Completed Event: Football versus Illinois State on August 30, 2025 , Win , 35, to, 3

November 22, 2023 | Football
⢠No. 13/13 Oklahoma (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) plays its final home game as a member of the Big 12 Conference when its hosts TCU (5-6, 3-5) on Friday at 11 a.m. CT at Gaylord Family ā Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. The game will be televised by FOX with Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman and Josh Sims announcing.
Ā
⢠OU is in a three-way tie for second place in the Big 12 Conference with Kansas State and Oklahoma State. TCU is alone in ninth.
Ā
⢠The Sooners are 5-0 in Norman and are looking to record their 58th unbeaten home season. OU has gone undefeated at home in 15 of the last 24 years, most recently in 2021.
Ā
⢠A victory on Friday would result in Oklahoma's 10th of the season. The Sooners entered the year ranked second nationally with 41 all-time double-digit-win campaigns (one behind Alabama). OU also entered 2023 tied with Ohio State for the national lead in 10-plus-win seasons since the start of the 2000 campaign (18).
Ā
⢠Saturday's game will mark the sixth straight Oklahoma-TCU meeting in which the Sooners were the lone ranked team (they won the first four before losing last year). The last time TCU was ranked when playing OU was in the 2017 Big 12 Championship in Arlington when the No. 2 Sooners posted a 41-17 win over No. 10 TCU.
Ā
⢠OU is the only team in the country to score 59-plus points in at least three games this season (73 vs. Arkansas State, 66 at Tulsa, 59 vs. West Virginia) and one of just three teams (LSU and USC are the others) to score 50-plus points in at least four games on the year (OU also scored 50 vs. Iowa State).
Ā
⢠The 2023 season marks OU's last as a member of the Big 12, as the Sooners will move to the Southeastern Conference on July 1, 2024.
Ā
⢠OU has won 14 Big 12 championships in the league's first 27 years. No other program has won more than three.
Ā
⢠The Sooners are a league-best 175-60 (.745) in regular season Big 12 play since the conference began in 1996. The current Big 12 program with the next best winning percentage is Texas, (156-79; .664).
Ā
⢠The 2023 season marks the 129th in OU football history. The Sooners lead the country with their 50 all-time conference championships, 27 11-plus-win seasons, 33 AP top-five finishes, seven Heisman Trophy winners (tied) and five No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks (tied). They rank second with their 431 all-time weeks in the top five of the AP poll, third with seven AP national championships and their 101 weeks as the AP's No. 1 team, and fourth with their 56 bowl appearances and 414 NFL Draft picks.
⢠Twenty-six Sooners are slated to participate in OU's pregame Senior Day ceremony, which is slated to begin at 10:40 a.m. on Owen Field. OU's annual Don Key Award and Derrick Shepard Most Inspirational Walk-On Award will be presented at the end of the ceremony.
⢠Approximately two hours and 15 minutes before each home game (8:45 a.m. this Friday), OU players and coaches will arrive at Gaylord Family ā Oklahoma Memorial Stadium via team buses and walk to their stadium entrance while being cheered by fans. This year's "Walk of Champions" path has changed. OU's buses will drop off players and coaches on Lindsey Street, south of the stadium. The Sooners will walk east on Lindsey before turning north (left) on Jenkins Avenue and enter the stadium at Gate 13. The team will be led by the Sooner Schooner and OU Spirit, and the Pride of Oklahoma will perform during the procession.
Ā
⢠Once again, "Party at the Palace, Presented by Allstate" will be held on the lawn immediately north of Gaylord Family ā Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, this week running from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. Sooner fans of all ages can access Party at the Palace and participate in the festivities. Highlights include sponsor giveaways, music, food vendors and more. Food trucks from Midway Deli, Supermercados Morelos, HteaO and Kona Ice will be on hand and Devon Energy's innovative STEM program "SportsLabs" will once again take place on the lawn immediately north of Heisman Park on the east side of Jenkins Ave. Additionally, the Sooner Radio Network (flagship 107.7 The Franchise) originates the start of its pregame show live from Party at the Palace beginning two hours prior to kickoff.
Ā
⢠In August, OU announced changes to its tailgating policies, including the addition of a public tailgating location designated along the south side of Lindsey Street between Asp and Jenkins Avenues. In this location, tailgating may only take place on the grassy area between the Lindsey Street curb and the north side of the sidewalk. Other campus areas designated for private and public tailgating will remain the same as the 2022 season. A map indicating designated tailgating areas and game day road closures, as well as the university's tailgating policies, can be found here.
Ā
⢠For a full list of OU game day policies, procedures and additional fan information, click here.
⢠Oklahoma is 139-13 (.914) at Gaylord Family ā Oklahoma Memorial Stadium since the start of the 1999 season, giving the Sooners more Big 12 championships during the period (14) than home defeats. It is the best home winning percentage in the country over the last 24-plus seasons (Boise State [.903] and Ohio State [.895] are next). OU has outscored its opponents by an average of 43-18 in those games.
