Oklahoma football: Stoops’ ’08 Sooners vs. Riley’s ’17 Boomers/Game 5

Had our fantasy Oklahoma football championship showdown between Bob Stoops’ 2008 team and Lincoln Riley’s 2017 Sooner squad been a one-game series, the 2008 team, with Sam Bradford at the controls, would have hoisted the fictional trophy — just as it did in beating the 2015 Sooner team in our earlier Best of the 2000s Playoff simulation.

The 2008 Sooners actually won the first two games in this best-of-seven championship series between the teams we consider to be the best of Stoops’ OU teams and the best so far in three seasons under Riley. Mayfield and the 2017 team refused to fold, however, and the Sooner squad that was the No. 2 seed in the 2017 College Football Playoff fought back, winning games three and four to knot the series at two games apiece.

Now we have a best two-out-of-three series as the two teams set out to break the deadlock in Game 5 of our fantasy simulation, courtesy of WhatIfSports.com.

If you haven’t been following, Stoops’ 2008 Sooners won games one and two by scores of 38-26 and 59-55 in two overtimes. Meanwhile, Riley’s 2017 Boomers came back with consecutive victories in games three and four, 44-31 and 42-37.

So, let’s get at it. Game 5 is next:

Game 5 — Bob Stoops’ 2008 Sooners vs. Lincoln Riley’s 2017 Boomers

The 2017 Sooners overcame a 21-7 first-quarter deficit and a combined 10 touchdowns accounted for by Sam Bradford and DeMarco Murray in outlasting Bob Stoops’ 2008 OU team 59-56 to take a 3-2 lead in their fantasy best-of-seven championship series to crown the best Oklahoma team of the first two decades of the new millennium.

Lincoln Riley’s 2017 Boomers, quarterbacked by Baker Mayfield, trailed at the half, 35-24, for the first time in the championship series and were behind 42-38 entering the final quarter.

The Boomers took their first lead in the game 43 seconds into what turned out to be a back-and-forth fourth quarter on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Mykel Jones. Stoops’ Sooners regained the lead, 49-45, in the ensuing possession on a two-yard pass from Bradford to Manuel Johnson.

Mayfield  responded  with touchdown passes to Jones and Trey Sermon in consecutive possessions as the 2017 Boomers produced 14 unanswered points to break the game open.

DeMarco Murray’s 13-yard touchdown pass from Bradford with 39 seconds remaining, one of three TD catches for Murray in the game, ended the scoring and resulted in the final three-point margin, but the game was essentially over two minutes before that.

Mayfield completed 32 of 40 passes for 409 yards, including seven touchdowns, as Riley’s 2017 team rolled up 638 yards of total offense. Rodney Anderson contributed 195 rushing yards, the second time in the last three games he has run for 178 or more yards.

The 2017 team possessed the ball for 13 more minutes in the game than Stoops’ Sooners, aided largely by an impressive 11 of 12 third-down conversions.

With its third consecutive win, Riley’s 2017 Boomers can end the series and win the championship with a victory in Game 6 over Stoops’ 2008 Sooners.

Lincoln Riley’s 2017 Boomers 59, Bob Stoops’ 2008 Sooners 56

(The 2017 Boomers now have a commanding 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series)