Game Primer: OU vs. Tulane

Photo by: Ty Russell

September 03, 2021 | Football

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^2/3 Oklahoma

Tulane

Saturday, Sept. 4 / 11 a.m. CT / Owen Field

ABC / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• No. 2/3 Oklahoma begins its 127th season of varsity football, and fifth under head coach Lincoln Riley, when it plays host to Tulane on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. The game will be televised by ABC with Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek and Tom Luginbill announcing.

• Saturday's game was originally scheduled for Yulman Stadium in New Orleans but changed locations to Norman on Monday after Hurricane Ida moved across New Orleans and the Gulf Coast on Sunday. Even with the change in venue, Tulane will retain all net proceeds from ticket sales. OU and Tulane have agreed to work together to identify a date in a future season for a game in New Orleans. The Sooners will host Tulane again in 2024.

• Oklahoma is 97-23-6 all-time in season openers and has won its last four such contests and 10 of its last 11. The Sooners are 78-15-4 in their first game of a season at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1923. OU has won 15 straight openers at home (last such loss was a 17-10 defeat vs. TCU in 2005).

• Saturday's contest will mark the 1,300th in OU history. The Sooners rank fifth in college football history with their .726 all-time winning percentage (917-329-53 record). They trail Ohio State (.730), Alabama (.729), Notre Dame (.728) and Michigan (.727). Since the end of World War II, OU leads all programs with 673 wins (40 more than Alabama, the program with the next most).

• Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley turns 38 on Sunday. He was the youngest FBS head coach (33) at the time of his hiring in 2017 and is the seventh-youngest today.

• This marks the 22nd straight season the Sooners have been ranked in the preseason AP poll. They have been ranked 10th or better in 19 of the last 21 preseason polls. OU has also ended each of the last six seasons ranked in the AP top seven (first time since 1971-80 under head coaches Chuck Fairbanks and Barry Switzer).

• Oklahoma and Clemson are each riding streaks of six outright conference championships. The last current Power Five program to win at least six straight outright league titles was OU when it claimed 12 Big Six/Seven crowns in a row under legendary head coach Bud Wilkinson (1948-59).

• OU went 9-2 in 2020 and 6-2 in regular season Big 12 play before downing No. 6 Iowa State 27-21 in the conference championship game for its sixth straight league crown. The Sooners, who finished No. 6 in the final AP and coaches polls, knocked off No. 10 Florida 55-20 in the Cotton Bowl.

• Tulane, which is under the direction of sixth-year head coach Willie Fritz, went 6-6 last season and tied for eighth in the 11-team American Athletic Conference with a 3-5 record. The Green Wave received a berth to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where it dropped a 38-27 contest to Nevada. Riding a program-record three-year bowl streak, Tulane was picked seventh in this year's AAC preseason media poll.

Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium

KEY STORYLINES

• Saturday's game was slated to be Oklahoma's first ever in the regular season in the state of Louisiana. The Sooners' eight previous games in the state were all Sugar Bowl contests in New Orleans (they have a 6-2 record in the bowl).

• Oklahoma has won three more Big 12 championships over the last 22 years (14) than it has lost home games. OU is 123-11 (.917) at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium since the start of the 1999 season, with all 134 of those games sellouts. It is the best home winning percentage among Power Five schools over the last 22 seasons (Ohio State is next at .894). OU has outscored its opponents by an average of 43-17 in those games.

• OU enters 2021 a winner of its last eight games, which is tied with Texas A&M for the second-longest winning streak in the country. Only Alabama (14) has a longer current streak. Just one other Power Five program (Iowa at six) has a winning streak longer than four games. OU has registered winning streaks of at least seven games in each of the past six seasons.

• Lincoln Riley owns the OU records for wins by a head coach in a debut season (12; previous record was 10 by Barry Switzer and Chuck Fairbanks), first two seasons (24; previous record was 21 by Switzer), first three seasons (36; previous record was 32 by Switzer) and first four seasons (45; previous record was 43 by Bob Stoops). He needs 11 wins this season to set the outright record for most wins in the first five years of an OU coaching career (Stoops holds that standard with 55 [1999-03]).

