On a cold, hard night in Stillwater, No. 3 Oklahoma came in and crushed No. 11 Oklahoma State in their own house, 58-23, to clinch the 2015 Big 12 title. The Sooners scored 28 straight points between the first and second quarter to build a huge lead, then kept cruising in the second half en route to the conference championship, their first since 2012 and eighth under Bob Stoops.
Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State 2015 final score: Sooners crush Cowboys 58-23 to clinch Big 12 title
The Sooners may have locked up a College Football Playoff berth with an emphatic win over their in-state rivals.
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It was a complete effort for the Sooners, and their third win in Bedlam in the past four years. Baker Mayfield was efficient but not spectacular, going 17-25 for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He didn't have to be amazing, though, as the running game did the heavy lifting for the Sooners' offense. Both Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon went over 100 yards and each had two touchdowns, as Oklahoma rushed for 344 yards and five touchdowns as a team. Sterling Shepard had 10 receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown.
J.W. Walsh started for Oklahoma State, as Mason Rudolph was dealing with an ankle injury. Walsh had a productive night by the numbers -- 25-42 for 325 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception -- but two first half turnovers, one of which was returned for a touchdown, handed the game to Oklahoma, who obliged without second thought. James Washington had his customary huge game, bringing in seven receptions for 169 yards and a touchdown, but it just wasn't enough to overcome a weak defensive effort by the Cowboy defense.
Three things to know
1. The Sooner rushing game kept rolling. Oklahoma was criticized early in the year for not utilizing their running game as much as they should, but they’ve been rolling teams on the ground for weeks now and continued Saturday night in Stillwater. This was the Sooners’ seventh straight game with over 200 rushing yards as a team, and second straight with over 300 yards.
2. The wheels came off Oklahoma State’s season. The Cowboys’ schedule was wildly backloaded, so it’s no surprise that they picked up losses in their final two games. Oklahoma State was overwhelmed in the face of better teams first against Baylor, then against Oklahoma, showing that while they were a better team than most people predicted, they simply weren’t good enough to compete for a Playoff spot.
3. So, about that Playoff spot. The Sooners were in the field in the latest Playoff rankings at No. 3, but as we saw last year when TCU dropped out of the field after a huge win, these things can be hard to predict. The Sooners should be in good shape at 11-1 to keep their Playoff place, especially with Notre Dame losing to Stanford, and they certainly look like one of the top four teams in the country. But until we see the final rankings, it’s impossible to be 100 percent sure Oklahoma is in.
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