Tag: Matt Rhule

NORMAN, Okla. — The rematch is here.

No. 6 Oklahoma (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) and No. 8 Baylor (11-1, 8-1) are set for a clash in the Big 12 Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Sooners needed a historic comeback less than a month ago to down the Bears 34-31. Oklahoma was down 28-3 early in the second-quarter and then 31-10 at half. The 25-point deficit was the largest deficit an Oklahoma team has ever overcome and win a football game.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts turned it on in the second-half and the defense stiffened up to shutout Baylor in the second-half.

Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley met with the media on Monday to preview the Big 12 Championship game. Here is what he said about the rematch with Baylor.

---

Media: What turned the defense around after halftime in the first game?

Lincoln Riley: “I don’t know that there’s some eureka moment. We’ve certainly caused turnovers since the second half that game and been pretty consistent with that. That’s certainly been big. I think we keep getting a little bit better each week. It’s a constant climb, every year, even if your system’s four or five years old, it’s always a constant climb, and especially in the first year of a system. Totally new coaches, scheme, everything. It takes time. And if you’re coaching it the right way and if your players are responding the right way, then it should get better. Our guys have bought in and we certainly look a lot different than we did even early in the season when we played well, too. So we’re getting better and we’ve adapted to ways that people have attacked us and young guys have continued to grow and evolve, and I give our staff a lot of credit.”

M: How much emphasis do you put on the first game?

LR: “This is a different game. Everything is different about this game. It’s not a road game for us, it’s not a home game for them. Championship games are different. They just feel different. Everything about them’s different. So our focus has just got to be on this one and how we can play our very best. We know we’re going to have to play well to beat Baylor. They’re a darned good football team. They played well, studying them up to our game, then obviously they’ve played extremely well after. So we realize the challenge it’s going to be and it’s going to be its own game for sure.”

M: Do you have to guard against overanalyzing the first game?

LR: “Everybody’s different. These games the last few years probably have helped us in that guys that have been in college, you don’t normally play the same opponent twice in the same year. Felt very different for TCU a couple of years ago. Very very different. Now it feels more regular. So I’m glad our team’s done well enough that it feels regular. I think it’s not a whole lot different than studying a team from the past. This or that. That’s kind of the back and forth you always go through as coaches. How much to analyze, how much to scheme, how much not to. That’s kind of the fun in it. But it is a little bit of a new dimension with the second game, and thankfully our staff has had a lot of good experience there.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

As Lincoln Riley says, “The game is never as good as you thought, and it’s not going to be bad.”

On first glance, I really could not figure out how to explain this game. The Oklahoma offense and Jalen Hurts went from looking like a defeated group to one of the best in college football. The defense went back to its first eight week self.

After every game, Sooners Wire’s Kegan Reneau will rewatch and provide his final thoughts before moving on to the next one.

Here are the grades for the unit and the grades for individuals who ended up on the stat sheet or were noticeable for Oklahoma. These grades reflect how the Sooners played on that game indicative of the perception Reneau expects them to play.

---

QUARTERBACK — B

Jalen Hurts — B

So, let’s account for two halves of football. 

You put a truth serum in anyone watching that game, the thought of making a change at quarterback didn’t sound like a bad one for Oklahoma to make.

Then, Jalen Hurts became the best player in college football in the second half.

He got a C- for the first half and an A in the second half. Hurts was so, so good coming out of the locker room. Precise and accurate pre-snap reads led to quick throws against man and match quarters coverage. 

If this is the turning point for the Jalen Hurts’ Era at Oklahoma, it comes right at the perfect time. 

RUNNING BACK —  B+

Kennedy Brooks — B+
Rhamondre Stevenson — B

Brooks and Stevenson missed a couple of holes and cut backs, but overall, this was quality work when Oklahoma needed it the most. 

H-BACK — B

Jeremiah Hall — B
Brayden Willis — B

This position remains as steady as it comes. Willis’ touchdown and Hall’s blocking was the right blend at the H-back position. 

WIDE RECEIVER — B+

Charleston Rambo — B
Nick Basquine — B-
A.D. Miller — B+
Theo Wease — A
Jadon Haselwood — N/A

The beginning of the Theo Wease, Jadon Haselwood and Trejan Bridges Era is near, but how about the contribution by A.D. Miller? One of the crazier offseason stories ended up playing out in Oklahoma’s favor. 

