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Oklahoma football: Notable numbers from the takedown of TCU

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 11: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated TCU 38-20. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 11: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated TCU 38-20. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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The most significant number to come out of the decisive Oklahoma football victory over TCU on Saturday will not be known until Tuesday night, when the new College Football Playoff rankings are revealed.

What is known is that the widely touted matchup between No. 1 and No. 6 ended up in the unanimous favor of No. 1. That’s the short-hand version of what happened when Oklahoma’s No. 1 offense went up against the nation’s sixth-best defensive team in TCU: a 38-20 Oklahoma victory and 533 yards of total offense, the most allowed by TCU this season.

TCU had allowed an average of 69.7 rushing yards a game entering the game against Oklahoma. The Sooners gained 200 net yards on the ground against the Horned Frogs on Saturday, and 139 of the yards were by one player, redshirt sophomore Rodney Anderson. In their previous four games alone, the Horned Frogs had allowed just 107 net rushing yards combined. That’s an average of 26.7 yards a game by the country’s best rushing defense.

The Sooners also torched the TCU pass defense, with Baker Mayfield, the preemptive favorite to win the 2017 Heisman Trophy, passing for 333 yards and three touchdowns. Mayfield has now thrown a Big 12-record two or more TD passes in 23 consecutive games.

All in all, a dominant Oklahoma offensive performance against one of the best defensive teams in the nation that should place the Sooners in the top 4 in this week’s College Football Playoff picture.

Here are 12 more impressive numbers from the OU-TCU game:

0 – Rushing touchdowns allowed by TCU in its previous five games before Oklahoma. The Sooners rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns in the first half against the country’s best rushing defense.

3 – Number of freshman (Tre Norwood, Tre Brown and Robert Barnes) who made their first career start in the Oklahoma defensive backfield on Saturday night.

4 – First-half touchdowns by OU running back Rodney Anderson, which tied a school record.

9 – Lincoln Riley has nine wins in his first season as Oklahoma head coach. Only two other OU head coaches in football have won as many as nine games in their first season: Chuck Fairbanks (1967) and Barry Switzer (1973) both won 10 games in their initial campaign at Oklahoma.

11.0 – Yards per play by the Oklahoma offense in the first half vs. TCU. The Horned Frogs came into the game with OU allowing 4.4 yards per play to its nine previous 2017 opponents.

22 – Oklahoma has won 22 of its last 23 games against Big 12 opponents.

31 – Wins by quarterback Baker Mayfield in 36 career games as the Oklahoma starting quarterback.

50 – Rushing yards by Baker Mayfield in the TCU game on 11 carries.

55-32-2 – Oklahoma’s all-time record in matchups with teams in the Associated Press Top 10.

170 – Total yards of offense by TCU in the first quarter against Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs gained 254 yards combined over the remaining three quarters.

644 – Receiving yards this season by freshman wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. That passes Sterling Shepard for third most by a freshman in program history.

88,308 – Attendance at Saturday night’s game, the largest crowd to watch a game at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and the fourth largest of all-time to see Oklahoma play football.

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