Three months ago, Oklahoma was 1-2 with its streak of five consecutive Big 12 championships appearing to be in danger. Fast forward to the 2020 Cotton Bowl and the now-no. 6 Sooners won eight games in a row after blowing up the doors of No. 7 Florida 55-20. With the victory, there is a good chance that Oklahoma will end the year as one of the top five, if not one of the top four, as they have been playing their best football at the right time.
From the beginning, this was Oklahoma night. The Sooners defense defeated Gators star quarterback Kyle Trask three times in the first quarter, helping them jump to a 17-0 lead thanks to a choice of six. Of course, Florida did not have its four main receiving targets – Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland – and Trask, try as he might, never managed to keep pace with his new receiving body, many of whom passed the season in the scouting team. In your defense, this would be almost impossible. Florida did three practices after Christmas to prepare for the game, and that happened.
Despite the obstacles, Florida really responded well to the initial deficit and, at one point, recovered with 13 points unanswered to make it 17-13 in the second quarter. But then Oklahoma responded with two quick touchdowns in the final five minutes of the first half to make it 31-13 and never looked back.
The second half is when the overall depth begins to appear. The Oklahoma racing game, anchored by Rhamondre Stevenson, reached an incredible 435 yards – a Cotton Bowl record. Stevenson led the way with 186 yards running, while Marcus Majors and Seth McGowan also had great moments. The result was a school record of points for the Sooners in a game of bowling.
The Gators were never able to reach them. Oklahoma’s defense took over in the second half and prevented Florida’s normal big-shot attack from being lost. After starting 4 out of 5 on the third down, the Gators hit 0 in the next 8. And while the attack increased by 521 yards, it was 6.4 yards per move after the trash time. For most of the second half, the Gators hovered around 5.5 yards per play.
This was the worst loss in the Florida bowl since the 1996 Fiesta Bowl and the highest number of points allowed by any Florida team since that game. Even though Dan Mullen’s team beat SEC East and gave Alabama a chance in the SEC Championship Game, it will end in 8-4 and probably out of the top 10.
Here’s what we learned most from this year’s Cotton Bowl.
1. Oklahoma would make a fun eight-team playoff affair
The College Football Playoffs Selection Committee had a harder time than usual this year, justifying two of the four teams that took the field. The amount of discontent with the current format indicates that, at some point, the field will expand – probably to eight teams. One thing that allows the hot hand team to do an end-of-season race. Oklahoma would be that team this year.
After starting 1-2, many people counted the Sooners. And to be fair, this is easy to do in this format. Choosing the top four teams leaves some, but not much room for error. But after winning seven consecutive games at the Cotton Bowl, Oklahoma was playing as one of the top five, even though it was not ranked there.
How would Oklahoma do against, for example, No. 3 Ohio State in an eight-team playoff? It is a fun exercise in thinking. It is not a game that we will see soon, but if / when it happens, it can be credited that teams that reach the peak at the right time are as capable of winning a national championship as the top team.
2. Florida was predicting its future
One of the most exhaustive #embracedebate results of this game will be Florida’s position to play the Cotton Bowl so shorthanded. As mentioned above, many important players on both sides of the ball chose to leave or were unable to play due to COVID-19. This is the history of college football in 2020. We have rarely seen teams in full strength for a long time. In fact, Mullen said that the Gators were so lacking in players in certain positions that they might simply not have played the game, but opted to move on, using several players who were on the scouting team this season.
“That was not the 2020 football team you saw. There were about 25 guys missing from the 2020 football team there tonight,
he said after the Cotton Bowl. “That was a kind of kick-off for us [to 2021]. ”
Mullen did a good job of giving opportunities to other players when needed. QB Emory Jones had a lot more playing time than any game this season and showed some good times running and playing. In fact, he finished tied for the team’s first place with 60 yards in 10 races and a touchdown when launching for 86 yards. And with Pitts, Grimes, Toney and Copeland out, Florida had a new-looking wide receiver group. In all, 12 different players took at least a 271 yard pass in total.
The results were mixed – there were many crashes – but Mullen knew what he was up against and chose to prepare the guys for next year. This is no excuse for the performance of the Gators or saying that they didn’t care to be there or to detract from what Oklahoma did. This is just the reality of the situation.
3. Oklahoma’s defense lived up to the hype
For most of the second half of the season, there was talk of how Oklahoma’s defense was enhanced under coordinator Alex Grinch. This appeared in this game. Yes, Florida was exhausted from its best players. Yes, the Gators still accumulated over 500 attack yards when the final whistle blew. But you have to look more deeply. The Sooners started out hot with three takeaways and then were erased in the second half. Florida failed to convert a first down after getting four of the top five. Four of his six attacks in the second half went to 22 yards or less.
The Oklahoma defensive front played an important role in its success. Defensive striker Ronnie Perkins and linebackers David Ugwoegbu and Nik Bonitto were everywhere in the trenches, interrupting play before they started. This interruption was instrumental in making Florida’s normally powerful attack much less efficient.
This was never a closed defense and the numbers throughout the season were somewhat inflated because of some bad offenses from the Big 12, but this group was playing well along the straight. This strong defense effort helped the Sooners move away in the second half.