Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Numbers to know ahead of Big 12 Championship

By Chip Rouse

Jan 5, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of the field and the fans and the stands during an NFC Wild Card playoff football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 5, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of the field and the fans and the stands during an NFC Wild Card playoff football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Iowa State has beaten the Oklahoma football team seven times in 85 total games between the two teams.

Two of the Cyclones’ seven wins against the Sooners, however, have occurred in the last four games (38-31 in Norman in 2017 and 37-30 this season in Ames), and the another was a one-point Oklahoma win (42-41 in 2019 in Norman, when an Iowa State two-point attempt failed with under 30 seconds to go in the game).

The numbers tell it all in sizing up how good a game this season’s Big 12 championship game is expected to be. The No. 10 Sooners may encounter the most difficult challenge they have faced in winning five consecutive conference championships, including the last three played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Iowa State will be the fourth different Big 12 team Oklahoma has played since the Big 12 championship game was reinstated after being discontinued from 2011 through 2016.

Here are a dozen numbers Sooner fans will want to know and watch for in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship between Oklahoma and Iowa State:

1 vs. 2 — This year’s Big 12 Championship will feature the Big 12’s best run defense and fourth-best nationally (Oklahoma, allowing 88.1 rushing yards per game) against the Big 12’s best rushing offense (Iowa State, averaging 199.9 yards per game).

2 — This will be the second time in four years that Oklahoma will be go against a team it lost to earlier in the season in the Big 12 championship game (Texas in 2018; the Sooners won in the rematch, 39-27).

6.8 — Average yards per play by the Iowa State offense this season, No. 1 in the Big 12. OU’s 6.7 yards per play is second-best in the conference.

13 — Big 12 football championships won by Oklahoma, three time more than the next closest teams (Texas and Nebraska have won three).

15-2 — Oklahoma’s record against Iowa State in the Big 12 era.

27.0 — The third-down conversion rate by Oklahoma’s opponents this season, 5th best among FBS teams.

27 — The Oklahoma defense registered six sacks in its first three games this season. Since then, the Sooners have 27 sacks in their last six games.

44 — A win over Iowa State on Saturday will give Lincoln Riley 44 wins in his first four season as the Sooners’ head coach, eclipsing Bob Stoops for the most by any OU football coach in his first four seasons

135.7 — Average rushing yards per game by Iowa State RB Breece Hall, the Big 12 leader and No. 1 in the country. He rushed for 110 yards in the Cyclones’ earlier game this season against OU.

138-36 — Margin by which Iowa State has outscored its opponents in the last 14 quarters.

229-74 — Margin by which Oklahoma has outscored its opponents in the first half this season.

976 — Oklahoma and Iowa State combined for 976 yards of offense in their earlier game this season (Oklahoma 499, Iowa State 477).

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