Oklahoma football: Notable numbers from what could have been
By Chip Rouse
Looking back at the Oklahoma football Playoff loss to Georgia, and what might have been, is another tough reminder that, as good as the Sooners were this season, they weren’t without flaws.
Only Alabama, which is making its third straight championship appearance in the College Football Playoff, has made more BCS (Bowl Championship Series) championship or Playoff appearances than Oklahoma (7 to 6) There is a noticeable difference between the two teams, however. The Crimson Tide are 6-1 in those games, while the Sooners are just 1-5.
Three numbers in the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl game stand out above all the rest:
24 – Consecutive unanswered points scored by Georgia after Oklahoma had taken a 31-14 lead right before halftime.
54 – The winning point total scored by Georgia, which put the SEC champions in position to win their first national championship since the 1980 season.
326 – Total rushing yards allowed by the Oklahoma defense to Georgia running backs Sony Michel (181) and Nick Chubb (145).
Of course there were multiple other numbers that mattered in Georgia’s win over Oklahoma in what will go down as an epic Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff game: Here are a few of them:
1 – This was the first ever meeting between Oklahoma and Georgia in football and the first time a Big 12 team has met an SEC opponent in the Rose Bowl.
2 – Number of players who have rushed for 100 or more yards in a game against Georgia this season. OU’s Rodney Anderson rushed for 201 yards against the Dawgs’ in Monday’s Rose Bowl game.
29 – Total yards of offense by the Sooners in the disastrous third quarter. Georgia produced 130 yards in fewer plays and less possession time than Oklahoma.
48 – OU’s 48 points against Georgia is just the fourth time in 52 all-time bowl appearances that the Sooners have scored that many points in a bowl game.
61-4 – Oklahoma’s record in the decade when scoring at least 24 first-half points.
87-0 – Consecutive Oklahoma wins when leading by 17 points at any point in any game. That string dates back to 2007.
201 – Game-high rushing yards by OU redshirt sophomore Rodney Anderson. That is second most by an OU player in the Sooners’ bowl history (Marcus Dupree ran for 242 yards in the 1983 Fiesta Bowl).
531 – Yards of total offense against Georgia in Monday’s Rose Bowl game. That is the second most produced by the Sooners in their bowl history.
12,292 – Total passing yards by Baker Mayfield in his career at Oklahoma. He also threw 119 touchdown passes. Both numbers rank second in OU career passing.
Next: 3rd-quarter meltdown scorches Sooners' championship hopes
92,844 – The Rose Bowl attendance for OU’s New Year’s Day game with Georgia. That is the seventh largest crowd ever for an Oklahoma football game and the second largest crowd for a Sooner bowl game.