Big 12 Football: Alamo Bowl Preview - Oklahoma vs. Oregon

Seven of the Big 12 teams will play in a bowl game this season. Preview the matchup between Oklahoma and Oregon

© Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Bowl season starts next week. This year, 84 teams are bowl eligible, and all of them will play in a bowl game between December 17 and January 4. The Big 12 Conference had seven teams qualify.

Two of those teams will play in one of the NY6 Bowls. As Big 12 champs, #7 Baylor will play #8 Ole Miss in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 1. #9 Oklahoma State will play #5 Notre Dame in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl on January 1.

Other teams to make a bowl include Iowa State (Cheez-It Bowl, December 29 vs. Clemson), Kansas State (TaxAct Texas Bowl, January 4 vs. LSU), Oklahoma (Valero Alamo Bowl, December 29 vs. Oregon), Texas Tech (AutoZone Liberty Bowl, December 28 vs. Mississippi State), and West Virginia (Guaranteed Rate Bowl, December 28 vs. Minnesota).

This article previews the Alamo Bowl.

Valero Alamo Bowl: #16 Oklahoma (10-2) vs. #14 Oregon (10-3)

Wednesday, December 29, [FuboTV 8:15 p.m. CT, ESPN]

Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Line: Oklahoma -4.5; over/under – 61.5

When the last month of college football began in November, neither of these teams could expect all that would happen in the next few weeks. Then, Oklahoma was undefeated, and Oregon only had one loss; an overtime loss on the road at Stanford. Both teams were in the conversations with the College Football Rankings, with Oregon sitting in one of the CFP top four positions. Neither team expected to lose not once but twice in November. And neither team even imagined that they would be searching for new head coaches by December.

Lincoln Riley has left Oklahoma and headed to USC. OU’s new coach is Brent Venables, the defensive coordinator at Clemson. Venables had been the DC at OU from 1999-2011. Longtime former head coach Bob Stoops will coach the Sooners in the Alamo Bowl. At Oregon, head coach Mario Cristobal left to take the helm at his alma mater, the University of Miami. The Ducks offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead is the interim head coach for the Alamo Bowl. Dan Lanning, the Georgia defensive coordinator, has been named the new head coach at Oregon starting with the 2022 season.

This will be the seventh time Oklahoma and Oregon play one another. OU holds a 6-1 lead in the series. However, Oregon won the last meeting in 2006. The two teams have met only once in the postseason when Oklahoma won in the 2005 Holiday Bowl.

Since 2010, the Alamo Bowl has been a match-up between top teams from the Big 12 and Pac-12. This is Oklahoma’s first appearance in the Alamo Bowl and Oregon’s third. The last time Oregon played in the Alamo Bowl was in 2016. Horned Frogs recall that game. That was the “change your shirt – come from behind” miracle game where TCU was down 31-0 at the half and won 47-41 in three overtimes.

After starting 9-0, Oklahoma finished at 10-2 and 7-2 in Big 12 play, which placed them third in the conference behind the two teams that beat them, Oklahoma State and Baylor. The Sooners began the season hosting Tulane in a game that was moved from New Orleans due to the hurricane. Tulane gave the Sooners a scare, but OU prevailed. That was a theme for the Sooners in other close wins, including Nebraska, West Virginia, Kansas State, Texas, and even Kansas (at least for the first half). Oklahoma’s only decisive wins were their blowout over FCS Western Carolina and then two conference games at home over TCU and Texas Tech.

Oregon finished 10-3 and 7-2 in Pac-12 play, finishing in second place after losing the championship game to Utah. Oregon started the season with a one-possession win over Fresno State, then had the biggest shock in Week 2 when they beat then #3 Ohio State in Columbus. They then beat Stony Brook and Arizona. Their first loss came in Palo Alto, after Stanford tied the game with 0:05 left and then won it in overtime. The Ducks rolled through their next five conference wins over Cal, UCLA, Colorado, Washington, and Washington State. They traveled to Salt Lake City to face then #23 Utah and were destroyed by the Utes 38-7. They then beat Oregon State before losing again to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Team Stats Per Game	Oklahoma	Oregon
Points Per Game	38.4	31.4
Points Allowed Per Game	25.3	25.5
Total Yards	441.6	418.0
Yards Passing	263.3	214.8
Yards Rushing	176.3	203.2
Yards Allowed	382.0	370.7
Pass Yards Allowed	258.1	241.2
Rush Yards Allowed	123.9	129.5

Season Leaders

Passing Yards

Oklahoma – Caleb Williams – 115-184, 1,670 yards, 18 touchdowns, four interceptions

Oregon – Anthony Brown – 223-350, 2,683 yards, 15 touchdowns, six interceptions

Rushing Yards

Oklahoma – Kennedy Brooks - 184 carries, 1,111 yards, ten touchdowns

Oregon – Travis Dye - 193 carries, 1,118 yards, 15 touchdowns

Receiving Yards

Oklahoma – Marvin Mims - 30 receptions, 658 yards, four touchdowns

Oregon – Devon Williams - 35 receptions, 557 yards, four touchdowns

The pick: Oklahoma – 35-24

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