Whoa….seriously, whoa. It took 62 points to finally subdue Oklahoma State in what was essentially an elimination game at both the Big 12 Championship Game and National College Football Playoff level…but the Sooners are still breathing in control of at least their own Big 12 Championship destiny.
OU entered as a road underdog, yet hung 62 on Mike Gundy’s feeble defense as the now 8-1 Sooners host TCU next Saturday for first place in the Big 12 regular season championship.
It was like watching the Dodgers vs. the Astros in Game 6. Just when you thought the other guy couldn’t go yard one more time…they went yard. If you’re a Woody or Bo pre-millenial purist this game made you want to puke, but if you like the high octane Big 12 it was vintage stuff. One haymaker begats another haymaker.
It was rookie coach Lincoln Riley’s first Bedlam and he came thru as a southwest rock star Sooner cult hero in victory while Mike Gundy dropped to 2-11 versus the Sooners. Take away Big Game Bob’s disastrous decision to repunt to Tyreke Hill three years ago and Gundy is 1-12 in Bedlam as a head coach.
Riley becomes the first head coach in OU’s storied football history to post eight or more wins in his first season. And that list of former OU coaches includes Bennie Owens, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer, and Bob Stoops who between them have captured seven national championships.
So now OU hosts Gary Patterson and his TCU Horn Frogs in what should be a preview of the Big 12 Championship Game at Jerry’s World in December. Unlike O State, TCU has a legitimate defense and this won’t be a video slugfest. This will more resemble traditional football where people actually get tackled and put on the ground.
And once again next Saturday it will be win, survive, and advance for Lincoln Riley, Baker Mayfield, and their Sooners.
There’s only one Oklahoma, only one—and this is what Boone Pickens never calibrated as he was dropping upwards of half a billion into the O State coffers.