Oklahoma football: 8 moments that got Kyler to New York

75-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown vs. Iowa State

Up 3-0 late in the first quarter against a stout Iowa State defense, Murray decided to let one rip. A quick fake handoff up the middle and a half-second hesitation later the ball was soaring out of Murray’s hand and sailing over the middle to his best deep threat in Marquise Brown. Brown, who challenges Murray as one of the fastest players on the team, never broke stride, streaking past two defenders and racing his way into the end zone for the Oklahoma touchdown.

What it meant: The Iowa State defense was basically designed to slow down Lincoln Riley’s offense by taking away big plays and forcing opposing teams to take the check downs. Murray’s ability to take the top off the defense opened things up for Oklahoma and helped point the way to an eventual 37-27 win in Ames, avenging the Sooners’ only regular season loss from 2017 and making Oklahoma 1-0 in conference play.

67-yard touchdown run vs. Texas (first matchup)

The Sooners were in need of big plays and out of time to make them when Kyler Murray turned what should have by all rights been a busted play into a a moment in Red River Rivalry history. On a designed quarterback draw, both guards pulled in opposite directions, nipping each other’s shoulder pads and creating confusion. Rather than follow the play Murray bounced quickly to the outside and took advantage of the momentary pause by the Texas linebackers. As he hit the secondary two Longhorn defenders attempted to break down and force him out of bounds, but Murray had already reached full speed. The Sooners standout simply kept running up the sideline scortching the Texas defense for a 67-yard score.

What it meant: The play was part of an improbable 21-point comeback for the Sooners in the fourth quarter against their most-hated rivals. The Herculean effort would unfortunately come up three points short after Texas kicked a field goal in the last seconds to pull off a 48-45 win, but the comeback itself helped set the stage for a wild romp through the rest of the year for the Sooners. After outscoring Texas 21-3 in that fourth quarter Oklahoma would not lose again on its way to a Big 12 Championship.