Cotton Bowl: Q4 Report

Sooners hammer Gators 55-20, exorcise bowl demons, vault into 2021

ARLINGTON, TX — The misery of 2020 — the season of COVID, of Zoom calls, of face masks and virtual workouts — mercifully ended on a high note for Oklahoma.

The Sooners exorcised some significant postseason demons on Wednesday night in the Cotton Bowl by hammering undermanned Florida 55-20 at AT&T Stadium.

It was the most points ever scored by an Oklahoma team in a bowl game, and it was Lincoln Riley’s first bowl win after starting his head coaching career with three straight losses in the College Football Playoff — all against SEC powerhouses.

These Gators (8-4), suffering their third straight defeat, were no powerhouse. Not with eight starters either opting out, transferring or testing positive for COVID before the game. Coach Dan Mullen said this week he brought 60 scholarship players to the Metroplex — and those 60 were no match for an Oklahoma team hungry for postseason success.

OU, meanwhile, won its eight consecutive game after starting Big 12 Conference play 0-2. Wednesday’s beating was thorough and severe and will serve to thrust the Sooners (9-2) into the offseason with plenty of good vibes and momentum for a 2021 season in which OU already has been cast as contenders.

Spencer Rattler and Rhamondre Stevenson controlled things offensively, and Woodi Washington, Brian Asamoah and Tre Norwood snagged first-quarter interceptions — the latter a 45-yard pick-six from Norwood, his Big 12-leading fifth of the season — off Florida quarterback Kyle Trask as the Sooners rolled to an easy victory.

It became OU’s easiest bowl triumph — by margin of victory — in the history of the program.

To be fair, this one had a couple of tense moments in the second quarter.

After Oklahoma raced to a 17-0 lead, the Gators got two fumbles and a punt and turned those into 13 unanswered points.

But without their four top receivers, Trask and backup quarterback Emory Jones had little chance of finishing the comeback.

Meanwhile, Rattler was quietly excellent, completing 14-of-23 passes for 247 yards with three touchdowns.

Stevenson was less quiet but just as excellent: 18 thundering carries for a career-high 186 yards. And freshman Seth McGowan added a 73-yard run, a 47-yard reception, led the team with three catches for 70 yards and finished with 143 yards from scrimmage.

Charleston Rambo caught his first touchdown since the season opener, Marcus Major added a 46-yard touchdown run (OU's longest run of the year had been just 30 yards) and finished with 110 yards on nine carries, and walk-on quarterback Tanner Schafer finished the game behind center.

In the first quarter, Rattler got things going early with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Mims.

Then Norwood jumped an out route in front of the Gators’ bench, picked off Heisman finalist Kyle Trask and jogged into the end zone for a quick 14-0 lead.

Linebacker David Ugwoegbu intercepted Trask on Florida’s next possession, setting up a 43-yard field goal by Gabe Brkic that extended the lead to 17-0.

Trask and Jones alternated at quarterback on the Gators’ ensuing drive, but after marching into the red zone, Trask was intercepted again, this time by cornerback Woodi Washington, who out-jumped freshman Ja’Quavion Fraziars in the end zone.

It was Trask’s first career game with three picks.

But that possession ended badly for the Sooners as Rattler was hit from behind while trying to throw and lost a fumble. That set up a 21-yard field goal by Evan McPherson that cut the Sooners’ lead to 17-3.

Much of Trask’s problems stemmed from missing his top four receivers on the season. Tight end Kyle Pitts, wideout Kadarius Toney and wideout Trevon Grimes opted out for the NFL, and wideout Jacob Copeland tested positive for COVID-19.

The Gators were also missing four starters on defense: free safety Shawn Davis, cornerback Marco Wilson, linebacker Ventrell Miller and noseguard Kyree Campbell.

Oklahoma, though, did what it came to do regardless of which Gators suited up: finish a challenging season strong, and finally win a bowl game.