Five Alive

Shortly after the Oklahoma football team clinched its fifth straight Big 12 Conference championship, third-year Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley wanted to make sure onlookers took note of what transpired Saturday in his team's 30-23 overtime victory over Baylor at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

"There's great defense being played at the University of Oklahoma right now," Riley said in a post-title game interview on the field. "Man, I'm proud of those guys."

The Sooners are now 10-1 in Big 12 Championship games and have won 13 conference titles in the league's 24-year history. No other program has won more than three Big 12 crowns. The last time the Sooners won at least five straight conference championships was 1972-80 under Chuck Fairbanks (1972) and Barry Switzer.

"We didn't play our best, but we beat a damn good team here today, and we're the champs," Riley said emphatically.

Now the Sooners must wait for the College Football Playoff Selection Show to reveal this year's four qualifiers at 11 a.m. CT Sunday.

The CFP committee is expected to announce No. 6-ranked OU (12-1) as one of the four playoff teams based on No. 4-ranked Georgia (11-2) losing 37-10 to LSU (13-0) in Saturday afternoon's SEC Championship and No. 5-ranked Utah (11-2) losing 37-15 to Oregon (11-2) in Friday night's Pac-12 Championship game.

"We will see whatever road it takes us on but whichever one it is, we will be ready."
- Lincoln Riley

"They've got a job to do, I get that," Riley said of the committee. "We've had a job to do as a team, which was continue to prove through the year, trust the things we could and ultimately win a Big 12 championship. We've done that. We will see whatever road it takes us on but whichever one it is, we will be ready."

The Sooners are seeking their fourth CFP appearance in the last five seasons.

"I like our case," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said before the game of his league's playoff chances.

For the second time in four weeks against the Bears, the OU defense stepped up when the Sooners' offense carelessly gift-wrapped points for Baylor (11-2).

OU had to overcome three turnovers on Nov. 16 to edge the Bears 34-31 in Waco thanks to the biggest comeback victory in Sooners history after trailing by 25 points in the first half.

There was a somewhat familiar theme on Saturday.

Despite OU being in firm command statistically in the first half, Baylor led 13-10 at intermission thanks in large part to two second-quarter turnovers that gave the Bears a short field. Baylor converted those turnovers into 10 points.

"It's football," Hurts said of overcoming the deficit and his miscues. "It's not supposed to be easy. Regardless of the situation, how do you respond, so what? Now what? I think this team showed the right type of resilience, the approach we had with it all year. Put us in any type of situation, and we find a way to fight and get it done."

Saturday's game-clincher came on a 5-yard touchdown run from junior transfer running back Rhamondre Stevenson on the first possession in overtime. OU's defense then sealed the win with a 10-yard sack and three incompletions on Baylor's possession.

"Guts," Riley said when asked to explain how his defense saved the day. "They played like they have the majority of this year."

The Sooners lead the Big 12 in total offense (554.2 ypg) and total defense (330.6 ypg). Never in league history have they ever led the Big 12 in both categories at the end of a full season.

OU held the Bears to 265 total yards (230 passing, 35 rushing), marking the third time this season they have held an opponent to fewer than 300 total yards.

"We came here, we locked in, and we did what we were supposed to do," said junior first-team All-Big 12 linebacker Kenneth Murray. "Hats off to those guys (my teammates). I mean, I feel like they came in and they played hard. Came in and stuck to their script and we were able to capitalize on that and able to fall back on our preparation and execute."

In their last three halves against Baylor, the Sooners held the Bears to 334 total yards, 12 first downs (on 72 plays) and owned a 50:56 to 29:04 time of possession advantage.

"It was just great to see what happens when we decide to just do our job to the best of our abilities and trust the coaching," OU redshirt senior defensive lineman Neville Gallimore said. "Having (first-year defensive coordinator Alex) Grinch instill that in us, I'm not going to say it makes that easy, but we're fighting and we know the expectations that we have for our defensive group is so high that it's nothing for us to not listen to all sides. Our focus is trying to play our best ball in crunch-time situations or whatever the situation may be."

In their two nail-biters against Baylor, OU outgained the Bears 958-572 in total yardage, yet barely survived.

"This league's been great all year," Riley said. "Baylor's a heck of a team, They're easily one of the best teams in the country."

"We came here, we locked in, and we did what we were supposed to do."
- Kenneth Murray

OU junior wide receiver and Biletnikoff Award finalist CeeDee Lamb, who missed this year's previous game against Baylor due to a medical issue, was named the game's Most Outstanding Player with 173 receiving yards on eight catches, which included a 71-yard reception in the first quarter.

Hurts completed 17 of 24 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown. Rushing yards came tough, however, as he gained 38 yards on 23 carries to up his season rushing total to 1,255 yards (second only to Jack Mildren's 1,289 yards in 1971).

Hurts has accounted for 51 touchdowns thus far (18 rushing, 32 passing, one receiving), the third-most total touchdowns in a season by a Sooner (trailing Heisman Trophy winners Sam Bradford with 55 in 2008 and Kyler Murray with 54 in 2018).

OU freshman placekicker Gabe Brkic remains perfect on the season. Since taking over as the starter in the fourth game, he is 17 for 17 on field goals (converting from 44, 24 and 24 yards Saturday) and is 48 for 48 on PATs. Brkic is the only FBS kicker this season to make all of his field goal and extra-point attempts (combined 65 for 65).

The 36-year-old Riley is 36-5 as head coach. OU now has a 27-3 series advantage over the Bears and Saturday was the first game between them with both ranked in the AP's top 10.

Players Mentioned

Gabe Brkic

Neville Gallimore

CeeDee Lamb

Kenneth Murray

Kyler Murray

Rhamondre Stevenson

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