Oklahoma football: Sooners have strong history of bouncing back after defeat

Nobody expected the Oklahoma football team to go 12-0 in 2022.

Most realistic prognostications had the Sooners pegged for a loss or two in Brent Venables’ first season as head coach, but when that loss occurs at home in just the fourth game – as it did in Saturday’s 41-34 upset by Kansas State – the “Boomer Doomers,” as Norman, Okla. sports radio host Mike Steely (KREF) has penned the naysayers within the fan base, have come out in full force.

But Oklahoma always seems to respond to regular-season defeats. Only once since Bob Stoops’ first season in 1999 have the Sooners lost two regular-season games in a row (2020: Kansas State in Norman, at Iowa State).

In every other instance in the 2000s, Oklahoma has followed up a regular-season loss with a regular-season win, which should bode well for Saturday’s trip to TCU.

Take a look:
2021 (11-2, Alamo Bowl champions) – Oklahoma was 8-0 and ranked fourth when it lost at No. 18 Baylor, 27-14. The Sooners rebounded the next week against Iowa State in Norman, 28-21, but a second loss at No. 7 Oklahoma State kept Oklahoma from the Big 12 championship game.

2020 (9-2, Big 12 champions/Cotton Bowl champions) – The lone example. The pandemic shortened the regular season to nine games, and Oklahoma was 1-2 after its first back-to-back losses in the regular season since Bob Stoops’ debut season in 1999. Unranked Kansas State and its virus protocol-depleted roster shocked the Sooners in Norman, 38-35, before unranked Iowa State beat Oklahoma for the first time in Ames since 1960, 37-30.

2019 (12-2, Big 12 champions/College Football Playoff qualifier) – Oklahoma was 7-0 and ranked fifth when it lost at Kansas State, 48-41. The Sooners won their next five games, including the Big 12 title game, and qualified for the College Football Playoff.

2018 (12-2, Big 12 champions/College Football Playoff qualifier) – Kyler Murray quarterbacked Oklahoma to a 5-0 record and a No. 7 ranking before losing to No. 19 Texas in Dallas, 48-45. The Sooners won their next seven games, including a rematch with ninth-ranked Texas for the Big 12 championship and reached the College Football Playoff.

2017 (12-2, Big 12 champions/College Football Playoff qualifier) – Three games after defeating No. 2 Ohio State on the road, Oklahoma was 4-0 and ranked third when it was upset by unranked Iowa State at home, 38-31. Many were predicting a second loss with Texas up next, but Baker Mayfield and the Sooners reeled off eight wins in a row, including a Big 12 championship and reached the College Football Playoff.

2016 (11-2, Big 12 champions/Sugar Bowl champions) – In Bob Stoops’ final full season at head coach, preseason No. 3 Oklahoma sandwiched a neutral-site loss against Houston in the season-opener and a three-touchdown defeat at home to No. 3 Ohio State with a home rout of Louisiana Monroe. From there, the Sooners won out. A 10-game win streak included a Bedlam victory to secure the Big 12 title and a rousing Sugar Bowl win over Auburn.

2015 (11-2, Big 12 champions/College Football Playoff qualifier) – Oklahoma was 4-0 and ranked tenth when it lost to Texas in Dallas, 24-17. The Sooners responded in dominant fashion with a 55-0 win over Kansas State in Manhattan. It was the first of seven wins in a row, capped by a 58-23 win at No. 9 Oklahoma State for the Big 12 championship. Oklahoma qualified for the College Football Playoff.

2014 (8-5, lost Russell Athletic Bowl) – Oklahoma lost four regular season games, but never two in a row. The Sooners rebounded from a loss at TCU by winning the Red River Rivalry. A disappointing 3-3 home record included home losses to No. 14 Kansas State and No. 10 Baylor, but both times Oklahoma won its next game on the road (at Iowa State, at Texas Tech).

