ARLINGTON, Texas – Maybe it’s fitting that Oklahoma was gunning for its sixth consecutive Big 12 championship. Because the player who made sure it happened wears No. 6.
In what has been his home away from home, OU senior Tre Brown made one more legendary play to help the 11th-ranked Sooners to a 27-21 win against Iowa State in the Big 12 championship Saturday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
Brown picked off Brock Purdy with 1:05 left at the OU 7 yard line to preserve yet another title for Lincoln Riley’s group. A year that started off 0-2 in conference play ends with the Sooners hoisting the championship once again.
“It was just crazy. All game I felt like I needed to make a big play,” Brown said. “There were big plays out there that needed to be made, and the game wasn’t over. I thought to myself, ‘Yo, the game isn’t over.’
“The crazy thing is … I was just praying. During that whole series, I was just praying. ‘You’re there for me when I need it the most. If I get put in a situation, I hope to make a play.’ I made that play, and it was just surreal.”
If it feels like Brown has had the knack for the big play in the big moment, it’s because he has. Especially when he has been at AT&T Stadium. For the third year in a row, Brown made a game-changing play. Whether it was the sack/safety of Texas’ Sam Ehlinger in 2018, running down Baylor’s Chris Platt last year and now the leaping INT grab, this is his stage.
Oh yea, and you could include his game-clinching INT in the fourth overtime against Texas two months ago, too.
“You have to love a guy like that. Anytime a big game comes around, especially in this stadium, AT&T Stadium, he shows up,” defensive back Tre Norwood said. “It’s nothing new to him. For me, it’s expected because I know how great of a player he is.”
Brown didn’t do it alone. There was a strong theme throughout the afternoon. All the missed opportunities for OU’s defense during the initial setback in Ames more than two months ago, this time around Alex Grinch’s guys took advantage.
Brown’s interception was the third of the afternoon for OU, while the Sooners played clean. Tre Norwood and Pat Fields also had picks, and the Sooners defense had three sacks (all in the second half).
“I would just say we capitalized on the opportunities and we created more opportunities,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “And a lot of credit goes to the front and how disruptive that we have been there. We did another good job today with on [Breece] Hall, only 83 yards, 3.4 carry for him was huge.
“And then when you can get pressure like we can, you're going to have opportunities. And then our secondaries, our linebackers, we've made some great plays on the ball this year. Just we've created more opportunities and we have taken advantage of them and it's been obviously a difference-maker for our team.”
Ronnie Perkins finished with 1.5 sacks, while Nik Bonitto added one as OU was able to get disruption throughout most of the game.
Riley was able to lean on Grinch’s defense, in part because of the hot start Spencer Rattler and the offense were able to produce. The Sooners held a 17-0 lead, and although it wasn’t the smoothest ride in the second half, mustered that one pivotal scoring drive when it was needed.
Rattler finished 22 of 34 passing for 272 yards with a touchdown and also rushed for another and yet another game without a turnover. Rhamondre Stevenson had 97 yards on 18 carries and 36 yards on four receptions.
The Sooners needed some wacky scenarios to fall their way to even begin thinking about a fourth straight appearance in the college football playoff.
It didn’t happen. But not many people thought the Sooners were gonna be back in Arlington after the 0-2 conference start. Not many people thought they’d be a top 10 team once again and hoisting the trophy yet one more time.
Riley did all he could to try to sum it all up in this COVID-19 season.
“Man, hard to believe. Just not knowing if this team would even, if we would even get to play,” Riley said. “I told the team in the locker room after, you remember two specific moments: One moment when we had to send our whole team home after having only one spring practice, not knowing what was next; and then in that locker room in Ames, Iowa, when you were 0-2 in the conference and I told them, you know, a place like OU, man, there's nowhere to hide.
“It's not like, well, if we just go off and have a bad season, that people aren't going to pay attention. They always pay attention to OU. I mean, this is such a national powerhouse and there's never anywhere to hide in this program, so you got really one choice you got to step up. And I think that everybody in our locker room believed that this was possible and, at that point, and what a tremendous run it's been. We have had to win games in different ways.
“Today was no different. We had to have different players step up and had to make key plays and just, yeah, it's a little surreal, again, just all of these are. I mean, just sit back and think six in a row and that just doesn't get done in college football very often. It's so hard.”