• Since Riley arrived in Norman prior to the 2015 season, OU ranks first nationally in scoring (44.4 ppg; next most is 41.7), total offense (546.5; next most is 504.3), yards per play (7.7; next most is 7.0), TDs from scrimmage (439), pass efficiency rating (186.5; next best is 173.5) and yards per pass attempt (10.6). It ranks second in completion percentage (69.0), third in passing offense (320.9) and ninth in rushing offense (225.5). No other program during the span ranks in the top 20 in passing and rushing offense.

Spencer Rattler

PREVIOUSLY VS. TULANE

• In the only previous meeting between Oklahoma and Tulane, the second-ranked Sooners posted a 56-14 win in Norman on Sept. 16, 2017.

• OU sophomore cornerback Parnell Motley intercepted a pass and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown to break a 14-14 tie and catapult the Sooners to the comfortable victory.

• The Sooners averaged 10.18 yards per play, which at the time marked their most ever on Owen Field.

• After allowing touchdowns on Tulane's first two possessions, OU did not surrender any more points. The Green Wave amassed 157 yards in the first quarter (7.9 per play), but was held to 134 yards the rest of the night (2.5 per play). In the second half, OU allowed just 67 yards on 31 plays (2.2 average). Tulane finished with 54 passing yards.

• OU quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray combined to complete 20 of their 30 pass attempts for 434 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. Mayfield was 17-for-27 for 331 yards and four scores, while Murray was 3-for-3 for 103 yards and a TD. Each had a completion of more than 80 yards. It marked the first time in school history OU had two passes go for 80-plus yards in the same game.

• Sophomore receiver Marquise Brown recorded game highs of six catches and 155 receiving yards, as well as an 87-yard touchdown, the fifth-longest in OU history and second longest in a home game. His 141 receiving yards after halftime set an OU record for receiving yards in a second half.

• Freshman receiver CeeDee Lamb had a banner day despite getting ejected in the second quarter for targeting while delivering a block. Lamb, who caught TD passes of 82 and 22 yards from Mayfield, finished with four catches for 131 yards in his third career outing. He became the first OU freshman to record at least 100 receiving yards and two TD receptions in a game.

• Redshirt senior Ogbonnia Okoronkwo finished with a team-high-tying nine tackles and added 1.0 sack and 2.0 tackles for loss while also forcing a fumble.

WELCOME BACK

• Oklahoma returns 17 players (not including specialists) who started at least five of the team's 11 games last year (seven on offense and 10 on defense). Thirteen of those 17 started at least eight games (six on offense and seven on defense). That does not include running back Kennedy Brooks (10 starts in 2019), who opted to sit out last season. OU also welcomes back kicker Gabe Brkic, punter Reeves Mundschau, long snapper Kasey Kelleher, holder Spencer Jones and primary punt returner Marvin Mims.

• The seven returning offensive starters (at least five starts last year) are tight end/H-back Jeremiah Hall (10 starts in 2020; 22 career), redshirt senior offensive linemen Marquis Hayes (11 starts; 24 career), Tyrese Robinson (11 starts; 25 career) and Erik Swenson (11 starts; 19 career), quarterback Spencer Rattler (11 starts), redshirt junior wide receiver Drake Stoops (6 starts) and junior receiver Theo Wease (11 starts).

• The 10 returning defensive players (at least five starts last year) are redshirt junior linebacker Brian Asamoah (9 starts in 2020), redshirt junior outside linebacker Nik Bonitto (10 starts; 18 career), junior cornerback Jaden Davis (6 starts; 7 career), senior safety Pat Fields (10 starts; 24 career), super senior defensive linemen LaRon Stokes (5 starts; 15 career), redshirt senior defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas (11 starts), senior safety Delarrin Turner-Yell (8 starts; 21 career), redshirt sophomore cornerback Woodi Washington (5 starts), senior linebacker DaShaun White (10 starts; 24 career) and senior defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey (8 starts).

A NEW BALANCE

• More so than any year in recent program history, the 2020 Sooners displayed offensive and defensive balance. Oklahoma was one of just three Power Five programs (CFP qualifiers Clemson and Notre Dame were the others) to rank in the top 30 nationally in both total offense (11th; 494.7 ypg) and total defense (29th; 350.6 ypg).

