The 2017 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the 123rd season of Sooner football. The team was led by Lincoln Riley, who was in his first year as head coach, after the retirement of Bob Stoops in June 2017. They played their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They are a charter member of the Big 12 Conference.
Conference play began with a 49–41 win against Baylor in Waco, Texas and ended with a 59–31 win against West Virginia in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma finished conference play with the best record in the conference with an 8–1 record. They went on to play TCU in the 2017 Big 12 Championship Game which they won 41–17 to win their twelfth Big 12 Championship and their third consecutive.
Oklahoma was selected as the 2nd seed to play in the 2017 College Football Playoff and lost to the 3rd seed Georgia in the Rose Bowl 48–54 in double overtime.
Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield earned several national honors, including winning the school's sixth Heisman Trophy, distinguishing him as the best player in college football during the 2017 season. Mayfield threw for 4,627 yards and 43 passing touchdowns on the year, second in FBS in both categories. He broke his own NCAA FBS record for passing efficiency rating with a rating of 198.9.
Coaching staff On June 7, 2017 Bob Stoops announced his retirement after 17 seasons as head coach. Offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley was promoted to head coach. On June 14, Riley hired former ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill to coach defensive tackles. With the offensive coordinator positions vacant Riley promoted Cale Gundy and Bill Bedenbaugh as co-coordinators, but Riley will continue to call plays for the season. + Lincoln RileyHead Coach / quarterbacksTexas Tech (2006) 2015/2017 Mike Stoops Defensive Coordinator / Outside LinebackersIowa (1986)1999/2012 Cale Gundy Co-offensive coordinator/ Inside Wide Receivers Coach / recruiting coordinatorOklahoma (1994)1999Bill BedenbaughCo-offensive coordinator / Offensive Line coachIowa Wesleyan (1995)2013Jay BoulwareSpecial Team Coordinator / running backs coachTexas (1996)2013Kerry CooksAssistant defensive coordinator / defensive backs coach Iowa (1993) 2015Ruffin McNeillAssistant Head Coach / Defensive tacklesEast Carolina (1980)2017 Tim Kish Inside Linebackers coachOtterbein (1976)2012Dennis SimmonsOutside Wide Receivers coachBYU (1997)2015Calvin ThibodeauxDefensive Ends coachOklahoma (2006)2016Jerry Schmidt Director of Sports EnhancementNebraska (1986)1999Matt McMillenAssistant A.D. Football Operations Kansas State (1985)1999Jamarkus McFarland Graduate assistant Oklahoma (2013) 2016
Roster
Schedule Oklahoma announced their 2017 football schedule on December 13, 2016. The 2017 schedule consisted of 6 home games, 5 away games and 1 neutral-site game in the regular season. The Sooners hosted two non-conference games against UTEP and Tulane and traveled to Ohio State. Oklahoma hosted Iowa State, Texas Tech, TCU, West Virginia and traveled to Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State in regular conference play. Oklahoma played the Texas Longhorns in Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl stadium on October 14 for the Red River Showdown, the 112th game of the series.
Game summaries
UTEP
To start the 2017 season, No. 7 Oklahoma hosted UTEP at home. It was Lincoln Riley's first game as head coach of the Sooners. Quarterback Baker Mayfield shined in a 56–7 rout of the Miners. Each team scored touchdowns on their first drives of the game, but Oklahoma shut out UTEP the rest of the way. Mayfield completed 19 of 20 passes, including 16 straight completions to start the game. He threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns in the game. Wide receiver Mark Andrews had a career high 134 receiving yards and seven receptions, all in the first half.
at Ohio State
For the second game of the season, the No. 5 Sooners traveled to Columbus, Ohio for a highly anticipated matchup against No. 2 Ohio State, a game which many pundits speculated would have College Football Playoff implications. The previous season, Ohio State beat Oklahoma in Norman by a score of 45–24. Oklahoma was a 7.5-point underdog in the 2017 match-up according to Las Vegas sports books.
Both teams were held scoreless through the first quarter, and exchanged field goals for a 3–3 tie going into halftime. Each team scored touchdowns on their first drives of the second half, with Ohio State's J. K. Dobbins capping a 44-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run, and Oklahoma answered with a 67-yard drive of their own which ended with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield to Dimitri Flowers. Oklahoma scored two more unanswered touchdowns in the second half to take a 31–13 lead before a late Ohio State field goal made the final score 31–16. Baker Mayfield finished the game with 27 pass completions on 35 attempts, with 386 yards and three touchdowns. After the game, Mayfield sprinted around the Ohio State field with an Oklahoma flag before planting the flag at midfield.
