WACO, Texas – Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts embraced with head coach Lincoln Riley in a huge bearhug, and then ran to be with the OU student section. He was joined by linebacker Kenneth Murray and a bevy of others, smiling from ear to ear.
Never in the first half did it look like the Sooners would be victorious, but following a second half for the history books, they did.
OU accomplished its biggest comeback in program history. Think about that – OU history and how long and storied that is, and Saturday added another chapter. A 25-point deficit was slowly erased and OU walked out with a memorable 34-31 win against previously undefeated Baylor on Saturday night.
“It's a moment where you've got to embrace it. You've got to embrace it and enjoy,” Hurts said. “Coach Riley, man. Coming in here, I always say it's a challenge. A challenge coming to play here, a challenge coming in and having to put your full and complete trust in a whole entire new group, something you're not used to.
“But man, when we have that trust, when we have that belief in one another, when we're going out there and executing without any doubt, we're pretty good.”
The term “Sooner Magic” gets thrown around a lot, but it usually involves one magical play. This was 30 minutes of all phases of the game coming together to keep No. 10 OU’s hopes alive of winning a fifth Big 12 championship and making a fourth college football playoff.
OU outgained Baylor 368-69 in total yards in the second half, running 58 plays compared to Baylor having just 16.
After coming just short of a 25-point comeback three weeks ago against Kansas State, the Sooners finished the job this time around.
“I don't really know what the difference was, but this time, when we went into the locker room, the biggest thing we talked about as a team was belief and keeping the faith,” linebacker Kenneth Murray said. “That's what we told guys: 'Keep your head up. Continue to keep the faith. As long as you keep faith, everything's going to be OK.' We knew it we all continued to buy in, then everything would work out in our favor.”
The defense did its part, and then Hurts woke up. Perhaps jolted by the fact star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb wasn’t going to play because of a medical issue, OU’s vaunted offense was anything but in the first half.
Hurts had more turnovers (2) than touchdowns (1) as OU trailed 31-10 at halftime. What proceeded is the largest comeback to defeat an FBS undefeated team that came in at 9-0 or better since the NCAA began in 1937.
What proceeded was an epic half that Hurts and OU fans will never forget.
“It’s just pretty awesome to see a kid that wants to win so bad and then has those turnovers, you know, and is part of the reason that we’re in the hole,” Riley said. “And then to come back and play like he did the rest of the half and then the second half, what more could you say?”
Hurts finished 30 of 42 for 297 yards with four touchdowns and one interception and two lost fumbles but a 24-0 second half to keep all the goals intact for the next few weeks.
The defense did the rest. OU forced two takeaways in the second half, its first takeaways since September. Parnell Motley stripped the ball that was recovered by Pat Fields. Sealing the deal was an interception by redshirt freshman Nik Bonitto with 28 seconds to let the celebration begin.
“I give him a lot of credit,” defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. “He made a big play last week that PMot came up with at the tail end of the game. He's another young player for us as a redshirt freshman that, when Jon-Michael went out, his role changed. Making a couple plays the last couple weeks has gotta be a springboard for him.”
With a season on the brink, OU didn’t blink. It’s too early to discuss playoff scenarios, but the discussion does live on for another week because of one unbelievable night in Waco.