TIGHT END — A+

Lee Morris — A+
Austin Stogner — A+

The Lee Morris game everyone will be talking about forever. Austin Stogner’s two touchdown catches provides just another look at the future. 

OFFENSIVE LINE — C+

Stopping James Lynch was a major problem up front, and it was enough to really cause issues for Oklahoma’s offense and the offensive line. R.J. Proctor was a better fit than Erik Swenson. I’d expect this to continue.

OFFENSE — 83

Jalen Hurts second half saved this grade from a low C to a mid-B. The offense was outright dominant, and for the first time all year, didn’t rely on CeeDee Lamb to make it look statistically historic. Take away the turnovers by Hurts, how many yards does Oklahoma put up on one of the best defenses in college football?

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

WACO, Texas — Don’t act like you haven’t heard an Oklahoma fan say it before.

Growing up in the state of Oklahoma or spending time around Sooners, the word ‘Sooner Magic’ is sprinkled throughout Oklahoma football lore.

As head coach Lincoln Riley entered the postgame press conference after his team put together the greatest comeback in the program’s storied history, the room became dead silent.

It stayed that way.

Then Riley looked up from the stats page in front of him.

“Well, that was fun. Where do you start?”

Where the hell do you start after overcoming a 28-3 deficit to beat Baylor 34-31 in its own stadium keep your dreams and hopes alive?

It’s easy, really.

Sooner Magic.

“You never know 100% that you’re going to be able to come back from something like that, but I think they all felt like we had a chance,” Riley said after the game. “I got to be honest, even at Kansas State when we got down in that third quarter, I think maybe about half of us really believed we had a chance to come back and win that thing. In this one, there was not one person on that sideline that didn’t believe it.”

Belief absolutely had to be there.

But Jalen Hurts becoming the best player in college football after looking like a player that could be replaced at halftime. A defense that was knocked around and then down turning into a dominant force. A slew of freshmen receivers having a coming out party.

None of it actually makes sense.

Ask Jalen Hurts, who acknowledged that the media in the postgame press conference probably didn’t think they’d win after halftime, which he was 100 percent right.

Not a single non-biased person who watched the first half of that game thought the Sooners could overcome it. That’s the magic in it, but this one may be the biggest trick the Oklahoma football team has pulled out of the hat yet.

“It’s a moment where you’ve got to embrace it,” Hurts said about heading to the Oklahoma fans in the standing room only section in McLane’s Stadium south end zone. “You’ve got to embrace it and enjoy. Coach Riley, man. Coming in here, I always say it’s a challenge. A challenge coming to play here, a challenge coming in and having to put your full and complete trust in a whole entire new group, something you’re not used to. But man when we have that trust, when we have that belief in one another, when we’re going out there and executing without any doubt, we’re pretty good.”

Since Riley got to Norman, Oklahoma, in 2015, the magic has been rampant.

Down 17 points in Knoxville, Tennessee, in one of the loudest environments in college football, some walk-on named Baker Mayfield illustrious Oklahoma career was born in a comeback 34-27 overtime win over Tennessee in which the Sooners scored 14 points in the fourth-quarter.

The Sooners erased a 45-24 with 21 unanswered in the fourth-quarter lead against Texas in OU-Texas part I in 2018 after the offense sputtered and the defense put up a performance its coordinator got fired for. Then, already once this year, Oklahoma about erased the first 25-point deficit of the season in the fourth-quarter against Kansas State after an abysmal performance by Alex Grinch’s defense and the first blemish on Jalen Hurts’ OU career.

This time around, Lincoln Riley ended up on the right side of the comeback—one that he will cherish and hopes it can spark this team in the right direction.

“As a coach, there’s a lot of great wins. We’ve been lucky to have a ton of them here. Coming back like we did, how it all played out, this one is up there for sure. I am beyond proud, also beyond excited about us continuing to grow. I think people still see we got a lot of things to continue to grow and get better. I think this can be a catalyst for that. I think it will be.

Our best ball is coming soon.”

The numbers won’t help anyone truly understand.

The film will to an extent, but it will still leave you questioning, ‘How?’

It’s unthinkable. It’s unimaginable. It’s inexplicable.

That’s the Sooner Magic, though. The same thing my grandpa told my dad about during his day. Then my dad told me during his.

I just had to see it happen for my own eyes to believe.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]