Oklahoma vs. TCU: Notable Numbers to Take Into Account
By Chip Rouse
The most meaningful number that sums up Oklahoma vs. TCU on the gridiron is 3.8.
That is the average winning margin the four times these two team have met as members of the Big 12. The scores of the last four meetings between the Sooners and Horned Frogs have been 30-29, 37-33, 20-17 and 24-17, with Oklahoma prevailing in three of the four.
The home team, which the Horned Frogs are this weekend, has won three of the four games. The outlier in that sequence was the 2012 game at TCU, in the Horned Frogs first season in the Big 12, won by the Sooners, 24-17.
Another potentially significant number that tells an important story about Saturday’s matchup between the Sooners and the Horned Frogs is the number 21. That is TCU’s ranking in the latest Associated Press Top 25. Oklahoma dropped out of the AP rankings this week after falling from No. 3 to No. 14 and down to No. 25 over the first three weeks of the 2016 college-football season.
This will be the first time in 15 previous meetings that TCU has been ranked higher than the Sooners when they played.
Here are some more notable numbers to take into account in advance of this important Big 12 contest:
.663 – Baker Mayfield’s career completion percentage at Oklahoma, second best in Sooner history (to Sam Bradford, .676). The Sooner quarterback’s completion percentage in five true road games for OU is 68.2.
3 – Over the past three seasons, TCU owns the best overall record (26-4) and the best conference record (16-3) in the Big 12.
8.4 – Rushing yards per carry by Sooner running back Joe Mixon this season. That leads all Big 12 players who are averaging 50 rushing yards per game or better this season.
14 – Sacks recorded by the TCU defense this season, best in the Big 12 and 14th nationally.
14 – Oklahoma wins in 17 previous Big 12 openers under Bob Stoops, an .826 win percentage. The Sooners are also 14-3 under Stoops in their first Big 12 road game of the season.
15 – The combined winning margin in the last four games between Oklahoma and TCU.
15 – TCU has won 15 of its last 16 home games. The only loss over that span was a double-overtime loss to Arkansas in the second game this season. Prior to that, the Horned Frogs had won 14 straight at home.
17 – Number of dropped passes by the TCU receivers in the first four games.
18 – Number of TCU receivers who have caught at least one pass in 2016.
43 – Touchdown passes thrown by quarterback Baker Mayfield as the Sooners’ starting quarterback. That ties him with Sam Bradford for the most by an Oklahoma player in the first 16 games of his career.
81 – TCU’s record under head coach Gary Patterson when it rushes for at least 200 yards in a game is 81-5.
219 – Points by which Oklahoma has outscored its last seven true road opponents (by and average score of 50-19).
576 – TCU’s average offensive yards per game through the first four games, 4th best in the country.
907 – Yards shy OU’s Samaje Perine is of Billy Sims career rushing record at Oklahoma (4,118).
1944 – First game in the series between Oklahoma and TCU, played in Oklahoma City. The Sooners won 34-19.