Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
No. 8 Sooners outlast Cowboys as Big 12 rivals redefine ‘bedlam’
QB Mayfield powers Oklahoma to victory
STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have met 112 times. Never had they played a game quite like this.
The teams combined for 114 points and more than 1,400 yards as Heisman Trophy hopefuls Baker Mayfield and Mason Rudolph seemingly traded
GAME OF THE DAY
touchdowns at will.
Bedlam sure lived up to its name. Mayfield passed for a school-record 598 yards and No. 8 Oklahoma outlasted No. 11 Oklahoma State 62-52 on Saturday in the highest-scoring game in the history of the rivalry. Mayfield threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score.
“He was awesome, played at an elite level,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “He’s been through enough of these. He doesn’t blink, he doesn’t flinch. He’s made for atmospheres like this. It’s his favorite thing in the world.”
Rudolph passed for 448 yards and five touchdowns, but he had two critical turnovers in the second half.
“It was a heck of a college football game,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “I just wish we had made a couple more plays later than they did.”
Marquise Brown caught nine passes for a school-record 265 yards, and he had touchdown receptions of 84 and 77 yards for the Sooners (8-1, 5-1 Big 12, No. 5 CFP). Oklahoma gained 785 total yards, tied for the fourth-most in school history and the Sooners’ second-best outing since 1988.
Oklahoma, which entered the day tied for the Big 12 lead, positioned itself well to possibly reach the Big 12 Championship Game and strengthened its case for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
“We win ballgames,” Mayfield said. “No matter how you put it, we win ballgames. It’s ‘Championship November.’ We keep winning, we’ll take care of our own destiny.”
Oklahoma State (7-2, 4-2, No. 11 CFP) appeared to have lost its last chance against the Sooners when Oklahoma’s Tre Brown intercepted the ball off a deflection with 1:56 remaining and the Cowboys trailing 55-52. A targeting penalty against Oklahoma’s Will Johnson negated the play, but the Cowboys couldn’t take advantage of the extra opportunity.
Justice Hill ran for a career-high 228 yards for Oklahoma State and James Washington caught seven passes for 128 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game in the second half with an ankle injury.
The game was tied at 38-all at halftime. In the second quarter, the teams combined for 52 points and 540 yards. Mayfield passed for a school-record 387 yards in the first half. Rudolph hung in there with him and passed for 258 yards and three touchdowns. Brown tied Juaquin Iglesias’ school record for yards receiving in a half with 178 before the break.
After the offenses slowed down in the third quarter, they went back to work in the fourth to set up the tight finish.
“It was like a 15-rounder,” Riley said. “It was a heavyweight battle. Both teams laid it all on the line.”