• While OU's offense may have been a tick less productive last year than in most of the previous five, the Sooners still ranked sixth nationally in scoring (43.0 ppg), seventh in touchdowns from scrimmage (57), ninth in yards per pass attempt (9.6), 10th in passing efficiency rating (172.1), 11th in total offense (494.7 ypg) and first downs (274), 13th in red zone offense percentage (91.5) and 14th in passing offense (315.0 ypg). OU led the Big 12 in each of those categories except red zone offense percentage (ranked second). And in the eight games (all wins) going back to the Oct. 10 game vs. Texas, the Sooners ranked second among Power Five teams with their 45.0 points per game.

• Under the direction of second-year coordinator Alex Grinch, the OU defense ranked in the top 10 nationally in a bevy of categories last season, including third in interceptions (16), fourth in opponent third-down conversion percentage (27.9), seventh in sacks per game (3.4), ninth in pass defense efficiency (112.9 rating) and ninth in rushing defense (105.1 ypg). It also ranked 28th in scoring defense (21.7 ppg).

SEVEN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS

• Seven Sooners have earned first- or second-team preseason All-America honors from at least one organization or media outlet. They are outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, kicker Gabe Brkic, running back Kennedy Brooks, wide receiver Marvin Mims, quarterback Spencer Rattler and defensive linemen Jalen Redmond and Perrion Winfrey.

LEAGUE-HIGH 10 SOONERS RECEIVE PRESEASON BIG 12 HONORS

• A conference-high 10 Sooners received Big 12 preseason honors and nine were named to the 2020 Preseason All-Big 12 Football Team that was selected by media who cover the league.

• Redshirt sophomore quarterback Spencer Rattler, redshirt senior H-back Jeremiah Hall, sophomore receiver Marvin Mims, redshirt senior offensive lineman Marquis Hayes, junior offensive lineman Wanya Morris, redshirt senior defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas, senior defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey, redshirt junior outside linebacker Nik Bonitto and redshirt junior placekicker Gabe Brkic were among the 29 players to earn preseason all-conference recognition by position. Rattler was selected as the Preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year while junior running back and Tennessee transfer Eric Gray was picked as Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

• Oklahoma's six offensive players (including Brkic) were also more than any other school (Iowa State was next with five while no other team had more than two) and the Sooners' three defensive selections were tied with Iowa State for the most.

Perrion Winfrey

FINLEY RETURNS TO OU STAFF

• Saturday's game will mark the first as full-time Oklahoma assistant coach for associate head coach for offense/tight ends and H-backs Joe Jon Finley. The former OU and NFL tight end, who served the 2012 and 2013 seasons as a Sooners offensive graduate assistant under former head coach Bob Stoops, was hired in January. He replaced Shane Beamer, who is now the head coach at South Carolina.

• Finley served as passing game coordinator and tight ends coach at Ole Miss in 2020, helping the Rebels to one of the best offensive seasons in program history. Ole Miss ranked No. 3 nationally in total offense (555.5 ypg), No. 5 in pass efficiency rating (178.7), No. 7 in passing offense (344.9 ypg), No. 10 in yards per play (7.0) and No. 14 in scoring offense (39.2 ppg). Finley also coached tight ends at Texas A&M in 2019 and at Missouri from 2016-18.

• He finished his OU playing career with 62 catches, 775 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns in 50 games and won Big 12 titles in 2004, '06 and '07. He spent parts of five seasons in the NFL with San Francisco (2008-10), Detroit (2010-11) and Carolina (2012).

YEAR THREE OF "SPEED D"

• Hired in January 2019, coordinator and safeties coach Alex Grinch, who was a 2019 Broyles Award semifinalist, has overseen major improvement on the defensive side of the ball in his two seasons in Norman.

• Oklahoma ranked third nationally last season in interceptions (16), fourth in opponent third-down conversion percentage (27.9), sixth in sacks per game (3.6), ninth in rushing defense (105.1 ypg) and passing defense efficiency rating (112.9), 16th in tackles for loss per game (7.5) and 29th in total defense (350.6 ypg) and scoring defense (21.7 ppg).

• Grinch's unit was particularly stingy down the stretch in 2020. After Nov. 1 (five games), OU led the nation in interceptions per game (2.2) and ranked second in sacks per game (4.0) and passing defense efficiency rating (94.5), fourth in opponent third-down conversion percentage (25.0), sixth in scoring defense (15.4 ppg), eighth in passing yards per attempt (5.4), ninth in opponent passing completion percentage (51.4), 14th in rushing yards per game (112.2) and 18th in rushing yards per carry (3.4).

