Sooners make playoff pitch with convincing victory
No. 5 Oklahoma 39, No. 9 Texas 27
ARLINGTON, Texas — In Lincoln Riley's mind, Oklahoma has done its part to make the College Football Playoff. The Sooners coach even went one step further — he believes his team has the talent to win it all.
Kyler Murray had another Heisman Trophy-worthy performance, Oklahoma's much-maligned defense made some key big plays and the fifth-ranked Sooners won a fourth straight conference title with a 39-27 victory over No. 9 Texas in the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium on Saturday.
Now the 12-time league champs wait to find out if all of that is good enough to get back into the playoff. They entered the game fifth in the penultimate playoff rankings, one spot out, before dispatching the Longhorns, who were 14th in the CFP poll.
"There is no doubt we have a playoff-worthy team, but I understand that there are other factors there too that we can't control," Riley said. "We've done all we can."
Murray was 25-of-34 Oklahoma tight end Grant Calcaterra makes a one-handed touchdown catch in front of Texas defensive back B.J. Foster for the clinching touchdown with two minutes left in the game.
passing for 379 yards and three touchdowns as the Sooners (12-1) avenged their only loss and made a case for their third playoff appearance in four years. They are the only Big 12 team to have made the playoff.
Asked whether the Sooners' defense is good enough to win a national title this season, Riley quickly answered yes.
"Based on we beat everybody on our schedule. You've got to win by one point, these games, the last time I checked," Riley said. "We've had some of our best performances here
the last couple of weeks, in huge, huge games, huge moments against dynamic offenses."
Two of Murray's TD throws were to Grant Calcaterra, who had an impressive one-handed grab for an 18-yard score on third-and-10 with two minutes left.
The Sooners became the first Power Five team to win four outright conference titles in a row since Florida in the SEC in the mid-1990s.
Sam Ehlinger was 23-of-36 passing for 349 yards with two touchdowns, and he also ran for two scores for Texas (9-4). But his final pass was picked off by Tre Norwood at the 1 in the final minute, and he also was sacked for a critical safety.
"Our defense did a great job getting the ball back to us; offensively we didn't take care of our part of the bargain," Ehlinger said. "That's on us, that's on me. I will make it my mission to never let this team or this school feel this disappointment again."
Two plays after Oklahoma's only turnover, when receiver CeeDee Lamb fumbled inside the 10 after a 54-yard catch-andrun with nine minutes left, the Sooners got points anyway. Cornerback Tre Brown was unblocked on a blitz and knocked down Ehlinger in the end zone
for a safety that made it 32-27.
The safety was a huge play for a Sooners defense that had allowed at least 40 points in each of the previous four games — three of those being OU victories by a combined nine points.
Oklahoma didn't trail after Murray threw TD passes on its last two drives before halftime for a 20-14 lead. Calcaterra hauled in a 6-yard TD catch in the final minute when the Sooners were out of timeouts but went 80 yards in five plays.
Lamb finished with six catches for 167 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown in the first half. Texas receiver Collin Johnson set a Big 12 championship game record with 177 yards on eight catches. He had a 27-yard TD in the third quarter.
The Longhorns have come a long way in two seasons under coach Tom Herman. They were coming off three consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the 1930s when he became coach.
"We earned the right to play in a big-time bowl game," Herman said.
Texas will go to its first Sugar Bowl since 1995 if Oklahoma gets into the playoff. If not, the Longhorns likely are headed to the Alamo Bowl.