A defensive-dominant 17-6 win over No. 22 Missouri now leaves the 8th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners just one win shy from landing a spot in what at the beginning of the month seemed like an improbable path to the College Football Playoff.
For the third-straight game in what college football experts like to call Championship November, the Sooners beat a top-25 opponent, with two of those coming on the road at two of the most difficult places to play in all of college football at then-No. 14 Tennessee and then-No. 4 Alabama.
Oklahoma held Missouri's offense, ranked No. 21 among FBS teams entering Saturday's game, to 301 total yards and to just six points, its second-lowest offensive output of the season. A big part of that was holding the country's leading rusher, Mizzou sophomore running back Ahmad Hardy, to 57 yards. Just a week ago, Hardy ran for 300 yards against Mississippi State.
It was the second time in as many weeks that the Sooners produced fewer than 300 yards of offense in a winning effort, prompting media critics to question whether OU was deserving of a place in the College Football Playoff on defense alone, representing a marked contrast from Oklahoma's four previous CFP appearances.
"Winning is the goal, and all that matters," OU quarterback John Mateer said postgame. "Some people say we should win pretty. That's a good defense, so I'm proud of the guys, and I'm proud of the offense."
Missouri scored all of its points on two first-half field goals. The Tigers' seven second-half possessions ended in a punt, punt, interception, punt, turnover on downs and an interception.
Since suffering a 34-26 loss at home to then-No. 8 Ole Miss, the Sooners have played and beaten three straight top-25 teams and now have wins over five ranked teams at the time the game was played. With one game remaining in the regular season, Oklahoma's nine wins are three games better than last season, the Sooner's first year as a member of the SEC.
A win Saturday against an LSU team that three weeks into the season was ranked No. 3 in the country but has struggled the second half of the season, losing three of its last four games against SEC opponents, should assure Oklahoma a place in the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019.
Notable numbers from OU's must-have win over Missouri
0 -- Missouri had 70 rushing yards in the first half but zero yards on the ground in the second half.
.940 -- Oklahoma's winning percentage in the month of November since the start of the 1998 season (47-3).
2 -- This was OU quarterback John Mateer's second game of the season with multiple touchdown passes. He had three in the season-opening wins over Illinois State.
4 -- Missouri is the fourth team this season the Sooner defense held without a touchdown.
9 -- This was the ninth time this season Oklahoma has registered at least eight tackles for loss and the seventh with at least four sacks.
12 -- The nation's rushing leader, Missouri's Ahmad Hardy, had 45 rushing yards in the first quarter against Oklahoma but just 12 more the rest of the game.
19 -- The Sooners have now won 19 consecutive games against Missouri in Norman. The Tigers have not won a game at OU since 1966.
20 -- OU's defense held Missouri to a 20% success rate (3-of-15) on third-down conversion attempts on Saturday. Why was that significant? Mizzou came into the game with a success rate of 49.3% on third-down tries, 12th-best in the country.
70 -- Missouri entered the game as the country's 6th-best rushing offense, averaging 241.7 yards per game. The Tigers produced just 70 yards on the ground against the nation's 4th-best rushing defense. It was the seventh time this season Oklahoma has held its opponent under 100 rushing yards.
109 -- OU wide receiver Isaiah Sategna caught seven passes for 109 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown reception. He has 56 catches this season for a career-high 827 yards.
165 -- Saturday's game marked the 165th consecutive sellout at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.