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Oklahoma football: Big 12 champs hoping five equals four

By Chip Rouse

ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 07: CeeDee Lamb #2 of the Oklahoma Sooners (with trophy) and teammate Jalen Hurts #1 (right) celebrate after defeating the Baylor Bears 30-23 in the Big 12 Football Championship at AT&T Stadium on December 7, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 07: CeeDee Lamb #2 of the Oklahoma Sooners (with trophy) and teammate Jalen Hurts #1 (right) celebrate after defeating the Baylor Bears 30-23 in the Big 12 Football Championship at AT&T Stadium on December 7, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /
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All season long Oklahoma football has succeeded on the backs of its nation-leading offense. In the Big 12 Championship on Saturday, it was the Sooner defense that showed up big in the key moments.

The Sooners held the Baylor offense to just 265 yards of offense, nearly 200 yards below their season average and just 23 points, 38 fewer than the 61 they scored a week again in a rout of Kansas.

Playing without their starting quarterback, Charlie Brewer, who was removed from the game in the second quarter with a head injury, Baylor came from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 23-all on a 27-yard field goal with just under four minutes to go in regulation and eventually send the game to overtime.

With 9:41 left in the game, the Baylor offense had gained just 105 total yards.

A five-yard touchdown run by OU’s Rhamondre Stevenson in overtime provided the winning margin. A 15-yard face mask penalty by Baylor linebacker Jordan Williams set up the Sooners at the 11-yard line in overtime. Jalen Hurts ran for six yards to the five before Stevenson’s game-winning score.

The OU defense set Baylor back 10 yards in three plays in the Bears’ overtime possession, and on fourth down and 20 yards to go for a first down to extend the possession and the game, a pass by the third Baylor quarterback, freshman Jacob Zeno, fell incomplete, ending the game and igniting the Oklahoma celebration.

CeeDee Lamb caught eight passes for 173 yards and a touchdown and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Championship

The victory, Oklahoma’s second over Baylor in the last three weeks, gives the Sooners five consecutive Big 12 championships and 13 overall. OU has appeared in 11 Big 12 title games and won 10.

With the win and the Big 12 championship, coupled with No. 5 Utah’s loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship on Friday along with No. 4 Georgia’s loss to LSU in the SEC Championship, the Sooners must now sit back and wait to see whether the College Football Playoff selection committee will elevate OU into the fourth and final spot in this year’s Playoff.

The final Playoff rankings will be revealed on ESPN at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday.

Here are 12 other notable numbers that tell the story of the 24th Big 12 Football Championship:

3 for 3 — Gabe Brkic was three for three in field goals and was successful on all three of his extra-point attempts. For the season, he has made all 17 of his field-goal tries and is 48 for 48 in extra- points.

4 — The Sooner defense forced a punt on each of Baylor’s first four possessions in the Big 12 Championship.

4-0 — Oklahoma is 4-0 all-time against opponents who entered the game with an 11-1 record.

5.9— Yards per play by the Sooners in the Big 12 Championship. It was their second lowest single-game performance this season (the averaged 5.5 yards per play in the earlier game against Baylor).

6 — Sacks recorded in the game by the Oklahoma defense, the most since posting nine in the win over Texas this season. The Sooners had not produced more than three sacks in any of the last six games.

9 — Pass completions by three Baylor quarterbacks in the game out of 27 attempts, and 0 receptions by Denzel Mims, the leading Baylor receiver.

13:00 — Oklahoma’s time of possession was almost 13 minutes longer than Baylor (36:36 to 23:24).

15 — The Oklahoma defense made 15 tackles for loss in the game, tying a season high (also against Texas).

71 — CeeDee Lamb had a 71-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter for Oklahoma’s first score in the game. That gives him 23 catches of at least 40 yards, tying him with Ryan Broyles (2008-’11) for the most in school history.

151-42 — The Sooners have outscored their opponents 151-42 in the first quarter in 13 games this season. OU led 10-0 over Baylor after one quarter in the Big 12 Championship.

325 — Total yards of offense accounted for by Jalen Hurts in the Big 12 Championship game (287 passing and 38 rushing).

889 — Yards by which Oklahoma has outgained its last four opponents (Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma State and Baylor).

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