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Sooners blow out Cowboys, await Playoff berth

By The Sports Xchange
Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops. UPI/Mark Wallheiser
1 of 2 | Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops. UPI/Mark Wallheiser | License Photo

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Baker Mayfield's performance might not've been enough for a Heisman Trophy but the Oklahoma quarterback likely did enough to get the No. 3 Sooners into the College Football Playoff.

Mayfield showed no effects from a concussion he suffered a week earlier, throwing for 180 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 77 yards and a touchdown as Oklahoma blew out No. 11 Oklahoma State 58-23 in front of 58,231 at Boone Pickens Stadium.

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"This is incredible," Sooners center Ty Darlington said. "It's a great feeling just because of everything that we went through -- last year, all the stuff in the offseason. This team went through so much and battled so much adversity all year."

Oklahoma lost five games a year ago after being favored to win the conference then were the face of the campus reaction after a racist video made by an Oklahoma fraternity became public during spring practices.

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Then during the season, Oklahoma lost to Texas in a game it was heavily favored to win.

With their season over, the Sooners must wait to see whether or not they're included in the field.

Oklahoma (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) looked to be in good shape with a Bedlam win after jumping up above Iowa and Notre Dame in the latest rankings.

But with Notre Dame's loss to Stanford on Saturday night, the Sooners seem virtually assured of a spot.

"It feels really good but right now, we just really want to celebrate this Big 12 championship win," Sooners receiver Dede Westbrook said.

OU wasn't taking any chances in Bedlam, jumping out to a 34-10 lead in the second quarter and rolling from there.

The Sooners rushed for 344 yards in winning its first outright Big 12 championship since 2010.

"I knew we had a good football team, better than what people thought," Stoops said.

While the Sooners are likely heading to the playoff, Oklahoma State (10-2, 7-2) is likely headed to either the Alamo Bowl or Russell Athletic Bowl.

"I hate it that we couldn't play better tonight," Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said.

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For the third consecutive week, Oklahoma faced a team starting its backup quarterback.

Saturday, it was Oklahoma State's J.W. Walsh, who started in place of Mason Rudolph after Rudolph suffered a foot injury a week earlier against Baylor.

The quarterback injuries took a bit of the teeth out of a grueling three-game stretch the Sooners had against Baylor, TCU and the Cowboys to end the regular season.

But Oklahoma won two of the three games in convincing fashion, with only the win over TCU at home going down to the wire.

Rudolph did come into the game late in the first half with Oklahoma up 28-10 but was ineffective.

He didn't complete any of his three passing attempts and Sooners cornerback Jordan Thomas intercepted one of them and returned it 32 yards for a score midway through the second quarter.

The interception was one of two for Thomas in the first half.

Walsh threw for 325 yards and a pair of touchdowns but couldn't do enough to answer the Sooners' offensive firepower.

"They pretty much outcoached us," Cowboys defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah said. "We were outcoached."

Oklahoma running backs Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine combined to run for 269 yards and four touchdowns.

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Perine put the Sooners on top for good with a 68-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. The sophomore added a 25-yard touchdown in the second quarter and surpassed the 3,000-yard mark for his career late in the game.

Mixon had a 66-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to put the Sooners up 21-10 and blew the game open.

Oklahoma scored 30 points in the second quarter.

Since losing to Texas 24-17 on Oct. 10, the Sooners have won seven consecutive games by an average score of 52-19.

Oklahoma State's James Washington had seven catches for 169 yards and a touchdown.

NOTES: Ben Grogan's first-quarter field goal was the first since Oct. 10 for Oklahoma State's kicker. Grogan had missed his only two attempts since. ... The Sooners wore "kneeling Cowboys" stickers on their helmets in honor of the victims of the Oct. 24 Oklahoma State homecoming crash. ... Cowboys junior DE Emmanuel Ogbah was honored as part of OSU's Senior Day ceremonies before the game. Ogbah is expected to declare for the NFL Draft after the season. ... The start of the game was briefly delayed after a photographer had to be carted off after being hit as Oklahoma State took the field. ... With his first-quarter touchdown reception, Oklahoma WR Sterling Shepard tied Jermaine Gresham for third in school history with 26 career touchdown receptions.

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