• Oklahoma's 1.45 interceptions per game last season were its second most in the last 17 years (1.53 in 2015).

• OU has allowed opponents to score on their opening drive of a game just four times in its 25 contests under Grinch (Oklahoma State and LSU touchdowns in 2019; Iowa State field goal [first meeting] and Texas Tech touchdown last year). Eighteen of the 25 opponent opening drives have lasted five plays or less.

• Over the last two seasons, Oklahoma has allowed only three opponent wide receivers to register at least 100 receiving yards in a game (Kansas' Stephon Robinson and LSU's Justin Jefferson in 2019; Iowa State's Xavier Hutchinson last season in the Big 12 Championship).

OFFENSE HAS ROLLED UNDER RILEY

• Oklahoma owns the nation's most productive offense since the start of the 2015 season, which was Lincoln Riley's first year as OU's offensive coordinator. Riley still calls plays in his fourth year as head coach.

• Since the start of the 2015 campaign, OU ranks first nationally in scoring (44.4 ppg; next most is 41.7), total offense (546.5; next most is 504.3), yards per play (7.7), TDs from scrimmage (439), pass efficiency rating (186.5; next best is 173.5) and yards per pass attempt (10.6). It ranks second in completion percentage (69.0), third in passing offense (320.9) and ninth in rushing offense (225.5). No other program during the span ranks in the top 20 in passing and rushing offense.

• In 79 games since the start of the 2015 season, OU has registered at least 500 yards of total offense 54 times (next most is 45), including in 44 of the last 62 outings, topped the 600-yard mark on 26 occasions and gone over 700 yards seven times. Similarly, OU has scored at least 30 points in 69 of 79 games since Riley's arrival, at least 40 points 50 times, at least 50 points 29 times and at least 60 points 10 times.

BROOKS, REDMOND BACK AFTER OPTING OUT

• Running back Kennedy Brooks and defensive lineman Jalen Redmond are back in the OU rotation in 2021 after opting to sit out last season.

• Brooks, a redshirt junior, rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons and leads all returning Power Five players with his 7.5 career-yards-per-carry average (min. 250 attempts). That figure also stands as the best in OU history. He has rushed for 18 career touchdowns and has caught 20 passes for 126 yards.

• Brooks was a 2018 USA Today Freshman All-American when he rushed for 1,056 yards (8.9 per carry; ranked third nationally) and 12 touchdowns. In 2019, he tallied 1,011 rushing yards (6.5 average; led Big 12) and six TDs.

• Redmond played in three games in 2018, and as a redshirt freshman in 2019 led OU with 6.5 sacks while ranking third with 11.0 tackles for loss. He started four of his 13 games that season.

• An in-state product, Redmond was a five-star recruit by 247Sports (ranked No. 16 overall) out of high school.

QBU CONTINUES

• Oklahoma's top two signal callers, redshirt sophomore Spencer Rattler (2019) and freshman Caleb Williams (2021), were each regarded as the consensus No. 1 quarterbacks in their recruiting classes and were named Elite 11 MVPs.

• A consensus 2021 preseason All-American and the Big 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Rattler was OU's fourth starting quarterback in four seasons (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray won the 2017 and '18 Heisman Trophy while Jalen Hurts was 2019 runner-up). Rattler was named national freshman of the year by CBS Sports last season after completing 67.5% of his passes for 3,031 yards (275.5 per game) and 28 touchdowns vs. seven interceptions. He also rushed for 160 yards and six TDs. His 92.5 passing grade by PFF ranked third nationally behind BYU's Zach Wilson and Heisman finalist Mac Jones of Alabama.

• Over OU's last seven games last year (all wins), Rattler threw 15 TD passes and only two interceptions.

• Rattler led the nation's freshmen in passing touchdowns, passing offense and total offense (290.1 ypg). Among all players who played at least six games, he ranked eighth in passing TDs, ninth in yards per pass attempt (9.6), 10th in pass efficiency rating (172.6), 14th in completion percentage, 15th in passing offense and 16th in yards per completion (14.2).

