Oklahoma might be new to the SEC, but it is no stranger going head-to-head with the conference’s best teams. As the Sooners prepare for their SEC debut against No. 6 Tennessee in a top-15 tilt on Saturday night, let’s take a look back at their recent history against their new conference foes.
Oklahoma has historically fared well against the SEC. The Sooners are 110-49-8 against current members (excluding Texas) and 24-13-3 if you remove former Big 12 rivals Texas A&M and Missouri. In the 21st century, Oklahoma has faced SEC opponents 14 times with an 8-6 record. However, that record contains some devastating losses in the BCS Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.
On the eve of Oklahoma’s first SEC matchup, let’s review how it’s performed against the conference in this millennium.
Jan. 1, 2002: No. 10 Oklahoma 10, Arkansas 3
This Cotton Bowl was the epitome of a defensive slugfest; both teams struggled to move the ball. The Sooners were able to move it a little more than the Razorbacks, though, and the difference was a Nate Hybl QB sneak touchdown. Defensively, All-American Roy Williams was all over the field for Oklahoma and completely stifled the Arkansas offense.
Sept. 7, 2002: No. 2 Oklahoma 37, Alabama 27
The unranked Crimson Tide came into Norman and gave the Sooners a dogfight. Oklahoma went into halftime with a 23-2 lead, but Alabama responded with 24 straight points to take a fourth-quarter lead. The Sooners steadied themselves in front of the home crowd and scored the final two touchdowns for the win. Wide receiver Mark Clayton had a heroic performance with two long touchdown catches — one from Hybl and one from a young quarterback named Jason White.
Sept. 6, 2003: No. 1 Oklahoma 20, Alabama 13
Once again, a highly ranked Oklahoma team found itself in a slugfest with an unranked Alabama squad before coming out on top. White, now the starting quarterback for the Sooners, goes for 259 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Bryant-Denny Stadium. For the second year in a row, the Tide had trouble covering Mark Clayton, who got loose for a 46-yard score. The Sooners defense picked off Alabama QB Brody Croyle twice.
Jan. 4, 2004: No. 2 LSU 21, No. 1 Oklahoma 14
This BCS Championship Game was not exactly a quarterback clinic. Together, White and LSU’s Matt Mauck completed 44.1% of their passes for 226 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions. Both defenses came to play on college football’s biggest stage, but LSU more plays than Oklahoma. Tigers defensive lineman Marcus Spears recorded a sack and then a pick six on the first two plays of the second half. That proved to be the difference in a game where Oklahoma had problems moving the ball.
Jan. 8, 2009: No. 2 Florida 24, No. 1 Oklahoma 14
Oklahoma went five years before facing another SEC team, but it was once again in the BCS Championship Game. Sooners legend Sam Bradford had just beaten Tim Tebow for the Heisman Trophy.
Gators defensive back Major Wright set the tone on the first drive of the game with a hit on Sooners wideout Manuel Johnson that would draw 10 flags today. Tebow totaled 340 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Florida speedster Percy Harvin racked up 171 yards and a touchdown on 14 touches.
Bradford, fresh off his Heisman win, didn’t have his best game. Bradford tied the game early in the fourth quarter with an 11-yard touchdown to Jermaine Gresham, his second of the day, but threw a costly pick moments later and Florida scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive.
Jan. 4, 2013: No. 9 Texas A&M 41, No. 11 Oklahoma 13
Oklahoma simply fell victim to one of the best quarterbacks in college football history. Heisman winner Johnny Manziel went off for 516 yards of offense (287 passing, 229 rushing) and four touchdowns.
Despite that superhuman effort by Manziel, the Sooners trailed by just one point at halftime, 14-13. In the third quarter, Manziel and the Aggies really took over, scoring 20 straight points. Mike Evans made some big catches in an 83-yard performance. Sooners QB Landry Jones did put up 278 yards and a touchdown to go along with an interception, but he and the rest of the offense couldn’t keep up with Manziel.
Jan. 2, 2014: No. 11 Oklahoma 45, No. 3 Alabama 31
Bob Stoops’ “propaganda” comment ruffled some feathers around the SEC, but he backed up his words in a Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama a few months later. Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight and Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron combined for 735 yards, but Knight played a much cleaner game.
Oklahoma closed the first half on a 17-0 run, but Alabama closed the gap to 38-31 with 6:22 remaining. The Crimson Tide had the chance to tie the game with just under a minute, but an Eric Striker strip-sack and Geneo Grissom’s scoop-n-score sealed the deal.
Sept. 13, 2014: No. 4 Oklahoma 34, Tennessee 10
Tennessee was simply outclassed in Norman, and Oklahoma was never really in danger of losing this game. Trevor Knight torched the Volunteers for 308 yards, throwing to Sterling Shepard early and often as part of a 109-yard performance. Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator that day: Vols coach Josh Heupel, who was fired at the end of that season.
Sept. 12, 2015: No. 19 Oklahoma 31, No. 23 Tennessee 24 (2OT)
The 2014 matchup between Oklahoma and Tennessee was a snoozefest, but the two played an absolute banger in Knoxville a year later. This game wound up being a coming out party for Baker Mayfield, who engineered a comeback in perhaps the loudest environment I’ve ever heard at Neyland Stadium.
The Volunteers jumped out to a 17-0 lead but didn’t score again until overtime. Mayfield and the Sooners didn’t even find the end zone until the fourth quarter, but they did so twice in the final 8:20. A 5-yard pass from Mayfield to Sterling Shepard tied the game with just 40 ticks remaining on the clock.
In the first overtime, Baker Mayfield converted on fourth-and-goal and Shepard killed the Vols again with an 18-yard touchdown catch in the second overtime. On the ensuing Tennessee possession, Zach Sanchez picked off Josh Dobbs to end the game.
Jan. 2, 2017: No. 7 Oklahoma 35, No. 14 Auburn 19
Oklahoma didn’t get off to the best start in what was ultimately coach Bob Stoops’ last game. The Tigers scored a touchdown on the opening drive, but the Sooners tightened the screws after that; Auburn wouldn’t reach the end zone again until garbage time. Mayfield was brilliant, but the real stars of the show were running backs Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine, who combined for 177 yards and three scores on the ground. Mixon was also a problem in the passing game with a team-best five catches for 89 yards.
Jan. 1, 2018: No. 3 Georgia 54, No. 2 Oklahoma 48 (2OT)
For my money, this is the best game in College Football Playoff history. Oklahoma just happened to be on the wrong side of it.
Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner, did everything he could to get the Sooners into the national championship, and Lincoln Riley’s offense was cooking against the Georgia defense. But the Sooners had no answers for the Bulldogs’ run game. Trailing 31-17 at halftime, Georgia just kept pounding the rock with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. That two-headed monster combined for 326 yards rushing and five touchdowns. It was fitting for Michel to send Georgia to the national championship with a 27-yard touchdown run following a blocked Oklahoma field goal from 27 yards out.
Dec. 29, 2018: No. 1 Alabama 45, No. 4 Oklahoma 34
The following season, Oklahoma had another chance to reach the national title game. This time, though, the Sooners dug too deep a hole to really have a chance. Alabama took a 28-0 lead two minutes into the second quarter. Oklahoma managed to cut the deficit to 11 points but didn’t have enough gas in the tank to finish the comeback. Tua Tagovailoa had 318 yards passing for Alabama, 177 of which went to DeVonta Smith and Jerry Jeudy. Oklahoma’s Heisman winner Kyler Murray did his part with 417 yards of offense and three touchdowns.
Dec. 28, 2019: No. 1 LSU 63, No. 4 Oklahoma 28
The third of Oklahoma’s three straight SEC CFP semifinal opponents was on a historic run for which the Sooners had no answers. This one wasn’t even remotely competitive. The Sooners got Joe Burrow’d to the tune of 493 yards and seven touchdowns, all of which came in that first half. Burrow then added a rushing touchdown in the second half. Like most other teams in the 2019 season, the Sooners couldn’t cover Justin Jefferson, who caught 14 passes for 227 yards and four scores.
Dec. 30, 2020: No. 6 Oklahoma 55, No. 7 Florida 20
If the Sooners were salty about going 0-3 against the SEC in College Football Playoff semifinal matchups, they took out their frustrations on the shell of a Florida team in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma just took Gators behind the woodshed in every facet of the game. Quarterback Spencer Rattler and running back Rhamondre Stevenson were a problem, and the Sooners picked off Florida quarterback Kyle Trask three times, one of which went back for a pick six.