Ā
⢠OU has posted 151 straight sellouts of originally scheduled home games dating back to the start of the 1999 season (Bob Stoops' first as head coach). Only Nebraska (FBS-record 398) has a longer streak.
⢠Playing on a Friday is nothing new for Oklahoma, as the Sooners boast a 59-19-2 (.750) record on that day of the week (includes a 2-4 record in bowl games).
Ā
⢠Since World War II, Oklahoma has played 15 regular season Friday games and is 9-6 in those contests. Ten of those games, and the Sooners' only six losses, were against Nebraska. OU beat NU on Fridays in 1973, 1976, 1977 and 1990, and lost to the Huskers in 1982 and every year from 1991-95. The Sooners' other Friday wins since 1945 were against Detroit in 1947 (Bud Wilkinson's first game as OU head coach), Miami (Fla.) in 1975, Tulsa in 2002 and 2007, and West Virginia in 2018 (the 59-56 win at WVU was the Sooners' last regular season weekday game).
Ā
⢠OU's last non-Saturday home game was a 49-31 win over Houston on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Prior to that it was a 13-3 defeat to No. 1 Nebraska on Friday, Nov. 25, 1994.
⢠Redshirt senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who has started 48 of his 49 career games between UCF (2019-21) and OU (2022-23), including each of his last 48, leads all FBS players since the start of 2019 with his 122 touchdown passes despite missing 11 games during the span due to injury.
Ā
⢠Gabriel also ranks first nationally since the start of 2019 with his 14,465 passing yards (average of 295.0). Oregon's Bo Nix (in nine more games) is second with 14,383 (248.0 average) and Notre Dame's Sam Hartman (one more game) is third with 13,532 (270.6 average).
Ā
⢠Gabriel ranks ninth on the FBS career chart for passing TDs (122) and needs one more to tie former OU signal-caller Landry Jones for eighth. He ranks 10th in FBS history in passing yards (14,465) and needs 142 to tie former Sooner Baker Mayfield for eighth.
Ā
⢠Through 11 games this season, Gabriel has accounted for 38 touchdowns. He ranks sixth nationally with his 171.9 pass efficiency rating, going 242 for 346 for 3,260 yards (296.4 average) and 27 TDs vs. five interceptions. He has also rushed for 337 yards and a team-high 11 TDs (the national lead among QBs is 12).
⢠Oklahoma ranks in the top 10 nationally in a multitude of categories through 11 games. It is fourth in scoring offense (40.8 ppg) and first downs per game (25.4), fifth in pass efficiency rating (172.0), seventh in total offense (492.9 ypg), passing offense (314.7 ypg) and completion percentage (.703), eighth in passing touchdowns (29) and ninth in yards per pass attempt (9.4).
Ā
⢠Quarterback Dillon Gabriel leads the Big 12 in total offense (327.0 ypg; next most is 282.3), passing offense (296.4 ypg; next most is 279.2), total TDs (38; next most is 31), passing TDs (27; next most is 23), pass efficiency rating (171.9; next best is 162.0) and points responsible for per game (20.7; next most is 17.8).
Ā
⢠OU is one of just five teams in the country (only one in the Big 12) with two players with at least nine TD receptions each (Drake Stoops and Nic Anderson are tied for the league lead with nine).
Ā
⢠Stoops, who is one of three finalists for the Burlsworth Trophy (nation's most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on), has caught at least one pass in each of the last 20 games and at least two passes in each of the last 19. He has at least four receptions in 14 of the last 18 contests.
Ā
⢠Stoops ranks second in the Big 12 this season with his career-high 66 receptions (one behind the leader). His 755 receiving yards are fourth most in the league. The 66 catches and 755 yards top his previous career highs of 39 and 393 from last season. Stoops' 26 receptions and four receiving TDs over the last three weeks are sixth and third most in the country, respectively, while his 361 receiving yards during the stretch are seventh most. He registered back-to-back career highs in receiving yards this month, totaling 12 catches for 134 yards and a TD at Oklahoma State and 10 grabs for 164 yards and a career-high three TDs vs. West Virginia. The 164 yards were the most by a Sooner in four seasons (CeeDee Lamb).
Ā
⢠Anderson leads the nation with his 23.3 yards per reception. His nine touchdowns have come on 27 catches, giving him the nation's highest TD reception rate (33%) this season (min. 5 TD catches). He has registered four games of at least 90 receiving yards, including two of the last three weeks.
Ā
⢠Freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold was the 2022 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year at Guyer High School in Denton, Texas, enrolled at OU in January and won the backup job. All Arnold has done in his five games is complete 18 of 24 passes (75.0%) for 202 yards and two touchdowns, and run 20 times for 78 yards and one TD. He was 11 for 11 for 114 yards and a touchdown in his debut against Arkansas State and threw a 50-yard bomb to Anderson for a TD at Tulsa in week three before playing the entire second half Saturday at BYU and helping OU to a 31-24 win (the game was tied at 17 at halftime).
⢠Redshirt junior Zach Schmit, in his second year as OU's placekicker, has made all 55 of his PAT attempts and 12 of his 18 field goal tries this season. He is 112 for 112 on career PAT tries, which is the fourth-longest streak of made PATs in school history.
Ā
⢠Redshirt seniors Josh Plaster and Luke Elzinga split punting responsibilities the first six games, with Plaster taking the field in longer situations and Elzinga serving as the team's short-field specialist. Elzinga took over full punting responsibilities four games ago vs. UCF and has averaged 45.6 yards on his 18 kicks since then (long of 58, seven inside the 20-yard line).
Ā
⢠Junior Jalil Farooq ranks 27th nationally by averaging 22.2 yards on 18 kickoff returns and sophomore Gavin Freeman ranks 27th by averaging 8.1 yards on 15 punt returns. Farooq returned a kickoff 62 yards vs. Tulsa and Freeman returned a punt 82 yards for a TD vs. Arkansas State.
⢠OU's 14 Big 12 titles are 11 more than the program with the next most. Baylor, Kansas State and Texas have each won three Big 12 championships and are followed by Nebraska (two) and Colorado, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas A&M (one each). Colorado and Nebraska left the Big 12 after the 2010 season and Texas A&M departed after 2011.
Ā
⢠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).
Ā
⢠Since 2010, OU has won eight Big 12 titles and is followed by Baylor (three), Kansas State (two), Oklahoma State and TCU (one each).
Ā
⢠Since 2000, OU has won more Big 12 championships (14) than it has lost home games (13).
Ā
⢠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.
Ā
⢠Every OU freshman class from 1999-2020 has won at least one Big 12 title and all but the 2011 and 2020-22 freshman classes have won at least two. The 2015, 2016 and 2017 freshman classes each won four Big 12 titles.
⢠Quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray became Oklahoma's sixth and seventh Heisman Trophy winners in 2017 and '18, respectively, moving the Sooners into a tie with Notre Dame and Ohio State for the most Heisman winners (USC now has seven as well). Other OU winners were QBs Sam Bradford (2008) and Jason White (2003), and RBs Billy Sims (1978), Steve Owens (1969) and Billy Vessels (1952).
Ā
⢠Quarterback Jalen Hurts was the 2019 Heisman Trophy runner-up and became Oklahoma's 11th Heisman finalist, tied with Alabama for most of any school (finalists were first named in 1982). Miami (Fla.) and Ohio State rank third with nine finalists and Florida ranks fifth with eight.
Ā
⢠OU boasts a nation-leading 10 Heisman finalists in the last 23 years (since 2000). Alabama ranks second with nine, Ohio State ranks third with six and Stanford is fourth with five.
Ā
⢠Oklahoma is the only program to ever produce five Heisman finalists in a four-year period (Hurts in 2019 [runner-up], Murray in 2018 [won], Mayfield in 2017 [won] and Mayfield [finished third] and receiver Dede Westbrook [finished fourth] in 2016). With Mayfield's and Murray's wins, OU is the only program to produce different quarterback winners in consecutive seasons.
Ā
⢠Oklahoma has produced four Heisman Trophy winners in the last 20 years. Only four other programs have produced four winners ever (Notre Dame, Ohio State and USC [seven each] and Alabama [four]).
Ā
⢠An OU quarterback finished in the top four of Heisman voting five consecutive years (Mayfield fourth in 2015, third in 2016 and first in 2017; Murray first in 2018; Hurts second in 2019).
⢠During the modern era of college football (since the end of World War II), the Sooners are the nation's No. 1 team with more wins (699) than any other program (next most is 667 by Alabama).
Ā
⢠Oklahoma has finished in the top 5 of the AP poll a nation-leading 33 times (Ohio State is second with 30).
Ā
⢠OU leads all FBS programs with 50 all-time conference championships. The rest of the top five includes Nebraska (46), Michigan (44), Ohio State (39) and USC (37). The Sooners' 14 league titles since 2000 are the most among Power Five programs (Ohio State ranks second with 11).
Ā
⢠No program has more all-time 11-win seasons than Oklahoma's 27. And since the start of the 2000 season, OU and Ohio State have produced a nation-leading 18 campaigns of at least 10 wins.
Ā
⢠Since former head coach Bob Stoops arrived in Norman in 1999, OU leads the country with its 12,685 points scored, which is 611 more than second-place Boise State (12,074) and 902 more than third-place Oregon (11,783).
Ā
⢠OU's 80 consensus All-Americans since 1950 are the most nationally (Alabama ranks second with 75 and Ohio State third with 72). Since 2000, the Sooners have produced 30 consensus All-Americans, second only to Alabama.
Ā
⢠OU is the only program that has produced at least four NFL Draft picks each of the last 16 years.