Anything but Average

The lower left-hand corner of the massive video board mounted in the south end zone of Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium offers up-to-the-minute yardage totals during the game.

Given that it's one of the largest video boards in college football (50 by 170 feet), it's impossible to not notice the numbers. Based on the responses of OU players and coaches, however, the Sooners are clueless of the ridiculous numbers being posted since Lincoln Riley joined the coaching staff in 2015.

The Sooners' statistical averages on offense have been anything but average in the Riley era. They've been ridiculous.

Saturday's routinely explosive 55-16 victory against Texas Tech kept OU's staggering potency intact as the offense once again averaged double-digit yards per play (10.1).

Another opposing defense got buried in an avalanche of the Sooners' monstrous offensive numbers.

"We're expected to go out and execute every time we're on the field."
- Jeremiah Hall

OU ran just one more play than Texas Tech (64-63), but the Sooners more than doubled the Red Raiders' total (644-314). Two plays into the third quarter, OU had 496 total yards on 35 plays (a 14.2-yard average).

The Sooners have topped 600 yards of offense in every game this season (the first time in school history it has hit 600 in four straight games). Meanwhile, the upstart OU defense held the Red Raiders to 1-for-14 on third-down conversions.

Re-writing the FBS offensive record book evidently is not a hot topic of conversation among the Sooners.

"I'm not quite sure if anyone is aware of what we're doing. I know I'm not aware of it," said redshirt sophomore H-back Jeremiah Hall, who hauled in a 23-yard pass on a fourth-and-11 play in the second quarter.

Hall explained that if the OU offense simply does its job, the numbers will come. "We're expected to go out and execute every time we're on the field," Hall said. "And if we're doing that every time we're out there, that probably leads to something big."

Riley said his team has "a lot to get better at" heading into next Saturday's 11 a.m. game at Kansas. "There was more good than bad (Saturday), but we just have to keep growing."

Hall chuckled when told his coach's response. "We're always looking for stuff like that," Hall said. "There's always stuff that we can do better."

The OU offense continues to pile up yardage in large chunks. The Sooners' achievements require constant monitoring as to where they rank all-time among FBS schools.

OU led the nation at 8.3 yards-per-play in 2017 (the previous single-season school record was 7.6 in 1971) and set an FBS record at 8.6 yards-per-play last season, giving the Sooners the No. 1 and No. 3 spots on the FBS all-time single-season list. So far this season, the Sooners are averaging 10.4 yards per play. (Despite their 10.1 yards per play on Saturday, their season average actually dropped.)

"There's no limit," graduate transfer and Heisman Trophy contender Jalen Hurts said of directing the offense. "There's always more. Enough ain't enough."

Junior wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (183 yards and three touchdowns on six catches) hauled in touchdown passes of 71, 14 and 65 yards against the Red Raiders, giving the Sooners 79 offensive touchdowns of 40-plus yards since Riley's arrival. Entering Saturday's game, OU had 19 more such TD plays than the Power Five programs with the next most (Alabama and Clemson had 58, in six more games).

Hurts was replaced at quarterback in the final series of the third quarter after completing 17 of 24 passes for 415 yards and three touchdowns (a 249.0 rating). He also rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown on nine carries (7.8-yard average).

"There's no limit. There's always more. Enough ain't enough."
- Jalen Hurts

Asked if he is surprised Hurts has been able to play at such a high level despite being a newcomer, Lamb said, "No, not at all. Not one bit. The man's playing with a chip on his shoulder – oh, my fault—a boulder. He's doing a great job of doing everything that he wanted to do and feels like he needs to do. Just proving a point."

Riley matter-of-factly said of Hurts, "He is doing his job."

OU has won 35 of its last 37 games (.946) against Big 12 opponents dating back to Riley's arrival. The losses were to Iowa State in 2017 (38-31 in Norman) and to Texas last year (48-45 in Dallas). Twenty of those 35 victories have been by at least 15 points, and 10 by at least 30 points. OU has scored at least 34 points in 14 straight games and 25 of the last 26.

Saturday's game marked the program's 900th all-time victory, and the record-setting continues.

"I feel like we still can get better," Lamb said. "It's exciting, doing the things you want to do."