Oklahoma Sooners Win Sixth-Straight Big 12 Championship, Beating Iowa State 27-21
The Oklahoma Sooners and Iowa State Cyclones met at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX for the 2020 Big 12 Championship Game and it was the Sooners holding on for a 27-21 win.
One of the biggest moments took place 33 seconds into the game when starting Iowa State safety Isheem Young was ejected from the game due to targeting.
The Sooners would capitalize on the penalty and score on the opening drive as Chandler Morris ran it two yards in for the score, capping off a seven-play, 65-yard drive to give the Sooners a 7-0 lead.
The two teams then exchanged miss field goals, before the Sooners struck again. This time, it was Marvin Mims with two huge catches on the drive. The first one came on final play of the first quarter, when it looked like Iowa State had an interception, before the ball landed in the hands of Marvin Mims.
Then on the first play of the second quarter, QB Spencer Rattler found Mims behind a dejected Iowa State secondary for a 45-yard score to give Oklahoma a 14-0 lead.
The two teams would combine for three punts in a row before Gabe Brkic got revenge for his missed field goal earlier to nail a career-long 54-yard field goal to put Oklahoma in a dominant 17-0 lead with 8:34 to play until halftime.
The next drive saw plenty of drama as Matt Campbell lost it on the Big 12 refs when he expected an offsides call against Oklahoma on a fourth a short in OU territory. Iowa State did not get the call, but converted on fourth down. However Brock Purdy then threw his first interception of the day in the end zone, as he was picked off by Tre Norwood.
But the Cyclones would finally get on the board on their next drive as Brock Purdy hooked up with Charlie Kolar for a 10-yard score to cap off a six-play, 66-yard drive and cut the Oklahoma lead to 17-7.
But with less than two minutes to play until halftime, Oklahoma’s Tre Brown returned the kick off 43 yards to the Iowa State 45-yard line. The Sooners were in business as QB Spencer Rattler took it in three plays later from nine yards out to put Oklahoma back on top by 17 and take a 24-7 lead into halftime at AT&T Stadium.
The third quarter began with both teams exchanging punts, before Iowa State QB Brock Purdy, with some momentum in OU territory, was picked off for the second time of the day by Pat Fields. But Oklahoma could not turn that turnover into points. In fact, it would be part of a scoreless quarter for the Sooners.
The only points came on Iowa State’s nine-play, 90-yard drive as Iowa State running back Breece Hall finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to cut the Oklahoma lead down to 24-14. That would be the score entering the final 15 minutes of action.
The fourth quarter included a combined three-straight punts by both teams before the Cyclones strung together an impressive 12-play, 87-yard drive that resulted in a Breece Hall three-yard touchdown run to cut Oklahoma lead to 24-21.
However the Sooners would get their first points of the second half on the next drive with a Gabe Brkic 32-yard field goal that was helped set up by Tre Brown’s 43-yard kick return. Oklahoma had a 27-21 lead with two minutes left in the game.
The Iowa State Cyclones started the drive at their own 30-yard line and took the ball into OU territory down to the 33-yard line. The Iowa State offensive line had two-straight false starts to set them back to a 2nd and 20. After gaining 10 yards back, it was 3rd and ten and the Cyclones appeared to get the play in late. A quick snap resulted in Brock Purdy under pressure and after rolling out to the right, Purdy lofted the ball in the air down the right sideline in Hail Mary fashion and for the third time, he was picked off with Tre Brown coming down with the ball for the Sooners.
The interception sealed a 27-21 win and a sixth-straight conference title for the Oklahoma Sooners, their longest run since the 1970’s and 1980’s.
For the Sooners, quarterback Spencer Rattler finished 22/34 for 272 yards and one touchdown pass and one touchdown run. Marvin Mims had seven catches for 101 yards and a score, while Rhamondre Stevenson had 18 carries for 97 yards.
On the other side, Brock Purdy went 27/40 for 322 yards, with one touchdown to three interceptions. Breece Hall was quiet by his standards for 79 yards on 23 carries, but he did have two touchdown runs. Xavier Hutchinson led the Cyclones at wide receiver with 10 catches for 114 yards.
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