One Worth Remembering

At the end of a tumultuous year worth forgetting, Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley implored his football team to make 2020 a season worth remembering.

The No. 6-ranked Sooners did exactly that with a record-setting 55-20 thrashing of No. 7 Florida in the 85th Cotton Bowl on Thursday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

As a result, a 1-2 start to the season for OU was punctuated with an eight-game winning streak.

"Because of this year, we'll remember this one forever," Riley said afterward.

Between the third and fourth quarters, with the Sooners owning a 41-13 lead, Riley gave an impassioned speech with his team huddled around him on the sideline.

"We came here and decided we were going to be a team on a mission. We wanted to make a statement with the way that we played."
Lincoln Riley

"We came here and decided we were going to be a team on a mission," Riley said. "We were going to finish, no matter what happened. We wanted to make a statement with the way that we played. We didn't want that to be just a part-time statement... Let's be sure we remember it the right way."

An emotionally charged OU team admittedly was prodded by last week's inflammatory remarks from a Florida player in a pre-bowl interview session. "Oklahoma is a good matchup," the linebacker said, "but they're not on our level. They're not the SEC. They're not the Florida Gators. So we should put on a good show."

Following Thursday night's rout, Sooners defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas countered with, "Florida, they're a good matchup. But they aren't the Big 12 and they're not the Oklahoma Sooners. We definitely take pride in who we are and what we do. We showed that. We dominated today."

Other OU players also fed off the remarks.

All-American center Creed Humphrey: "When you see something like that, of course it gives you a little extra edge. We definitely were excited to come out here, show up and show them what we're about."

Quarterback Spencer Rattler: "I'd be lyin' if I said we didn't hear what our opposing player said."

Wide receiver Marvin Mims: "It definitely fueled the fire a little bit."

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson: "The disrespect, it is what it is. We have to go out there and just talk with our pads, and I think we did that tonight."

The Gators (8-4) were shorthanded after multiple players opted out in preparation for the NFL Draft and others were quarantined for COVID-19 precautionary measures. UF head coach Dan Mullen afterward did not specify if the SEC runner-up Gators were under the SEC player minimum thresholds at a specific position but said his team could have opted not to play.

"With the number of people that were out for the game, we were under numbers, actually," Mullen said. "We had the numbers to not play the game. You see a lot of games have been canceled and not played. Maybe this is wrong, (but) I viewed this game that wasn't the 2020 football team that you saw. I mean, there were about 25 guys missing off the 2020 football team out there tonight."

"We have to go out there and just talk with our pads, and I think we did that tonight."
Rhamondre Stevenson

Riley said inspiring his team under such circumstances was not a concern.

"We did not address that at all," Riley said. "Didn't feel like we needed to, honestly. Listen, everybody's had to go through that this year... We've all had to deal with it. We've all had to fight our way through. Our recipe's been 'worry about ourselves'... and I think it showed. I think we played our most complete game of the season."

Humphrey shrugged off Florida's predicament and said, "We saw the opt-outs. We didn't really care who was opting out and who was staying for this game. We were ready to roll and go out there anyways, no matter who it was. We were just glad they showed up and gave us a chance to play them. We weren't really happy with how we played these last two games (hanging on for victories against Baylor and Iowa State after jumping out to big early leads). We wanted to go out there and prove something against a quality opponent up front."

Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Kyle Trask did play and was intercepted three times in the first quarter after throwing just five picks all season. It was the second straight game the OU defense recorded three interceptions (also had three in the Big 12 Championship vs. Iowa State).

Trask completed 16 of 28 passes for 158 yards before being replaced by a pair of backups. "A couple of times, maybe we were able to confuse their quarterback with coverage, and he (Trask) let go of a couple of throws that weren't quite as decisive as what we're used to seeing him make," Riley said.

Rattler completed 14 of 23 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns and had two other long potential touchdown passes dropped.

"We had a great game plan," said Rattler, a redshirt freshman. "Didn't have anything fancy in, just did what we do and made a lot of big plays doing it. After these last two games, it's been a breath of fresh air. 2020's out of the way. We ended up on top. This is what we worked for. We had to have fun with it. There's no better feeling than having fun with your brother. It's probably the most fun game I've ever been a part of."

"Our recipe's been 'worry about ourselves'... and I think it showed. I think we played our most complete game of the season."
Lincoln Riley

The Sooners' storied program set bowl game records with 55 points and 684 total offensive yards. The 35-point victory margin tied the school's bowl game record (35-0 over LSU in the 1950 Sugar Bowl).

OU averaged a season-high 10.5 yards per play (ninth-best figure in program history), outgaining the Gators 409-208 after halftime. The Sooners' 435 rushing yards were also a season high, and their 10.9 yards per carry represented the second-best average in school history for any contest.

It was Riley's first bowl victory in his four seasons since taking over head coaching duties for Bob Stoops. Riley's previous three bowl losses came in College Football Playoff semifinal games.

The Sooners improved to 30-23-1 (.565) all-time in bowl games and their 30 bowl wins are tied for the fifth most nationally. OU is now 110-49-8 (.683) all-time against programs currently in the SEC. The Sooners are 59-35-2 (.625) all-time in Associated Press top-10 matchups and 20-10 (.667) since the start of the 2000 season.