Norman, get ready to host a Playoff game.
It wasn’t pretty. It sure wasn’t fun for anyone inside Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, at least not in the third quarter as quarterback John Mateer was turning it over and giving LSU life. But college football isn’t a beauty contest, as Brent Venables likes to say, and Oklahoma is now a 10-win team.
The Sooners knocked off LSU 17-13 on Saturday, presumably locking up a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Mateer threw 3 interceptions in the game, 2 of them in the third quarter. The second led to LSU’s only touchdown of the day and gave the Tigers a 10-3 lead. But Mateer bounced back after the turnovers, finding Deion Burks for a 45-yard touchdown to tie the game and, then in the fourth, hitting Isaiah Sategna III for a 58-yard score to win the game.
LSU had a chance on its final possession after Barion Brown returned a kickoff 47 yards to the LSU 49. Quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. then completed a third-and-6 pass for 10 yards to push inside scoring position.
But the Sooners stiffened up, forcing LSU into a fourth-and-2 play from the OU 29. Pressure from his blind side flushed Van Buren from the pocket. Peyton Bowen batted a pass near the line of scrimmage to kill the drive and ice the win.
As it has done all season, OU’s defense won the day. The Sooners gave up just 198 yards of offense at 3.6 per play. They held LSU to 2-for-14 on third downs and gave up just 2.9 sack-adjusted rushing yards per carry.
LSU will be in the postseason despite its disappointing year, finishing the regular season at 7-5. Now, the attention turns to the school’s head coaching search, which is expected to gain some clarity soon.
OU will await Selection Sunday to see if it will, in fact, host a home game. Based on the CFP Top 25 rankings entering the week, the Sooners were slated to host Notre Dame in the opening round.
Oklahoma 17, LSU 13
Here’s the Oklahoma-LSU box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
