Oklahoma Football: 30 Best Games in School History

Nov 14, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine (32) runs away from Baylor Bears safety Orion Stewart (28) during the game at McLane Stadium. The Sooners defeat the Bears 44-34. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Nov. 14, 2015 – Oklahoma 44, Baylor 34

The 2015 Oklahoma football schedule was heavily back-loaded. This was the first of back-to-back-to-back games against the top three teams in the Big 12. The outcome of these three games not only would determine Oklahoma’s season, but also the Big 12 champion for the 2015 season.

The Sooners had caught a big break with Baylor starting quarterback Seth Russell out for the rest of the season with a broken bone in his neck. Backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, a freshman, was scheduled to start the game with Oklahoma, and it would be his second  career start.

Even though Baylor was starting a backup quarterback, the Bears were still undefeated and playing this game at home in two-year-old McLane Stadium, where they had not lost in 10 previous games. They also were holding down the No. 6 spot in the College Football Playoff standings and No. 4 in the AP poll.

In the two previous games between these two conference foes, Baylor had handed Oklahoma two of its worst defeats under head coach Bob Stoops.

The Sooners went three-and-out after receiving the opening kickoff. On the exchange of possession, the Bears wasted little time in advancing the ball downfield with relative ease, with running back Shock Linwood doing most of the damage. It took them just nine plays to go 80 yards and grab an early 6-0 lead (the extra point attempt failed).

Oklahoma responded with an 80-yard touchdown drive of its own and, with the extra point, erased the six-point deficit and took a 7-6 lead.

With the score tied at 13 and with just under three minutes remaining in the half, the Sooners cashed in a 71-yard march for a late second-quarter TD to regain a narrow 20-13 advantage heading into halftime.

Baylor scored on the opening possession of the second half to knot the game at 20. Oklahoma scored twice more after that, however, one on a short touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield to Sterling Shepard and the other on a 55-yard touchdown run by Samaje Perine as the Sooners shot out to a 14-point lead, 34-20.

Late in the third quarter, Stidham connected on a couple of long passes and finished off a 69-yard drive with a short 5-yard TD pass to draw the Bears back within seven points at 34-27.

Oklahoma pushed the lead back out to 10 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter on a 33-yard field goal by Austin Seibert. The Bears, refusing to fold before a capacity home crowd, turned a short-field opportunity on a punt exchange into a touchdown drive covering 44 yards in just three plays and, just like that, the Sooners’ lead was cut to three points.

The key play in the game came at the 4:58 mark of the final quarter with the ball on the Baylor 7-yard line and the Sooners facing a third-and-goal.

Coming out of a timeout, Mayfield avoided a strong rush, scrambled to his right and, at the last second, found a narrow opening in which to fire the ball to fullback Dmitri Flowers, who snared the pigskin for what turned out to be the decisive blow in securing a huge 44-34 victory.

Redemption achieved over the Sooners’ biggest nemesis the past two seasons.

Next: Nov. 28, 2015 - Oklahoma 58, Oklahoma State 23