It was three years ago this week (June 7, 2017) when Oklahoma officially handed the keys to Lincoln Riley to drive the Sooners football bus.
All this week, SoonerScoop.com is going to be a reflection of ‘Riley at 3 years,’ highlighting some of his important moments on and off the field and what’s to come in year No. 4 and beyond.
Riley at 3 years – Biggest wins
Honorable mention
No. 5 – OU 59, West Virginia 56 (Nov. 23, 2018)
No. 4 – OU 62, Oklahoma State 52 (Nov. 4, 2017)
Top 3
No. 3 – OU 39, Texas 27 (Dec. 1, 2018)
The one all OU fans were hoping for, following the 48-45 setback in the Cotton Bowl less than two months earlier. A second chance in the Big 12 championship. After being stymied in the first quarter, quarterback Kyler Murray and the OU offense came alive in the final three quarters. It’s not often a game has two moments that will live in the annals of OU history, but this does. Nobody is going to forget the safety of Sam Ehlinger by defensive back Tre Brown in the fourth quarter nor the one-handed touchdown catch by Grant Calcaterra with two minutes left. It wasn’t known then, but that turned out to be Calcaterra’s final touchdown of his career. Murray threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns.
He said it
“To sit here now as the four-time defending Big 12 champion, man, that sounds good. It took a lot from these guys here and the players and the coaches in that room. When the rest of the world didn't believe in them, they believed in themselves and that's why we're sitting here with this trophy right down here.
“That's part of the program. That's the expectations of this program with the great players and coaches before us built and it's just in every fiber of this program. You can feel it. It's a great place to be. I want to congratulate Coach Herman and Texas. What a tremendous year they had. They did a phenomenal job. We had two really hard-fought games with them, including the one today.
“It's surreal right now. I think everybody expected that we would be here. This is where we felt like we would be at the end of the year, but when you've got to go through the ups and downs, you've got to believe in yourselves. Our players did it, our coaches did and another big year for the Big 12, extremely competitive week-in and week-out.” – Riley
No. 2 – OU 34, Baylor 31 (Nov. 16, 2019)
All the great comebacks in OU history, but this is No. 1. Down 28-3 in the second quarter and without star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, quarterback Jalen Hurts orchestrated a methodical comeback to perfection. Add in a couple of takeaways by the defense in the second half, and this was a memorable night on the Brazos. Hurts accounted for 411 yards total offense (297 passing, 114 rushing) and four touchdowns. Nik Bonitto sealed the deal with a game-clinching interception as Baylor was attempting to tie or win the game in the final minute.
He said it
“The locker room at halftime was probably not what you imagine it would be like in the movies when something like this happens. Didn't have to say a whole lot to our guys. They knew what they had to do.
“You never know 100 percent that you're going to be able to come back from something like that, but I think they all felt like we had a chance. I got to be honest, even at K-State when we got down in that third quarter, I think maybe about half of us really believed we had a chance to come back and win that thing. In this one, there was not one person on that sideline that didn't believe it.
“You still have to go make it happen, but the belief for a comeback like that is where it starts. Team ball. Can't say enough about how well we played.
“As a coach, there's a lot of great wins. We've been lucky to have a ton of them here. Coming back like we did, how it all played out, this one is up there for sure. I am beyond proud, also beyond excited about us continuing to grow. I think people still see we got a lot of things to continue to grow and get better.” - Riley
No. 1 – OU 31, Ohio State 16 (Sept. 9, 2017)
How about that for your first road game as head coach? This was essentially Riley introducing himself to the rest of the college football world. Going into the Horseshoe and beating Urban Meyer? OK, we see you. It was only 3-3 at halftime, and OU actually trailed 10-3 early in the third quarter before quarterback Baker Mayfield took control. He threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns as the Sooners avenged a defeat in Norman from the year before. With Bob Stoops watching after retiring three months earlier, this cemented it and everybody knew the program was going to be just fine in Riley’s hands.
He said it
“Our guys gutted it out. It was a great environment. Tough place to win obviously. To come and get this done was a lot of fun. We’ll find a lot of things to build on. We’ll be disappointed if this is the highlight of our season. We’ve played two games and have a long ways to go. Obviously, it was a great win and one that is very special to us.
“It was emotional. Games like this are tough. You go on the road against a top-five; a team that is talented and well coached as Ohio State is. They’re tough. We’d been looking forward to this game, there’s no question about it. We expected to win this game. We were very proud and respect the team that Ohio State is and the program that they are and all the Coach Meyer has done here. That makes it even more special.” – Riley
