No. 2 Oklahoma stakes playoff spot, 41-17 over No. 10 TCU

By STEPHEN HAWKINS
Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Baker Mayfield and No. 2 Oklahoma never fretted the potential consequences of having to play in the revived Big 12 championship game.

The Sooners just went out and proved how deserving they are of that playoff berth coming their way by dominating TCU again, 41-17 on Saturday in the second top-10 matchup in four weeks between the Big 12's top two teams.

"I'm really proud of our group for not listening to the entire narrative across the country that we shouldn't be playing this championship game and all that mess," coach Lincoln Riley said. "We knew there was going to be a championship game and that was just going to be part of our journey if we wanted to get to this place."

Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, threw four touchdown passes as Oklahoma (12-1, CFP No. 3) won its record 11th Big 12 title.

"The reason I came back was to play for a national title," Mayfield said. "The most exciting thing about today is we control our destiny. ... That's all out in front of us."

The Sooners are a lock Sunday to be in the College Football Playoff for the second time in three seasons. They are the only Big 12 team to make the four-team playoff format that started in 2014.

Mayfield was so confident in the Sooners winning their third straight Big 12 title that in postgame he wore a shirt he had from back-to-back championships that already been updated, showing the three in a row he has won since transferring from Texas Tech.

"I had it updated before Bedlam," Mayfield said, referring to game against rival Oklahoma State a month ago.

The Sooners probably would have made the playoff even if the Big 12 hadn't played its first championship game since 2010. But a loss would have likely knocked OU out of contention.

Oklahoma jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead, including Caleb Kelly's 18-yard fumble return for a touchdown after running back Kyle Hicks' turnover on the first offensive play by TCU (10-3, No. 11).

Kenny Hill threw two TD passes to get the Horned Frogs within 24-17 at halftime, but Oklahoma was in total control after scoring twice on its first three offensive plays after the break.

"Big plays, we gave up a couple. ... Two plays basically in the second half," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "The worst thing that could happen in the third quarter happened."

A week before the Heisman winner will be named, Mayfield finished 15-of-23 passing for 243 yards and took game MVP honors. His first two touchdowns were to tight end Mark Andrews .

Hill opened the second half with three consecutive incompletions. On the first play after the punt, Mayfield hit Mykel Jones for a 55-yard catch-and-run score.

A fourth-and-1 stop by Oklahoma's defense, led another Sooners touchdown. Marquise Brown made an impressive over-the-shoulder grab for a 52-yard TD and a 38-17 lead.

Hill, who started his college career at Texas A&M behind Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, was 27-of-37 for 234 yards passing, and led TCU with 51 yards rushing.

"It's been a fun ride and a wild ride, and I think this guy (Patterson) here for giving me the opportunity to come here and play," Hill said. "As far as Baker goes, man, he looks like the Heisman."

THE TAKEAWAY

TCU: The Horned Frogs had allowed only six points (two field goals) combined after halftime in their last seven games. Even Oklahoma was scoreless in the second half of its 38-20 home win on Nov. 11. The 41 points are the most TCU has allowed this season.

Oklahoma: The Sooners' 11th Big 12 title overall was the first without Bob Stoops, the coach for their last national title in 2000 who resigned unexpectedly last summer. Riley, at 34 the youngest FBS head coach, is only the fifth coach in FBS history with no previous head coaching experience at a four-year college to win at least 12 games in his debut season.

TITLE GAMES

Oklahoma is 8-1 in Big 12 championship games, winning seven of them between 2000 and 2010, when the Sooners beat Nebraska in the league's last championship game until Saturday.

IMPRESSIVE GRAB

TCU was within 17-14 when John Diarse made a one-handed TD grab before falling out of bounds. Initially ruled an incompletion, TCU had a touchdown after the replay review. Diarse had immediately run to the sideline and told Patterson it was a catch. "I told him I would take it as a catch as soon as they put their hands up," the coach said.

