College Football

Top Plays: Oklahoma fights off Oregon comeback

Updated Dec. 30, 2021 12:43 a.m. ET

Bowl season is off and running, and Wednesday featured three big-time matchups.

Maryland kicked off the day with a dominant 54-10 win over Virginia Tech in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Then, No. 19 Clemson held off Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl, winning 20-13.

To end the evening, Bob Stoops and No. 16 Oklahoma fought off a valiant comeback attempt from No. 14 Oregon to win the Valero Alamo Bowl 47-32.

Here are the top plays from Bowl Wednesday:

Valero Alamo Bowl –– No. 16 Oklahoma 47, No. 14 Oregon 32

Defense wins bowl games

The Sooners started out on a high note when Justin Broiles got this pick on Oregon's first possession.

But offense helps, too

Oklahoma turned that turnover into six points when running back Kennedy Brooks scored on a 16-yard scamper, capping off a 9-play, 54-yard drive.

Stoops connection

After Lincoln Riley left to become head coach at USC, Oklahoma called in former head coach –– the legendary Bob Stoops –– to coach its bowl game.

And his son Drake Stoops was the beneficiary of some red zone play-calling, when Caleb Williams found Stoops for six.

Pulling away

It's still early, but looks like Wednesday night is the Sooners' night.

Williams founds Marvin Mims Jr. for this 55-yard score with four minutes to go in the first half, extending OU's lead to 23-3.

The rout is on

On its next drive, Oklahoma went 64 yards in six plays, finishing the drive with a 29-yard TD run from Brooks to go up 30-3 headed into halftime.

Comeback trail?

Oregon has a long way to go, but it started the second half off on the right foot, scoring a touchdown with a two-point conversion on its first drive of the third quarter.

After the 11-yard TD run from Travis Dye, Oklahoma leads 30-11.

More like "The Oklahoma Trail"

Yeah –– Oklahoma is on tonight.

The Sooners have now scored touchdowns on four straight possessions and scored at least a field goal on every possession since punting on their first possession.

Their latest was 6-yard pass from Williams to Eric Gray to put OU up 37-11.

The scoring won't stop

Oregon, after scoring just three points in the first half, has now scored two TDs on back-to-back possessions to begin the third.

Anthony Brown laid out this bomb to Dont'e Thornton for a 66-yard score, and OU now leads 37-18.

Points are good

If you like touchdowns, you're in the right place.

OU has now scored a touchdown on five straight possessions, after Brooks scored his third rushing TD of the evening to put OU up 44-18 at the 4:55 mark of the third.

MORE POINTS

Both the Ducks and Sooners have scored a TD on every possession of the first half.

This time, Brown found Kris Hutson for a 34-yard score. Oklahoma leads 44-25 heading into the fourth quarter.

Ducks keep streak alive

After Oklahoma settled for a field goal, breaking its run of five straight TDs, the Ducks scored a TD for the fourth consecutive possession, with Brown hitting Troy Franklin for a 30-yard score with 6:46 to go in the game.

The Ducks' outburst in the second half was too little too late however, as the Sooners ran out the clock in the end and earned a 47-32 win.

Cheez-It Bowl –– No. 19 Clemson 20, Iowa State 13

Defensive battle

At halftime, Clemson and Iowa State had put a combined nine points, with the Tigers leading 6-3.

Clemson's D.J. Uiagalelei has 145 yards passing, while ISU's Brock Purdy has 112, but neither QB has been able to push his team into the end zone.

Finally!

After a 16-play, 79-yard drive, the Tigers notched the first touchdown of the night when freshman running back Will Shipley jogged in for a 12-yard score.

When disaster strikes

Less than a minute after Clemson scored the first offensive TD of the day, it scored the first one on defense, when Purdy's pass was batted into the air and the ISU quarterback tried to knock it down to avoid a turnover.

It didn't quite work out how Purdy intended, however, as Mario Goodrich caught the batted ball and returned it 18 yards for the pick-six.

Right back atcha

Iowa State won't go away quietly it seems.

The Cyclones' Jake Hummel picked off Uiagalelei at the Clemson 28-yard line with 2:27 left in the third quarter.

However, ISU was unable to find its way to the end zone, going three-and-out and kicking its third field goal of the night.

At the end of three, Clemson led 20-6.

Now it's a game

Iowa State pulled within seven at the 9:42 mark of the fourth when Purdy found tight end Charlie Kolar in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard score.

But that was as close as the Cyclones would get, as they were unable to score on their final two possessions. Clemson emerged victorious, 20-13.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl –– Maryland 54, Virginia Tech 10

To the house!

It didn't take long for the Terps to get things rolling in the postseason. Tarheeb Still froze Tech's defense on his first punt return, trekking 91 yards to pay dirt as Maryland got on the board first.

A long fly ball

Taulia Tagovailoa dialed up a deep one to Darryl Jones to give Maryland a 14-3 lead early in the second.

21 piece!

The first half was all Maryland, all the time. The Terps found the end zone for a third time in the first two quarters, courtesy of Antwain Littleton.

Up the gut

After a long scoring hiatus, the Hokies collected six points of their own on a QB sneak.

Extending the margin

After leading 24-10 at the half, Maryland expanded its advantage with this pitch-and-catch from Tagovailoa to Jones.

The unconventional route

Maryland's defense got in on the scoring effort early in the fourth quarter!