• Williams, a 2021 OU mid-year enrollee, was ranked as the nation's No. 1 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class by SI All-American, No. 5 by Rivals, No. 7 by 247Sports and No. 16 by ESPN.

• Williams' high school team did not play a 2020 fall season due to the pandemic, but he was a two-time All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference selection and the 2019 MVP as a junior. That year he threw for 1,770 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior while rushing for 838 yards and 18 scores.

BRKIC FOOT NOTES

• During Lincoln Riley's four-year head coaching career, Oklahoma ranks fifth nationally with its 84.3% success rate on field goal attempts (75 for 89). Kansas State is the next best Big 12 school in the category during the span, ranking 18th at 79.8%.

• During the same period, the Sooners rank third nationally in PAT conversion percentage among teams with at least 150 attempts, converting 301 of 302 tries (99.7%). Only Georgia (213 for 213) and Virginia Tech (172 of 172) have a higher success rate.

• Redshirt sophomore kicker Gabe Brkic, who is a 2020 first-team All-Big 12 selection (coaches and AP) and a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, is 37 for 43 (.860) on career field goal attempts and has made all 102 of his PAT tries. The OU career record for field goal percentage is .833 (75 for 90) by Michael Hunnicutt (2011-14). Brkic ranked third nationally last season by averaging 2.0 field goal makes per game.

Gabe Brkic

RILEY'S FAST START

• The FBS's youngest head coach (33) at the time of his hiring, Lincoln Riley became just the fifth mentor in FBS history with no previous head-coaching experience at a four-year college to win at least 12 games in his debut season. At 24-4, 36-6 and 45-8, he also holds the OU record for most wins by a head coach in his first two, three and four seasons (Barry Switzer held the records of 21 and 32, and Bob Stoops held the record of 43).

• Riley is the only person to ever win an outright FBS conference title in each of his first four seasons as a collegiate head coach.

• No one in the previous 125 years won more games in their first three seasons as a college head coach than Riley did from 2017-19 (Penn's George Woodruff was the last from 1892 to '94).

• Riley is the third-fastest OU head coach to reach 45 wins (53 games). Only College Football Hall of Famers Switzer (50 games) and Bud Wilkinson (52) did it faster.

OU'S BIG 12 DOMINATION

• Oklahoma's win over Iowa State in the 2020 Big 12 Championship resulted in the Sooners' sixth straight Big 12 title and 14th since 2000 (no other program has won more than two during the span). For perspective, the two Power Five programs with the next most conference titles this millennium are Ohio State (11 in Big Ten) and Oregon (eight in Pac-10/Pac-12).

• OU's 14 Big 12 titles are 11 more than the program with the next most. Texas has won three Big 12 championships and is followed by Baylor, Kansas State and Nebraska (two each), and Colorado, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas A&M (one each).

• Since 2010, OU has won eight Big 12 titles and is followed by Baylor (two) and Kansas State, Oklahoma State and TCU (one each).

• The Sooners have as many Big 12 titles the last six seasons (six) as they have lost games against Big 12 opponents (51-6 record; includes four Big 12 Championship games).

• OU is 146-31 (.825) in regular season Big 12 play since the start of the 2000 season. That's 26 more wins than the program with the next most victories during that period (Texas; 120-57) and 46 more than the program with the third most (Oklahoma State; 100-78).

• Come Saturday, OU will have been Big 12 champ for 2,102 straight days.

• Oklahoma is the only program to win at least three straight Big 12 titles, and it has done so twice (2006-08 and 2015-20). Baylor (2013-14) is the only other program to win two Big 12 championships in a row.

• At 11-1, the Sooners are the only program with a winning record in Big 12 Championship games. Texas has the next best mark at 3-3.

• Over the last six years (since Lincoln Riley came to Norman as offensive coordinator), OU has posted a 47-6 (.887) record in regular season Big 12 play. The next best mark during the stretch is 34-20 (.630) by Oklahoma State.

MORE CONFERENCE TITLE TIDBITS

• Every OU freshman class from 1999-2019 has won at least one Big 12 championship and all but the 2011 freshman class have won at least two. The 2015, 2016 and 2017 freshman classes each won four Big 12 titles.

• OU leads the nation with its 50 all-time conference titles. It is followed by Nebraska (46), Michigan (42), Ohio State (39) and USC (37).