The Sooner defense kept the game under control despite first half turnovers. Then the offense sparked in the second half and the Sooners held on to a 45-40 win over Texas on a sunny day at Cotton Bowl stadium.
This was indeed a team win. But, three stars stepped up in a crucial game for the Sooners: Dede Westbrooke, Samaje Perine and Baker Mayfield.
The spotlight was on Westbrook, whose three touchdowns were catches of more than 40 yards. He set a team single-game record with 232 yards receiving.
Perine added 214 yards and two touchdowns rushing on 35 carries for the Sooners. Key was Oklahoma’s ability to run the clock in the fourth quarter to drain the Longhorns’ opportunity to comeback from a late deficit. Oklahoma rolled up 672 total yards against Texas.
Texas came out of the halftime lockerroom and punched Oklahoma in the mouth. They led after two long TD passes by freshman quarterback Shane Buechele in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the third quarter. But Baker Mayfield’s 4-yard TD run put the Sooners ahead for good, right after his 51-yard completion to Dahu Green, made it 28-27.
Mayfield was 22-of-31 passing for 390 yards and easily made up for two early interceptions with the three TDs to Westbrook .
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