UP NEXT

TCU: The Horned Frogs could still possibly make it into one of the New Year's Six bowl games, and if not likely will be the Big 12 representative in the Alamo Bowl.

Oklahoma: The Sooners wait to find out who they will play and in which national semifinal game, the Rose Bowl or Sugar Bowl.

Charlie Strong and Texas soundly beaten by TCU, 31-9

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Charlie Strong went to the corner of the stadium to sing "The Eyes of Texas" with his team for what was most likely the final time.

Texas running back D'Onta Foreman knelt in the end zone, tears streaming down his face. His brother, Armanti, sprinted off the field rather than rather than get caught in a public show of emotion.

All of it signaled the likely end of Strong's coaching tenure at Texas, a three-year rut of losing capped by a dismal 31-9 loss to TCU on Friday night.

The Longhorns took the field amid swirling reports Strong would be fired at the end of the week. Strong and school administrators had said he'd been promised an evaluation after the final game, but a 16-21 overall record for the only Texas coach in program history with three consecutive losings seasons may be all anyone needs to know. Texas will miss a bowl game for the second straight season.

Strong said he'll likely meet with Texas President Greg Fenves and athletic director Mike Perrin on Saturday and he'll plead his case for more time. He has two years left on a guaranteed contract that pays him more than $5 million per year.

"I said the third year we'll make progress, the fourth year will be our year," Strong said. "I was told when I came in three years ago to build a program. The wins and losses don't add up, but it's more than that ... (It's) taking the program in the right direction."

Fenves' office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night.

Texas' somber finish was a long fall from the season-opening win over Notre Dame when Strong's players tossed him in the air in celebration.

"We've been blessed to have him," freshman quarterback Shane Buechele said. "No one wants him to leave. Everybody wants him to stay."

But Strong's program has moved backward in the Big 12, and Friday's loss was the third in a row to TCU. Horned Frogs quarterback Kenny Hill did the damage this time, running for two touchdowns before TCU put the game away with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

Hill scored with a 4-yard run that capped the Horned Frogs' first drive. He scored again in the third quarter on a 41-yard scamper that saw him break away from a pass rush and dart along the right sideline to the end zone for a 17-9 lead.

Even after Hill left the game with an injury, TCU (6-5, 4-4 Big 12) blew it open in the fourth quarter when Trevorris Johnson capped a 97-yard touchdown drive with a 5-yard TD and Darius Anderson ran 70-yards for a score.

TCU coach Gary Patterson said he ignored the emotions that were bubbling on the Texas sideline.

"I didn't worry about Texas. I had enough problems ... We're just glad to win," Patterson said. "We got bowl eligible and not anything really good has happened for these guys this year."

D'Onta Foreman rushed for 165 yards for Texas (5-7, 3-6) and passed 2,000 yards on the season.

"I cried because it's emotional to put everything on the line. I gave my all every game, every practice. To come up short in a game like this is very emotional," Foreman said.

THE TAKEAWAY

TCU: The Horned Frogs became bowl eligible behind a defensive effort that gave up big yards to Foreman but didn't break when it mattered. By keeping him out of the end zone and forcing early field goals, TCU never let the Longhorns grab a lead. TCU also dialed up steady pressure on Buechele with four sacks.

Texas: Longhorns players had rallied behind their coach this week , with several giving tearful pleas for him to return next season. And the defense played arguably its best game of the year. Strong had hoped a win and a bowl trip would earn him another year, then had to watch as the game turned into a blowout.

"Every year, it turned into being all about me. It never should have been all about me. The players should have been given a chance to enjoy it," Strong said.

D'ONTA'S RUN

Foreman is a junior and said he has to decide if he will turn pro after this season. His 2,028 yards this season rank second only to Ricky Williams' 2,124 at Texas in 1998, the year Williams won the Heisman Trophy. Foreman also has a school record 13 consecutive 100-yard games dating to last season.

UP NEXT

TCU: The Horned Frogs host Kansas State to end the regular season

Texas: The Longhorns season is over.