Oklahoma football: Why 6, 1 and 1 can equal both 4 and 8 for OU in 2019
By Chip Rouse
The most important number in any sport is the one on the scoreboard, and no college team has put up more points on the gridiron than Oklahoma football.
In 1,274 games in 124 seasons, the Sooners have scored 35,793 points, the most all-time in college football. That’s an average of 28 points a game, which will generally win you a lot of games– except, that is, in the current day Big 12 Conference, where high-scoring games are a regular occurrence.
The past two seasons, behind two different starting quarterbacks, Oklahoma has averaged 45.1 and 48.4 points, respectively. Baker Mayfield was the signal caller in 2017 when the Sooners had the third-highest scoring offense, at 45.1 a game, and Kyler Murray was at the controls last season when OU’s 48.4 average led the nation.
In 2019, the Sooners will feature their third different starting quarterback in as many seasons, when Alabama graduate transfer Jalen Hurts moves into the job, although head coach Lincoln Riley has not officially named the starter for the coming season.
At Oklahoma, in Riley’s first two seasons as a college head coach, the most important number has been the one worn by the quarterback — No. 6 by Mayfield and No. 1 by Murray — both of whom were awarded the Heisman Trophy and were No. 1 overall picks in their respective NFL Drafts.
Hurts wore jersey number two in his three seasons at Alabama, but he will switch to No. 1 at OU because junior wide receiver CeeDee Lamb wears No. 2.
If you are into astrological signs and sayings or have a superstitious side when it comes to gazing in your crystal ball and predicting football outcomes, here is something to ponder as the days get shorter counting down to the start of the 2019 college football season.
The sum of Mayfield, Murray and Hurts’ jersey numbers (6+1+1) is eight, which is the number of national championships Oklahoma will have won in football when the Sooners win their next one. You can also subtract two (1+1) from six, which comes to four, the number of College Football Playoffs will have made it into in the six seasons of the new format if they make a return appearance this season.
OK, this is way-out-there thinking, but a little spiritual intervention isn’t a bad thing to have on your side every college football season. At Oklahoma, we have an actual name for it: Sooner Magic!