2013 (11-2, Sugar Bowl champions) – Two weeks after defeating No. 22 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., Oklahoma 5-0 and ranked 12th when it was upset by unranked Texas in Dallas. The Sooners reponded with wins at Kansas and at home against Texas Tech before being embarrassed on the road at No. 5 Baylor. Oklahoma closed with four wins in a row, highlighted by a win in Stillwater, Okla. over No. 6 Oklahoma State and a 45-31 Sugar Bowl triumph against No. 3 Alabama.

2012 (10-3, co-Big 12 champions/lost Cotton Bowl) – Oklahoma opened the conference slate with a home loss to Kansas State, and many expected the losses to pile up with a road trip to Lubbock, Texas up next. The Sooners beat Tech, 41-20, and crushed Texas in Dallas, 63-21. A three-game win streak was halted at home against No. 5 Notre Dame, but the Sooners closed the regular season with five wins in a row.

2011 (10-3, won Insight Bowl) – Preseason No. 1 Oklahoma started the season 6-0, which included a win at No. 5 Florida State and a 55-17 rout of Texas in Dallas, but was upset at home by Texas Tech. With undefeated and 10th-ranked Kansas State up next, the Sooners had their doubters. A 58-17 win at Manhattan started a brief two-game win streak. After losing at No. 25 Baylor, the Sooners handled Iowa State at home 26-6.

2010 (12-2, Big 12 champions/Fiesta Bowl champions) – Oklahoma was 6-0 and ranked third when it lost at No. 18 Missouri, 36-27. After routing Colorado at home, the Sooners lost for the second time in three games, 33-19, at Texas A&M. Oklahoma closed the season with five wins in a row, including a Big 12 title game comeback over Nebraska and a rout of Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl.

2009 (8-5, Sun Bowl champions) – The loss of Sam Bradford to injury in the season-opening defeat to BYU in Arlington, Texas gave way to a five-loss season, but incredibly none were back-to-back.

2008 (12-2, Big 12 champions/lost BCS National Championship game) – No. 1 Oklahoma lost to Texas, then did not lose again until the BCS National Championship Game against Florida.

2007 (11-3, Big 12 champions/lost Fiesta Bowl) – A 4-0 start including a home blowout over Miami (Fla.), but the Sooners were upended three games later at Colorado. Predictably, a loss right before the Texas game brought plenty of predictions of the Sooners’ demise, but Oklahoma started a five-game win streak with a 28-21 Red River victory. Oklahoma was up to No. 3 in the rankings when it lost at Texas Tech, but closed the regular season with a 49-17 home win over Oklahoma State before qualifying for the Fiesta Bowl with a triumph over No. 1 Missouri in the Big 12 title game.

2006 (11-3, Big 12 champions/lost Fiesta Bowl) – No. 15 Oklahoma rebounded from a controversial loss at No. 18 Oregon by routing Middle Tennessee State, but followed that up with a loss to Texas in Dallas. The Sooners shook off the Texas loss to win their next eight, including a Big 12 championship game over Nebraska in Kansas City, Mo.

2005 (8-4, won Holiday Bowl) – The rebuilding Sooners lost four times in the regular season with Rhett Bomar under center, but never twice in a row. A controversial loss at Texas Tech interrupted what would have been a seven-game win streak for the Sooners, highlighted by a 17-14 win over No. 6 Oregon in the Holiday Bowl.

2004 (12-1, Big 12 champions/lost BCS National Championship game) – Oklahoma lost no regular season games.

2003 (12-2, lost BCS National Championship game) – Oklahoma lost no regular season games.

2002 (12-2, Big 12 champions/Rose Bowl champions) – Oklahoma was 8-0 and ranked No. 1 when it lost at Texas A&M, 30-26. The Sooners rebounded with routs of Baylor and No. 24 Texas Tech, before losing at Oklahoma State. Oklahoma still won the Big 12 and earned its first Rose Bowl berth, where it comfortably defeated Washington State.

2001 (11-2, Cotton Bowl champions) – Oklahoma was 7-0 and ranked second when it lost at No. 3 Nebraska, 20-10. The Sooners won their next three games before being shocked at home by 3-7 Oklahoma State, 16-13. The Bedlam loss kept Oklahoma out of the Big 12 title game, but it did win the Cotton Bowl over Arkansas.

2000 – Undefeated national champions.