The Oklahoma Legacy: Reliving the 2000s (Part Two)

2011 (10-3, 6-3; won Insight Bowl)

Oct 13, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Kenny Stills (4) holds up the golden hat after the game against the Texas Longhorns during the red river rivalry at the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma beat Texas 63-21. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

If a team finished 10-3, most would think it’s successful. Well, for the Sooners in 2011, it was not.

As the preseason #1, OU would end up disappointing Sooner Nation. After dominating Tulsa, and beating #5 Florida State, 23-13, on national TV, the Sooners looked to be for real. Winning the next four games against Missouri, Ball State, #11 Texas in dominating fashion, and Kansas made the team have high hopes.

The Sooners avenged their 2010 loss against Missouri, and started the season 6-0. However, the Sooners took their 39-game home winning streak against Texas Tech, and after a rain delay, Tech ended the streak with a 41-38 loss over Oklahoma.

The Sooners followed that up with a 58-17 win over #10 Kansas State and 41-25 win over Texas A&M. In the next game, the Sooners would lose their to Baylor for the first time in program history in a contest won by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.

After a quiet 26-6 win over Iowa State, the Sooners were routed by in-state rival Oklahoma State, 44-10. It was the Cowboys’ first win against the Sooners in nine years. OU headed to the Insight Bowl to play Bob Stoops’ alma mater, the Iowa Hawkeyes. OU won it, 31-14.

Ryan Broyles became the NCAA’s all-time leader in receptions, with 349.

2012 (10-3, 8-1; Big 12 Co-Champions, lost Cotton Bowl)

Again, Oklahoma entered the season ranked high. As #4 in the country, the team was under the microscope again.

After struggling against UTEP in El Paso, OU looked better against Florida A&M, winning 69-13. The fun didn’t last, Oklahoma lost a rare home September game against #15 Kansas State.

Three consecutive wins over Texas Tech, #15 Texas, and Kansas had OU in the top 10 again. It wouldn’t last, however. OU suffered a 30-13 loss to #5 Notre Dame with College GameDay on hand and a national audience watching.

The Sooners beat up on Iowa State and Baylor, but then found themselves in a classic shootout against West Virginia in Morgantown. In a contest that featured no defense, the Sooners won 50-49 thanks to Landry Jones’ connection to Kenny Stills with 24 seconds left in the team’s first meeting with WVU as a Big 12 member.

After that, Oklahoma pulled out a thrilling overtime win over Oklahoma State, a game which OU never lead until Brennan Clay’s walk-off touchdown in OT secured the victory. Worth noting, the game was the first meeting between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to go to overtime.

This set up a chance to win the Big 12 outright if the Sooners defeated TCU and Kansas State lost to Texas. OU took care of business with a 24-17 win over TCU, but K-State beat Texas as well.

This meant there would be a tie for the Big 12 crown with both teams finishing 8-1 in conference play. Because Kansas State won the head-to-head battle, they received the BCS bid and OU settled for a Cotton Bowl invite, arguably he best non BCS-bowl. It was a game to forget, as Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel ran all over the Sooner defense, leading his Aggies to a 41-13 victory.

Landry Jones graduated and went to the NFL after the year and was picked by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He finished as OU’s all-time leading passer in many categories.

2012 FUN FACT: Oklahoma’s three losses came at the hands of the three Heisman finalists. Kansas State’s Collin Klein, Notre Dame’s Manti Teo. And of course, Texas A&M’s Johnny Football.