Total Team Effort

Roughly one hour after the path to a potential College Football Playoff appearance became a bit clearer, Oklahoma stayed on course with a convincing 34-16 Bedlam victory at Oklahoma State on Saturday night.

Paired with Auburn's 48-45 afternoon upset of No. 5-ranked Alabama, the No. 7-ranked Sooners remain alive for their fourth CFP appearance in the last five seasons thanks to their methodical disposal of the No. 21-ranked Cowboys before a sellout crowd of 54,575 at Boone Pickens Stadium.

OU's final chance to qualify for the four-team playoff comes Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Big 12 Championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with a rematch against No. 9 Baylor. Two weeks ago in Waco, the Sooners overcame a 25-point deficit to beat the Bears 34-31 with the largest comeback victory in OU history. Both teams enter the title tilt with 11-1 overall records after going 8-1 in Big 12 play.

The next CFP standings will be released Tuesday night, but the scenario appears to be as follows: No. 1-ranked Ohio State and No. 2-ranked LSU likely have qualified for the playoff no matter what happens in the SEC and Big Ten championship games on Saturday. Heavily favored and No. 3-ranked Clemson could miss the playoffs if it loses to unranked Virginia in the ACC title game. No. 4-ranked Georgia would be eliminated from consideration with a loss to LSU, but the Bulldogs would clinch a playoff spot with a victory.

The Big 12 champ will be 12-1 overall, as will Utah if it beats Oregon for the Pacific 12 championship. If Georgia loses and the Utes win, it appears Utah will be pitted against the Big 12 champ for a playoff berth in the eyes of the CFP committee. The Big 12 champ and Utah might both advance to the playoff if Clemson and Georgia both lose.

The Pac 12 title game will be held Friday night, which would intensify the Big 12 showdown even more if the Ducks were to beat the Utes.

What does all this playoff mumbo-jumbo mean to OU coach Lincoln Riley?

"Ah, we're just going to try to beat Baylor next week," Riley said post-Bedlam.

With their fifth straight victory over OSU, the Sooners have now won 21 consecutive games in November, the most crucial month of the regular season.

In what could be considered their best overall performance since disposing of West Virginia 52-14 on Oct. 19, the Sooners never trailed and eventually corralled the Cowboys (8-4, 5-4) with a dominant second half.

Playing in dry, but wind-swept conditions, OU relied on its ground game to take control with 44 rushing attempts compared to 17 passes. Both teams had 61 total plays, but the Sooners outgained OSU in total yardage 450 to 335 (7.4 per play to 5.5).

OU redshirt sophomore running back Kennedy Brooks had a game-high 160 yards on 22 carries (7.3 average) with one touchdown. In his past four games, Brooks has run for 534 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per rush.

"Very steady," Riley said of Brooks. "He continues to be him. He's not missing cuts, very in sync with our offensive line... He's held on to the ball, great ball security. He always kind of gets what's there. Always. He doesn't ever really leave much on the table and then occasionally gets some (yards) that really aren't there, which is a good characteristic for a running back to have."

Earlier in the week, Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy proclaimed the Sooners' offense to be a "one-man show" featuring graduate transfer quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Hurts showed that versatility by running for a touchdown, passing for a touchdown and catching a touchdown pass, joining Tommy McDonald (vs. Colorado in 1956) as the only OU players ever to do so in the same game.

"Really? That's cool," Riley said when informed of the Hurts/McDonald connection.

Hurts completed 13 of 16 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 61 yards and a score and caught the touchdown pass from receiver Nick Basquine on a double-reverse.

The OU defense allowed just 16 points and 335 total yards to a team that entered the contest averaging 35.0 points and 475.6 yards per game.

"At times, we were less than spectacular," said Sooners first-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, "but I thought we weathered the storm."

In the second half of the last three games, the OU defense has surrendered a combined 251 yards on 61 plays (4.1 per play) -- 69 yards on 16 plays to Baylor; 73 yards on 20 plays to TCU; and 109 yards on 25 plays to OSU.

"They've played good this year, in my opinion," Gundy said of the Sooners' defense. "They've always had good players, but their schemes are good and they're running to the ball and playing with more confidence."

OU had two takeaways with an interception and fumble recovery from senior cornerback Parnell Motley, who had another interception taken away when it was overturned by replay review.

"You could tell he wanted the ball thrown his way tonight," Riley said of Motley. "That's what we've been impressing upon our guys. That's how you have to play that position. That's how you have to play any position."

It was the first time since the UCLA game (Sept. 14) that OU finished with a positive turnover margin, and the first time since West Virginia (Oct. 19) the Sooners committed no turnovers.

"Strongly emphasized the turnovers this week," Riley said. "Knew we had to have a game (of) not just hanging onto it offensively and getting them defensively but doing that in sync in one game. Let's have a game where we can dominate the turnover battle completely."

Saturday marked the third straight game the OU defense ended its opponents' final possession with an interception – linebacker Nik Bonitto at Baylor; defensive back Brendan Radley-Hiles against TCU; and Motley at OSU. Motley also ended the Iowa State game with an interception (unofficial in final stats) on a two-point conversion to seal that 42-41 victory.

The Cowboys had to settle for three field goals and went 0 for 3 on fourth-down conversions. "You can't kick field goals against an offense that can score like they can," Gundy said.

OSU's lone touchdown came on their opening drive from running back Chuba Hubbard, who entered as the FBS' leading rusher at 166.5 yards (6.4 per carry) and was held to his second-lowest rushing total of the season with 103 yards on 24 carries (4.3 average).

"You hold your breath every time he carries the football, every single time," Grinch said of Hubbard.

OU upped its all-time series record against OSU to 89-18-7 (.811) and to 41-7-5 (.821) in Stillwater. The Sooners' 89 wins against the Cowboys are their most against one opponent and the second most in FBS history against one program (Nebraska has 91 wins vs. Kansas). OU is now 16-1 against OSU when both teams have been ranked in the Associated Press poll, including 10-1 in Stillwater.

Players Mentioned

Nick Basquine

Nik Bonitto

Kennedy Brooks

Jalen Hurts

Parnell Motley

Brendan Radley-Hiles

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics