It was easier than most of us thought it would be as OU dismantled No.6 TCU 38-20 with a haymaker of a first half which had the Sooners leading 38-14. I can’t imagine the Sooners playing a better half of football in every facet of the game.
Baker Mayfield was namely Baker Mayfield as he inched closer to being OU’s sixth Heisman Trophy winner. Running back Rodney Anderson scored four touchdowns while continuing his excellent run of football which started in the Texas game. From that Texas game and beyond both Rodney Anderson and wide receiver Marquise Brown have made this OU offense a different animal. This OU offense can do it all and may very well have the best offensive line in the country.
But what made this game different was OU’s defense. For the first time since the Ohio State game, the Sooner defense played four quarters of quality football and it came against a high octane Big 12 offense. For the first time I can ever remember…OU played four freshmen in their secondary. You can see OU getting better every week since the unexpected Iowa Sate loss. This was the first game since that loss in which no drama was needed in the second half.
This game was basically over when Anderson scored his fourth touchdown of the first half with seconds remaining. OU ran clock the second half as TCU seemed content with the notion this game was over early as well.
Overall, an interesting week-end of college football. Auburn spanked No. 1 Georgia. Miami routed No. 3 Notre Dame. Mississippi State pushed Alabama to the limit. The poll will look markedly different on Tuesday. If there was any question as to whether or not OU controls their own College Football Playoff destiny—that question was dimmed this week-end.
It’s very simple for OU…win out and they’re going to college football’s Final Four for the second time in three years with Baker Mayfield.
Win, survive, advance. Get better every week. That’s been head coach Lincoln Riley’s mantra since the Iowa State loss. Riley was calm after the loss to the Cyclones. Said this wasn’t new ground for the Sooners having to play a sequence of elimination games leading into early December. Said he was familiar with this rodeo, so to speak. His poise didn’t seem ruffled or that of a normal thirty-three year old rookie head coach.
Three more games to be played and won by the Sooners if they want to be part of this season’s College Football Playoff. But for the first time since the Iowa State loss, the path to getting there is very clear for the Sooners. Take care of business, just take care of business against Kansas, West Virginia and the opponent in the Big 12 Championship Game and it doesn’t matter what the rest of the college football world does to itself these three remaining weeks.