texas

Mayfield, Anderson Lead No. 5 Oklahoma Past No. 8 TCU

Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes, Rodney Anderson had 290 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns, and No. 5 Oklahoma rolled past No. 8 TCU 38-20 on Saturday night to take sole possession of first place in the Big 12.

Anderson ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns and caught five passes for 139 yards and two scores for the Sooners (9-1, 6-1 Big 12, No. 5 College Football Playoff). They have won five straight.

Mayfield strengthened his Heisman Trophy resume by passing for 333 yards and rushing for 50 against a TCU defense that entered the night ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense and total defense. He did it in front of a crowd of 88,308, the largest home crowd in school history.

"He was a little amped up early," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. "He missed a couple of throws that he normally makes. He was really special in scramble situations, and then really settled in there mid-first quarter, and really in the second quarter."

Kenny Hill passed for 270 yards for the Horned Frogs (8-2, 5-2, No. 6 CFP), but he completed just 13 of 28 passes. TCU defensive end Mat Boesen was ejected in the second quarter for kicking an Oklahoma player.

TCU is tied for second place in the Big 12 and still has a chance to reach the conference title game.

Oklahoma led 38-14 at halftime. Mayfield passed for 299 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and Anderson had 117 yards and two touchdowns receiving and 86 yards and two touchdowns rushing before the break.

Sports Connection

Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.

Sweet 16, Elite 8 games will mean big bucks for Dallas

West-leading Stars wrap up playoff spot, beating Canucks Thursday for 6th straight victory

Anderson ran for more than 100 yards for the fourth straight game.

"He was tremendous tonight," Riley said. "He was awesome. He's got a unique skillset in that he can kind of do it all. He can bring the power, ran through a lot of tackles and made a couple tremendous catches. He's been awesome for us here several weeks in a row."

The poor start for TCU gave coach Gary Patterson flashbacks to a 35-10 loss in Norman in 2008. The Horned Frogs trailed 28-3 at halftime that night.

"It was like 2008 with Sam Bradford," he said. "We spotted them too many points, and finally when we woke up, it was too late. We have to give Oklahoma credit. They got out and outplayed us. We didn't do a great job of tackling in the first half."

------

THE TAKEAWAY

TCU: The Horned Frogs had allowed 27 points in their four games leading up to Saturday's showdown, but Oklahoma's offense did whatever it wanted in the first half. The Horned Frogs, who have played with the lead for most of the season, didn't have enough firepower to play from behind.

OKLAHOMA: After unleashing a 62-point, 785-yard onslaught against Oklahoma State the previous week, the Sooners simply kept it going in the first half Saturday.

"They're pretty good defensively," Riley said. "We're pretty good offensively. We knew it was going to be a battle. We made some of the plays when it counted. It was a good battle against those guys."

Just as impressive, Oklahoma started freshmen Robert Barnes, Tre Norwood and Tre Brown in its injury-ravaged secondary and played well. The Sooners held the Horned Frogs to 424 total yards and gave up just six points in the second half.

UP NEXT:

TCU: Plays at Texas Tech on Saturday.

OKLAHOMA: Plays at Kansas on Saturday.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us