Oklahoma football: Notable numbers from a game that got away in a hurry
By Chip Rouse
It wasn’t pretty and, on several levels, it was very predictable, but the one thing you can say about the third Playoff appearance by an Oklahoma football team was that the Sooners fought to the very end.
Had they played another quarter or two no telling what my have happened, but the hard, cold truth is that the Sooners dug way too deep a hole, far too early and were never able to see the light of day.
You just can’t afford to do that against a team as good as this Alabama team, perhaps one of the greatest college team of all-time. Or any team, when you get right down to it.
The Sooners fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter and found themselves down 28-0 two minutes into the second stanza. Alabama scored in its first four possessions. Meanwhile, Oklahoma managed a net 24 yards in its first three offensive possessions. Again, as good as Alabama is, the game was effectively over at this point.
Behind their leader, quarterback Kyler Murray, however, the Sooners rallied and twice in the second half pulled to within 11 points of the Crimson Tide, but that was as close as they would get. In fact, the Las Vegas oddsmakers are probably very upset that head coach Nick Saban elected to take a knee and run out the clock with the Crimson Tide on the OU six-yard line with a minute, 15 seconds to go (the Sooners were 14-point underdogs in the game).
The was little doubt about who was going to win this game after three possessions in the opening quarter. Sooner fans were holding their breath that it wouldn’t be as bad as their 2005 appearance in the Orange Bowl, when No. 1 USC leveled No. 2 OU 55-19. Fortunately, the outcome was that bad, but it, but it was bad enough that it was difficult to watch.
Some compelling numbers from a third straight Oklahoma loss in as many appearances in the College Football Playoff:
0 – Catches by OU’s leading receiver, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown in the game. He was targeted five times for no catches. It is the first time all season Brown has not caught a pass in a game. His status for the Orange Bowl Playoff game with Alabama was questionable because of a foot injury he suffered in the fourth quarter of the Big 12 Championship game.
0 — Number of turnovers in the game by both teams (except for the one that was overturned on review on the fumble by Alabama inside the five-yard line on the Crimson Tide’s opening possession).
3 — Quarterback sacks of Kyler Murray by the Alabama defense. Murray had been sacked just 15 times in 13 games coming into the CFP game. The Crimson Tide recorded two sacks in the Sooners’ first two possessions.
6.7 — Oklahoma averaged 8.7 yards per play through 13 games, but just 6.7 yards per play against the 10th-ranked Alabama defense.
30 — The Sooners have scored at least 30 points in 36 of the last 38 games and won 34 of the 38.
34 – Oklahoma’s point total against Alabama, the most points the defending national champions have allowed all season.
70 — Alabama’s third-down conversion percentage against OU (7 of 10). The Crimson Tide rank second in the nation in that statistical category, averaging a 53 percent conversion rate on third downs.
191-0 — Total offensive yards for both teams, respectively, after Alabama went up 21-0 in the first quarter.
109 — Kyler Murray rushed for 109 of Oklahoma’s 163 rushing yards in the game. Murray also threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns.
471 — Total yards of offense by Oklahoma against Alabama, the most by any team against the Crimson Tide this season. Similarly, the Sooners’ 308 passing yards were the most against Alabama this season.
499 — New NCAA scoring record posted by Oklahoma all-purpose kicker Austin Seibert. Seibert kicked two field goals in the game and four extra points for a total of 10 points. His third-quarter field goal broke the previous scoring record 0f 494 set by former Arizona State kicker Zane Gonzalez.