For the second year in a row Oklahoma and Texas provided an instant classic of a football game. For the second year in a row records were broken in this historic rivalry. Most notable among those was OU’s comeback. The Sooners overcame a 21-point deficit (trailed 28-7) to mark its largest comeback victory against Texas. Prior to Saturday, the largest deficit overcome for an OU win in the series was 11 points in 1996 and again in 2002. OU trailed 41-23 with 2:45 left in the third quarter and scored 25 straight points to take a 48-41 lead.
Running back Kennedy Brooks scored two fourth quarter touchdowns, both times he put the Sooners in front, with the second one being the final blow to the Longhorns. Both touchdowns were the exact same play call and it was the only two times that play was run on the day.
Game Notes
• Saturday marked the highest-scoring game in series history. The 103 points topped the previous record of 98 points last year (OU won 53-45 in quadruple-overtime).
• The win was the Sooners’ 14th straight, good for the second-longest streak in the country.
• Lincoln Riley improved to 5-1 against Texas as Oklahoma’s head coach. The Sooners have won 10 of the last 13 meetings.
• Oklahoma is 17-10 against the Longhorns in the Big 12 era (since start of 1996 season), and 16-7 against Texas since the start of the 2000 season.
• OU’s 662 total yards were its third most ever against Texas (third 600-yard game). The Sooners outgained Texas by 285 yards after the first quarter (587 yards to 302).
• This was Oklahoma’s 15th game with 300 passing yards and 300 rushing yards (339 rushing and 323 passing today), and its 11th since the start of the 2015 season (when Riley arrived as offensive coordinator).
• In 84 games since the start of the 2015 season, OU has registered at least 600 yards of offense 28 times. The Sooners have topped 500 yards 56 times, including in 46 of the last 68 outings.
• Texas’ Bijan Robinson (137 rushing yards today on 20 carries) was only the second running back over the last 19 games to rush for more than 100 yards in a game against Oklahoma (Iowa State’s Breece Hall had 139 yards in the third game of last season).
• Dating back to the start of the 2012 season, Oklahoma is 45-8 (.849) in regular season games away from home.
• The 58 combined first-half points were the most ever in an OU-Texas game. The previous high was 52 points in 1971.
• Oklahoma has outscored opponents 74-16 in second quarters through six games this season (Texas scored 10 points in the second quarter on Saturday).
• OU’s second-quarter fumble was its first lost fumble of the season.
• Oklahoma has registered at least one takeaway in 13 straight games and is plus13 in turnover margin during that span.
• Nine Sooners caught at least one pass in the game. At least nine receivers have caught a pass in each of OU’s six games this season.
• Oklahoma held Texas to 4 of 12 on third downs. This was the 13th time in the last 14 games OU has held its opponent below a 50% third-down conversion rate.
• This is Oklahoma’s second 6-0 start in the last 10 years. OU started the 2019 season 7-0.
Nik Bonitto
• Was credited with five tackles (three solo), including 1.5 sacks, and three QB hurries in the game. He now has 4.0 sacks and a team high 7.0 tackles for loss this season.
Gabe Brkic
• Made field goals of 40, 35, 29 and 26 yards. His 17 points tied a school record (matched three others, including Trey DiCarlo vs. Texas in 2003), as did his four field goal makes.
• This was the 14th game in school history in which a player made four field goals, and the fourth by Brkic.
• The only other Sooner with four field goals vs. Texas was Mike Vachon in 1966 (was the first four-field goal game in program history).
• Has made at least two field goals four times this season, and in 11 of his last 13 games dating back to last season’s contest vs. TCU.
Kennedy Brooks
• Made his first start of the season and rushed for career highs of 217 yards and three touchdowns (tied) on 25 carries (8.7 average).
• His 217 rushing yards represented OU’s fourth-best individual rushing performance against Texas.
• He became OU’s first 200-yard rusher since Trey Sermon at Texas Tech in 2018 (206 yards) and first vs. Texas since Samaje Perine in 2016 (214 yards).
• This was his 10th career 100-yard rushing game, and his sixth with at least 150 yards. It was his second 100-yard rushing game against Texas (had 105 yards in 2019).
• His 65-yard run in the third quarter was OU’s second-longest rush of the season and longest by a running back this year. It was his 10th career rushing play of at least 40 yards.
Caleb Kelly
• His forced fumble on Texas’ fourth-quarter kickoff return was his first of the season and the fifth of his career.
• It was his first forced fumble since the 2018 season (scoop and score at West Virginia). He played in four games in 2019 and missed the 2020 season due to injury.
Marvin Mims
• Registered a career-high 136 receiving yards and two touchdowns on five receptions (27.2 average). This was his third career game with two TD receptions.
• His TD catches on Saturday were his first of the season after setting an OU freshman record last season with nine.
Spencer Rattler
• Scored his third rushing touchdown of the season and the ninth of his career on a 2-yard play in the first quarter. He completed 8 of 15 passes for 111 yards in the game.
Michael Turk
• His 85-yard punt in the first quarter tied for the third-longest in school history (matching Tress Way’s 85-yarder against Utah State in 2010) and was OU’s longest ever against Texas.
• Averaged 58.0 yards on three punts (totaling 174 yards), which is the second-best single game punting average in school history (Way averaged 58.8 yards on six punts against Oklahoma State in 2009).
Caleb Williams
• Completed 16 of 25 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed four times for 88 yards and a score. The two TD passes were the first of his career (both went to Marvin Mims).
• His 300 yards of total offense (88 rushing, 212 passing) were the most by an OU true freshman against Texas.
• Scored his second rushing touchdown of the season with a 66-yard run on 4th-and-inches on the first play of the second quarter. It was OU’s third longest rushing TD by a quarterback against Texas (Jack Mitchell had a 72-yard TD run in 1947 and Kyler Murray had a 67-yard TD run in 2018).
• His 66-yard run was OU’s longest scrimmage play of the season.
Perrion Winfrey
• Recorded a sack, two tackles for loss and a QB hurry in the game (three total tackles, all solo). He leads the Sooners with 4.5 sacks and has 6.0 TFLs this season.
Full Game Notes (SoonerSports.com)
Follow us on Twitter: @SportsHeartland