

Patrick Fields

Jalen Hurts

CeeDee Lamb

Parnell Motley

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics