The Oklahoma Sooners (No. 7) are still alive in the College Football Playoff hunt after beating No. 21 Oklahoma State Saturday night in Stillwater.
We didn’t see as many offensive fireworks as we have from Jalen Hurts and Co. in the past on this chilly evening, but the Sooners found a way to get the big dub just the same.
Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from Oklahoma’s 34-16 win against Oklahoma State.
Winner: Jalen Hurts made the most of his chances
The Sooners didn’t throw the ball a ton Saturday night, but when Hurts did take his shots downfield he made the most of his opportunities. The star quarterback completed an efficient 13-of-16 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown.
As usual, Hurts also made some plays with his legs, rushing for 61 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts. But what set this performance apart from the usual was the fact that Hurts was on the receiving end of a touchdown in the first half on a spiffy trick play (watch here).
Loser: CeeDee Lamb was very quiet
A player who is among the nation’s most explosive offensive weapons, Lamb has been on a cold streak of late since missing the Baylor game with a head injury. Coming off a two-catch performance against TCU, Lamb once again was unable to break out Saturday against Oklahoma State.
The junior showed frustration at times when his opportunities to create after touching the ball were limited by Oklahoma State’s defense. Lamb would finish the game with just 44 yards on six touches.
Winner: Sooners defense was stellar
The Sooners have been frustratingly bad on defense for much of the second half of this season. This is a unit that gave up 48 points to Kansas State, 41 points to Iowa State and 31 points to Baylor in recent weeks. And given the challenge Chuba Hubbard presents on a weekly basis, it was worth wondering if the Sooners would once again be burned by their defense.
That didn’t happen. Granted, Oklahoma State was rolling with backup Dru Brown. But it was still impressive to see the Sooners play so consistently well on defense. They allowed just 335 total yards and 16 points, which is a marked improvement at just the right time heading into next weekend’s Big 12 Championship Game.
Loser: What happened to Chuba?
When you have a Heisman candidate like Chuba Hubbard, you have to feature him like the star he is. The Cowboys did not do that with Hubbard Saturday night.
While backup quarterback Dru Brown piled up 32 attempts in the passing game and four rushing attempts, Hubbard touched the ball 27 times all game long. But 18 of those touches took place in the first two quarters, and he was essentially a non-factor in the game’s final two.
Winner: Kennedy Brooks spearheads Oklahoma’s dominant rushing attack
The Sooners came into this one with a game plan to pummel the Oklahoma State defense into submission, and they pulled it off to perfection. Smash-mouth football at its finest, Oklahoma rammed the ball down the neck of its rival, gaining 283 yards at a 6.4-yards-per-carry clip and scoring two touchdowns on the ground.
Leading the charge, Kennedy Brooks had a huge game rushing the ball. The redshirt sophomore racked up 160 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.