Oklahoma football: Streaking part of Sooners story this season
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football will forever be known as the program with the remarkable 47-game winning streak, a record that probably will never be broken.
That mark is difficult to fathom in this day and age and should stand the test of time along with such incredible athletic achievements as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and Cal Ripken’s iron-man string of 2,632 consecutive games, both achieved in Major League Baseball.
No school has really come close to the amazing feat accomplished by coach Bud Wilkinson’s Oklahoma Sooner teams from early in the 1953 season through the seventh game of the 1957 season. Oregon State (1908-1914) has come the closest, at 40 games. The Sooners also own the eighth longest winning streak in college football (31 games from 1948 to 1950, tied with Pittsburgh) and the 15th longest (28, 1973-75, tied with Michigan State and Alabama).
Five times in OU’s 123-year football history, the Sooners have put together winning streaks of 20 or more games. The current 14-game streak is tied for the seventh longest in school history.
Several Oklahoma football streaks are in play this season, including another nation-leading winning streak. Heading into Saturday’s game with Iowa State, the Sooners have won 14 consecutive games. Their last loss came on Sept. 17 last season, a 45-24 hammering a home to Ohio State.
Oklahoma has not lost to a Big 12 opponent in almost two years, or 17 consecutive games. The Sooners’ last loss to a Big 12 school was to Texas in the annual Red River Shootout in Oct. 2015. A win over Iowa State on Saturday would extend the streak, and make it the longest in Big 12 history.
The Sooners have two road wins this season (at Ohio State and Baylor). That gives them 13 consecutive wins in true road games (games not played on a neutral field), the longest active road streak in the nation and the third longest in school history.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield has been streaking, as well (but not the kind you may be thinking). Would you believe that the two-time Heisman Trophy finalist has never lost a true road game while playing at Oklahoma? You should, because that is absolutely the case. Mayfield is 11-0 in true road contests as the Sooners’ starting quarterback.
Mayfield also owns a 30-game streak in which he has thrown at least one touchdown pass, and he has thrown at least two TDs in 17 consecutive games. He has thrown 152 consecutive passes, dating back to last season, without an interception. Over that same span, he has 18 touchdown passes.
And that’s not all…
Oklahoma has scored 30 or more points in 14 consecutive games, and the Sooners have not lost to Iowa State in 18 consecutive games. OU is an unheard of 45-1-1 in its last 47 games with Iowa State.
If you’re not keeping score, here is a quick Sooner streak summary for you:
11 consecutive wins in true road game by Baker Mayfield, who is 11-0 during that span
13-game win streak in true road games
14-game overall winning streak
14 consecutive games scoring 30 or more points
17-game win streak vs. Big 12 opponents
Next: Ranking Sooner football teams of the last seven decades
6-plus games (152 pass attempts) without an interception thrown by Baker Mayfield
18 consecutive wins by Oklahoma over Iowa State