It was 17-17 at half and Dede Westbrook had been knocked out of the game with a concussion. The Sooners couldn’t run the ball (only had 40 yards rushing) and it looked like the Sooners were in for a long day on a cold rainy day.
The second half happened however, and we saw a complete and thorough dismantling of the Pokes. The Sooners outscored the Pokes 21-3 in the second half (could have been 28-3 if not for Perine taking a knee on the 1 at the end of the game).
Here are some major takeaways as the Sooners won their 10th Big 12 Championship.
Big 12 Champs. Again. pic.twitter.com/B98sIjMCxg
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) December 3, 2016
Perine and Mixon Star
Perine had 239 yards rushing and Mixon added 99. Mixon added a TD reception and the Sooners looked like a completely different team in the second half, as they pounded the Pokes relentlessly on the ground. The Sooners amassed 301 of their 341 yards on the ground in the second half.
Mayfield Far Superior to Rudolph
Not sure what was wrong with Rudolph on the day, but to say his performance was bad would be putting it nicely. Rudolph finished the day 11 for 25 for 186 yards and was constantly missing open wide receivers.
Mayfield was near perfect on the day going 13-19 (with at least 3 drops) for 288 yards and 3 TDs. He was surgical hitting WRs and extended numerous plays by scrambling before before hitting WRs.
Mike Gundy Shrinks from the Moment
Kicking a FG in the 1st quarter, not throwing it deep before half, kicking a FG in the 4th (which Grogan missed) was the final result of a coach who seemingly played scared. Not saying the Mike is a bad coach, but the narrative will be that he came up little when the Pokes needed him to come up big.