Oklahoma football: Notable numbers from OU’s win at Kansas State
By Chip Rouse
Through four conference games on the 2017 Oklahoma football schedule, the Sooners are outscoring their opponents in the first half 82-61.
The second half, and the third quarter in particular, has been a different story, however. The Sooners have been outscored in the second half in their four Big 12 games 76-69, but if you disregard the game on Saturday at Kansas State, the disparity between the first-and second-half scoring outputs would be even more dramatic.
The Kansas State game was a complete flip flop of what the three previous games had been. In the three conference games before Kansas State, OU outscored it opponents 72-40 in the opening 30 minutes and 45-10 in the first quarter. After halftime, however, the marginal difference was 62-37 in favor of the opponents, and 32-10 in the third quarter alone.
Saturday was the first game in which Oklahoma has trailed at the half all season. The Sooners had led by 10 or more points at halftime in every game except Ohio State, which was tied 3-3 at the break.
The 21-10 halftime deficit to Kansas State obviously created a different, more serious attitude in the Sooner locker room and provided the stimulus they needed to come out in the second half with a greater sense of urgency and will to win. The 22 fourth-quarter points the Sooners put on the board on Saturday were the most they have scored all season over the final 15 minutes, which has been their most productive quarter overall this season.
Here are a dozen more notable numbers from Saturday’s dramatic win at Kansas State:
7-0 — Oklahoma record since 2000 in games played at Kansas State. The rest of the Big 12 is 11-35 in Manhattan during that same stretch.
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12 — Rushing yards by Kansas State in the second half against Oklahoma after gaining 256 yards on the ground in the first half.
14 — Consecutive true road games won by the Sooners, the longest active such streak in college football.
15-3 — The Sooners’ all-time record as the No. 9 ranked team in the Associated Press Poll, including a 4-0 record on the road.
18-1 — Oklahoma’s record since 1999 (Bob Stoops’ first season as head coach) in games immediately following the Red River Showdown with Texas.
20 — Consecutive games in which Baker Mayfield has thrown at least two touchdown passes in a game.
31 — Number of games it had been before Saturday when Oklahoma last trailed by double digits at the half (at Tennessee in 2015).
126 — Receiving yards by Sooner sophomore Marquise Brown, a career high, in the Kansas State game
132 — Saturday’s win was Oklahoma’s 132nd in Big 12 play, the most of any team in the conference. Texas is next with 120 wins, followed by Kansas State with 106.
147 — Rushing yards by redshirt sophomore Rodney Anderson at Kansas State on Saturday, a career high. His three rushing touchdowns leads the Sooners this season.
187-9 — Kansas State’s record since 1990 in games in which they have led at halftime. The Wildcats were up 21-10 at the half on Saturday. It was also the only game OU has trailed after 30 minutes this season.
672 — Sooner quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 32 of 41 passes on Saturday. That gives him 672 for his Oklahoma career and moves him past Josh Heupel into second place on the OU career passing list.