Saturday’s game with Tulsa marked the 100th consecutive Sooner football sellout since head coach Bob Stoops’ first game at Oklahoma.
The win over the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa was the 92nd home win under Stoops. Despite the fourth-best offensive performance in OU’s storied and highly successful football history, Saturday’s game was more revealing for what went wrong for the Sooners than what went right.
The top-line highlights of the game can be summed up in two telling stat lines: 773 yards of total offense by Oklahoma and 603 yards allowed by the Sooner defense. Pure and simple, that was the ball game.
Sep 19, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) and Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Jarvis Baxter (1) celebrate after a touchdown reception against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane during the third quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The last five times these two intrastate rivals have met on the football field, Oklahoma has scored 45, 47, 51, 52 and 52 points, respectively, all Sooner victories. Before Saturday, Tulsa had scored a combined 41 points in the previous four games. That is an average of 10.25 points a game. On Saturday, the Golden Hurricane offense exploded for 38 points, and it could easily have been more.
Of Tulsa’s 603 yards of offense, which ranked fifth in the country coming into the game with Oklahoma, 427 of them came through the air against a Sooner defense that over its last two games had gone from 117th in the nation among FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams at the end of last season to sixth best in the country after two games this season.
The most important number as of today is 12. A dozen days is what Oklahoma has before its next game to repair the damage that was done to the Sooners’ defense on Saturday by the Tulsa’s electric spread offense, one that defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said was a mirrored, if slightly scaled-back, image of what OU will see later this season when it faces reigning Big 12 co-champion Baylor.
Here are a few other notable numbers from the Sooners’ 52-38 victory over Tulsa:
6 – The Sooners are averaging 371 passing yards per game through three games in 2015. That ranks sixth in the nation and is almost 100 yards-per-game better compared with last season, a reflection of new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley’s Air Raid offense.
6 – Baker Mayfield is one of six Oklahoma players to have accounted for six touchdowns in a game. Others who have done it are Landry Jones and Josh Heupel (both two times), Quentin Griffin, Sam Bradford and Trevor Knight.
9.1 – Average yards per play by the Sooners vs. Tulsa in 85 offensive plays.
14 – The Oklahoma win over Tulsa, coupled with losses by several teams that were ahead of the Sooners in the nation’s top-25 rankings, moved OU to No. 14 (from 17) in this week’s Amway Coaches Poll. The Sooners are No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25, and 11th in the NCAA Football Power Poll (an advancement of five positions over last week).
Sep 19, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) runs with the ball while being pursued by Tulsa Golden Hurricane safety Jeremy Brady (22) during the third quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
39 – Baker Mayfield’s 39-yard touchdown run in the first quarter vs. Tulsa was the longest running play of his career and the longest run by an OU player this season.
69 – Percentage of times OU has scored a touchdown when in the red zone this season. The Sooners have been in the red zone 16 times in three games and have scored 11 TDs. They have come away with points in the red zone 14 out of 16 trips.
73-21 – Points by which the Sooners have outscored their opponents in the second half and in overtime through the first three games this season.
144 – Receiving yards by Sterling Shepard in the Tulsa game. He now has nine career games of 100-or-more yards, tying him with former Sooner Malcolm Kelly for the third most by a receiver in OU football history.
466 – Total offensive yards by Oklahoma at the half against Tulsa. That is the fifth highest halftime total in program history.
603 – Total yards allowed by the Sooner defense vs. Tulsa. That is the fourth most given up by a Sooner team coached by Bob Stoops.
1,376 – Total yards by both teams in the Sooners’ 52-38 victory over Tulsa. That is the second most in a single game in OU history.