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Five reasons why Oklahoma will beat Clemson in the Orange Bowl
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops had become a victim of his own success, creating an unsustainable standard that nearly sunk the whole operation last season. Every season for Sooners fans is about contending for national titles. No excuses. No exceptions.
So when 2014's 4-0 start cliff-dived with three losses over the next five games -- and reality set in that Sugar Bowl hero quarterback Trevor Knight was more flash in the pan than elite talent -- panic among the fan base ensued. It reached darn-near apocalyptic levels when Oklahoma got crushed in the Russell Athletic Bowl by none other than the Clemson Tigers.
The 8-5 season led Stoops to fire offensive coordinator Josh Heupel and switch gears back to a spread offense.
One year later, and "Big Game Bob" is back on top of the college football world. His Sooners (12-1), led by fiery transfer quarterback Baker Mayfield and the new Air Raid offense, are Big 12 champs, set to take on -- oh, yes -- those Clemson Tigers in a national semifinal for the right to play for another national championship.
Here's why the Sooners can pull off the Orange Bowl win vs. the Tigers.
1. Revenge!
While most of America probably couldn't tell you the score of the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl, let alone the two teams that played, everyone inside the state of Oklahoma has a very clear memory of the 40-6 drubbing Dabo Swinney's Clemson team put on the totally discombobulated Sooners. The players who wear crimson and cream haven't forgotten either, and they'd love nothing more than to send the No. 1 Tigers back home empty-handed.
2. Lincoln Riley and the Air Raid
Stoops took a gamble that letting go of Heupel and bringing in 32-year-old offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley would get the Sooners rolling again. Did it ever. Oklahoma averages more than 540 yards of offense and more than 45 points a game. It can run with with the powerful Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon. It can throw it, with Mayfield targeting deep threat Sterling Shepard, plus DeDe Westbrook and Durron Neal. In the eight games since OU inexplicably lost to Texas, the Sooners have scored at least 50 points five times. It's a multifaceted attack that will have the Tigers spending hours in the film room devising a plan to slow it down.
3. Baker Mayfield
This guy just knows how to win. An underdog overachiever of the first order, Mayfield walked on at Texas Tech and took home the Big 12's Freshman Offensive Player of the Year Award. Taking over the Sooners' new offense this season, he's won games and won over his teammates with his attitude, guile and conviction as much as his skill -- which has been pretty good, too. Mayfield has completed 243 of 354 passes for 3,389 yards and 35 touchdowns, with just five interceptions. And if he can't find a receiver, Mayfield burns opponents with his legs. He's rushed for 420 yards and another seven touchdowns. He's even had his ousted predecessor Knight jumping for joy over his lionhearted performances. The offense Clemson faced a year ago bears no resemblance to the force it will encounter on New Year's Eve.
4. Defense does it all
Explosive offense gets all the attention in the Big 12, but the Sooners have delivered some pretty salty defense this season, too. An experienced unit finished No. 1 in the Big 12 in scoring defense (20.8 points a game), total defense (350.7 yards a game), rush defense (149.2), pass defense (201.5) and sacks (38), and No. 2 in interceptions (19). In a conference that boasts the nation's No. 1-, No. 2- and No. 3-ranked offenses, those numbers show OU's defense has been doing work.
5. The Stoops factor
When Stoops took over Oklahoma in 1999, the Sooners hadn't won a national championship since 1985, and the decade prior to Stoops' hiring wasn't exactly happy times in Norman. Stoops won the national championship in his second season, and set an impossible standard -- national championship or bust every single season. He got the Sooners back to the BCS title game in 2003, 2004 and 2008, but "Big Game Bob" lost them all. And now as much time has passed since Stoops' first title and the time between '85 and his hiring. Stoops has proved this season that he's got his edge, and now he's determined to get the last laugh.
