In a coronavirus scarred season, Oklahoma will have a chance for redemption as the Sooners face Iowa State for the Big 12 Championship.

Oklahoma will play Iowa State at 11 a.m. Saturday in at the A&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in the Big 12 Championship Game on ABC TV.

Oklahoma’s December 12 game at West Virginia was canceled due to the coronavirus at West Virginia. The Sooners had already clinched a spot in the Big 12 Champion, so the West Virginia game will not be rescheduled. The game had previously been rescheduled for November 28 due to coronarvirus protocol at Oklahoma.

In October, the Cyclones beat the Sooners 37-30 on October 3.

It was just the third start for redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler and it came on the heels of a OU being upset by Kansas State, 35-38 in Norman. Against ISU, Rattler hit 25 of 36 pass attempts with two touchdowns and one interception.

Iowa State senior quarterback Brock Purdy hit 12 of 24 passes for 354 yards and one score with no interceptions vs. OU. But ISU running back Breece Hall shredded the OU defense for 145 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns.

Freshman Seth McGowan led OU with 55 yards on 12 attempts and T.J. Pledger added 48 yards on 11 carries.

OU was without the services of their top three running backs – Tre Sermon transferred to Ohio State, Kennedy Brooks opted out of the season due to the coronavirus and Rhamondre Stevenson was suspended for half of the season. Defensive end Ronnie Perkins – arguably the best player on defense – was also suspended for half of the season.

“A tough loss,” said OU coach Lincoln Riley. “A very, very kind of a gut-wrenching loss.”

It was the first time since 1960 that OU lost a game in Ames, Iowa. OU has a 76-7-2 series record against Iowa State – the most lopsided series in the nation.

“Despite the sickening feeling in my stomach right now and how disappointed we all are, we still know there are the makings of a good football team in there,” Riley said after the Iowa State loss. “I’ll continue to ride with this team. We’ve got a lot of guys in there who are down, but certainly not out of the fight. And we’re going to keep taking steps to get better.”

The next week, OU beat Texas in four overtimes and since ISU, they have won six games in a row.

The Sooners are No. 11 in College Football Playoff rankings. The two early losses probably eliminated their shot at the playoff but winning a sixth Big 12 title would be a nice consolation prize.

Iowa State (8-2, 8-1 in the Big 12) was ranked No. 7 in the College Playoff rankings. Should the Cyclones beat OU on December 19, they would be 9-2 and Big 12 Champions. That might put them in a position to be the fourth and final team in the playoff, especially considering that Texas A&M is not a conference champion and that Tulsa might beat Cincinnati in the December 19 American Athletic Conference Tournament.

Also, USC is undefeated and the Pac-12 Champion even though they have played only five games.

Their resume would be enhanced by an early season win over Oklahoma and perhaps not damaged by the opening 14-31 loss to No. 19 Louisiana.

Louisiana’s only loss was to No. 13 Coastal Carolina. Here’s a twist – Louisiana plays Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt Championship game. If Coastal Carolina beats Louisiana twice, how could the playoff committee justify putting Iowa State over Coastal Carolina when they beat a team that beat ISU twice?

Oklahoma State was undefeated when they beat ISU 24-21 in October.

Awards

OU kicker Gabe Brkic was named a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award and quarterback Spencer Rattler is a semi-finalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award.

Brkic is one of 20 semifinalist. He has made 16 of 21 field goals this season and all 40 of his point-after-attempts. He is tied with third in the nation, averaging two field goals per game and 12th nationally in points scored (88).

Rattler is one of the 17 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award.

He has hit 178 or 260 pass attempts (69%) for 2,412 yards and 24 touchdowns. Rattler has run for four scores.

Among freshmen, Rattler leads the country with 24 touchdowns.

Games that were canceled last weekend include:

  • Oklahoma at West Virginia
  • Cincinnati at Tulsa
  • Michigan at Ohio State
  • Mississippi at Texas A&M
  • Purdue at Indiana
  • Texas at Kansas
  • Ohio at Kent State
  • Miami (Ohio) at Bowling Green
  • Incarnate Word at Arkansas State

So far, the bowl games that have been canceled are:

  • Redbox Bowl
  • Hawaii Bowl
  • Bahamas Bowl
  • Holiday Bowl
  • Quick Lane Bowl
  • Las Vegas Bowl
  • Pinstripe Bowl
  • LA Bowl
  • Sun Bowl