TCU Horned Frogs vs Oklahoma Sooners Match Player Stats On Dec 02, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 2, 2017

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Baker Mayfield passed for 243 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another 65 yards in leading No. 3 Oklahoma to a dominating 41-17 victory over No. 11 TCU Saturday in the Big 12 Conference Championship game at AT&T Stadium.

The Sooners (12-1) won their third straight Big 12 championship and their 46th overall conference title while almost assuredly locking up a spot in the College Football Playoff, in which they last played in 2015.

Mayfield, voted the game's most valuable player, also strengthened his firm grip on the Heisman Trophy.

Oklahoma led just 24-17 after a first half that was even statistically, but the Sooners dominated the second half, outgaining TCU 226-95 in offensive yards after halftime and shutting out the Horned Frogs. Oklahoma ran 12 consecutive rushing plays to eat up the final eight minutes of the game, putting a final stamp on the contest.

Rodney Anderson paced the Sooners' rushing attack with 93 yards on 24 carries.

Kenny Hill led the Horned Frogs with 234 passing yards and two touchdowns. The Horned Frogs gained just 83 yards on the ground and had two costly turnovers.

Oklahoma moved 51 yards in 13 plays on the game's opening possession before settling for a 41-yard field goal by Austin Seibert. Then the Sooners got a gift as TCU running back Kyle Hicks fumbled on the Horned Frogs' first offensive snap; Caleb Kelly corralled the bouncing ball and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown.

The Sooners added to their lead with a 5-yard TD pass from Mayfield to Mark Andrews to culminate a 10-play, 81-yard march that garnered Oklahoma a 17-0 advantage.

TCU answered, and then some, scoring twice in the first seven minutes of the second quarter to claw back to within 17-14. The first TD came when Hill lobbed a 29-yard touchdown pass over an Oklahoma defensive back and into the hands of Jalen Reagor. The second was even more spectacular as John Diarse snagged Hill's 12-yard throw with his right hand while on tight coverage and got a knee on the ground before going out of bounds.

Mayfield and Andrews hooked up again for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 3:45 to play in the second quarter before Cole Bunce added 26-yard field goal in the half's waning seconds to cut the Oklahoma lead to 24-17.

TCU hadn't allowed a second-half touchdown its past six games, including against the Sooners in the regular-season meeting. Oklahoma discarded those trends in a flash, striking for a 55-yard TD pass from Mayfield to Mykel Jones on its first offensive snap of the third quarter to push OU's lead to 31-17.

Mayfield added his fourth scoring play on the Sooners' third play of the quarter, again going deep and finding Marquise Brown for a 52-yard scoring strike that all but finished off the Horned Frogs.

NOTES: This was the Big 12's first conference title game since 2010. The announced attendance was 64,104. ... These two teams played in the regular season, with the Sooners earning a 38-20 home victory Nov. 11. ... Oklahoma's 17 first-quarter points was the most ever scored in an opening quarter in Big 12 title game history. No team had even led by more than 16 points in the history of this game until the Sooners led by 17 in the first quarter on Saturday.