Tulane
Following the victory over Ohio State, No. 2 Oklahoma hosted Tulane in the first ever match-up between the two schools. The two teams were tied in the second quarter 14–14 before Oklahoma's Parnell Motley returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown, after which the Sooners' coasted to a 56–14 victory. Quarterback Baker Mayfield passed for 331 yards and four touchdowns, while wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had 131 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the game.
at Baylor
Oklahoma opened its Big 12 Conference schedule with a road game against Baylor. The Sooners were nearly upset by the Bears, who were winless with a record of 0–3 going into the game. The Bears scored a touchdown with 1:41 remaining in the game to bring the score to 49–41. Baylor recovered the onside kick and needed to score a touchdown to tie the game in the closing minutes. Bears quarterback Zach Smith fumbled the ball on the third play of the drive after being sacked by Oklahoma's Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, which was recovered by the Sooners, allowing them to run out the clock and win the game. Oklahoma's Abdul Adams had a 99-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, and had 164 rushing yards total in the game. Baker Mayfield threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns.
Iowa State
After a bye week, Oklahoma played their second Big 12 Conference game, a home game against Iowa State. The Sooners were upset by the 31-point underdog Cyclones, 31–38. The game snapped Oklahoma's nation-leading 14 game win-streak, and 18-game win streak over Iowa State dating back to 1990. Iowa State backup quarterback Kyle Kempt, who had just two career pass attempts before this game, led the Cyclones to victory with 343 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Oklahoma took an early 17–3 lead early in the second quarter before taking a 24–13 lead into halftime. In the second half, Iowa State opened with two scoring drives while Oklahoma lost a fumble and missed a 44-yard field goal, bringing the score to 31–24 Iowa State with 12:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. Baker Mayfield led a 75-yard drive capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Dimitri Flowers to tie the game 31–31. Iowa State then had their own 75-yard drive, ending in what would be the decisive 25-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Kempt to Allen Lazard with 2:19 remaining. Oklahoma failed to convert on fourth down with 1:27 remaining, and Iowa State ran out the clock to complete the victory.
vs. Texas
Following the loss to Iowa State, No. 12 Oklahoma traveled to Dallas, Texas to face Texas in the annual Red River Rivalry game. Oklahoma won the game 29–24. The Sooners jumped out to an early 20–0 lead by the mid-second quarter, but Texas scored on a 16-yard pass from Sam Ehlinger to Kyle Porter and then, off a Baker Mayfield interception, kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to bring the score to 20–10 entering the half. After an Oklahoma field goal and Texas touchdown brought the score to 23–17 Oklahoma, Texas took the lead with 8:01 remaining in the fourth quarter with an eight-yard touchdown run from quarterback Sam Ehlinger. Oklahoma responded with a three-play, 78-yard drive that ended in a 59-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield to Mark Andrews with 6:53 to go in the game. The Sooner defense held Texas scoreless the rest of the game to secure the 29–24 victory. Baker Mayfield was 17 for 27 in passing attempts, finishing with 302 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
at Kansas State
Following the victory over Texas, No. 9 Oklahoma traveled to Manhattan, Kansas to play conference foe Kansas State. Oklahoma won the game 42–35. After a touchdown pass from Kansas State's Alex Delton to Isaiah Zuber with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, the game was tied 35–35. Baker Mayfield led a drive down to the Kansas State 22-yard line with 24 seconds remaining, and then running back Rodney Anderson scored the game-winning 22-yard touchdown run with 7 seconds remaining. Anderson had 147 rushing yards and one touchdown, while Mayfield threw for 410 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Texas Tech
Following the win over Kansas State, Oklahoma played their homecoming game against Texas Tech. Oklahoma won the game 49–27. Both teams scored touchdowns on each of their first three drives, resulting in a 21–20 Oklahoma lead in the second quarter. The Sooners dominated the rest of the game, however, with the Red Raiders failing to score after their first drive in the second half. Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb set school freshman records with nine receptions for 147 yards. Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 281 yards, four passing touchdowns and another touchdown on the ground.
at Oklahoma State
Following the win over Texas Tech, the Sooners traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma to play in-state rival Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Series. Oklahoma won the game 62–52. In an offensive shootout, the teams combined for 1,446 yards of total offense. After a rare Baker Mayfield interception on the third play of the game, the two teams traded touchdown drives for much of the first half. The score was 38–38 at the half, and Mayfield had a one-half school-record 387 passing yards. Leading 55–52 late in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma running back Trey Sermon scored the decisive touchdown on a 53-yard run with 54 seconds remaining. Mayfield finished with a career-high and school-record 598 passing yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions. Wide receiver Marquise Brown caught nine passes for a school-record 265 receiving yards.
TCU
Following the win over Oklahoma State, No. 5 Oklahoma returned to Norman for a top-10 match-up against TCU. Oklahoma won the game 38–20 in front of a record 88,308 fans at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Oklahoma jumped out to an early lead due to several touchdown-capped drives by Baker Mayfield. The Sooners led 38–14 at the half. Both teams' offenses struggled to score in the second half, as an early-fourth quarter TCU touchdown was the only score of the half. Sooner running back Rodney Anderson had 290 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns in the game.
at Kansas
Following the win over TCU, No. 3 Oklahoma traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to play Kansas. The Sooners won in a 41–3 rout. Baker Mayfield led the Sooners with 257 passing yards and three touchdowns. There was major trash-talking during the game, as Mayfield generated controversy when he was caught on camera grabbing his crotch and cursing at the Kansas bench. Mayfield later released an apology for the incident.
West Virginia