Oklahoma's Road to Crash the College Football Playoff

Nicknames in college football can be fleeting signs of success as much as they can be reflective of great long-term triumph.

In the case of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, the latter applies. While some have turned his "Big Game Bob" moniker into a cheap laugh every time the Sooners suffer a loss, it was nevertheless earned with some enormous victories over the years when many doubted the crimson and cream.

Those doubts about whether Stoops still had his coaching fastball, however, surfaced again earlier this season when the Sooners were beat up, pushed around and generally looked overmatched against one of the worst Texas teams in recent memory. The Longhorns may not make a bowl this season, but at least on one early October afternoon in Dallas, they walked off the field with the ability to hold their heads high.

That inexplicable loss once again turned up the heat on Stoops inside the Oklahoma fanbase. It prompted a few Sooners to question if he wasn't better off elsewhere, especially in light of 2014's 8-5 record and the lost momentum from a Sugar Bowl win that prompted major coaching changes in Norman and a retooling of philosophies to get back in line with what they were several seasons ago.

Wade Payne/Associated Press

This is shaping up to be a November to remember in Big 12 play. It can double as a career-defining stretch for Stoops and the Sooners as well. Along the way, if things fall in Oklahoma's favor, this month could also pave the road to the team crashing the College Football Playoff. It may be hard to see for some, as the committee's No. 12 team and with a host of fellow one-loss teams ahead of it, but it's certainly not far-fetched.

Quietly, quarterback Baker Mayfield has risen to second in the country in passing efficiency and presents a bit of moxie that has been missing from the position in Norman the past few years. Receiver Sterling Shepard is as steady as they come in the passing game, and paced by sophomore Samaje Perine, the Sooners have a running back stable that is perhaps the best and deepest in all of FBS.

Defensively, linebacker Eric Striker continues to disrupt opposing offenses on nearly every snap. Lineman Charles Tapper has flashed early-round talent, and even the young secondary is starting to come around with some seasoning.

In many ways, the loss to Texas allowed Oklahoma to find its groove at the hands of the rest of the Big 12. In the past four games, the Sooners are outscoring their opponents by an average of 45.5 points and outgaining them by an average of 363.5 yards. There's winning, and there's dominating, and OU has been doing plenty of the latter.

Take Kansas State as one data point, for example. The Wildcats have played all four of the top-tier Big 12 teams (three of them at home) and had chances to beat Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State. Against Oklahoma, however, the game was over well before halftime in a 55-0 thrashing at the hands of the Sooners that occurred despite a lengthy travel delay due to the team's charter suffering mechanical issues.

Wade Payne/Associated Press

In fact, it's hard to find anybody outside of Stanford and maybe Alabama who are playing as well as Oklahoma entering Week 11. Advanced stats, such as Football Outsiders' F/+, are high on Stoops' squad, and the matchups are favorable across the board with the remaining Big 12 teams left this month. Stoops talked about his team's confidence level in his Monday press conference:

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The way we've been playing, you have to feel confident—the way we've been executing really in all parts of the game. As much as anything, (we're) playing together as a team. Offense is moving the ball and putting pressure on the other team the way they're scoring and moving the ball. Defensively, coming up with pressure and turnovers and a lot of good stops.

"

Things aren't completely rosy for OU, though. The team has struggled to slow down this week’s opponent, Baylor, in a pair of recent meetings. Tulsa, which runs a carbon copy of the Bears offense and has former Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery calling the shots this year, rolled up 603 yards and 38 points on an Oklahoma defense that looked uncomfortable for most of the game. 

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It was a concerning performance and rehashed fears that coordinator Mike Stoops' defensive unit still had not figured out the Art Briles version of the spread offense. And while the Oklahoma offense generally has had its way the past few weeks—and all jokes aside about Big 12 defenses—Baylor is one of the better defenses in the league with star players like Andrew Billings and Shawn Oakman.

"I think what gets overlooked maybe because of how prolific they've been offensively is their defense is in the top two or three in about every category as well," Stoops remarked. "Really play sound, fundamental, good discipline with a lot of good players defensively.”

The Bears are not the college version of the 1985 Chicago Bears, but relatively speaking, it's a step up in competition for OU compared to Iowa State and Texas Tech.

Still, Oklahoma gets TCU at home and continues to match up well in its annual Bedlam series with in-state rival Oklahoma State despite playing that one in Stillwater at the end of the month. The next three weeks make up a season-defining stretch for all the Big 12 contenders, but none are playing as well as the Sooners.

With no team from the Big 12 in the selection committee's top four, the league is teetering once again when it comes to the College Football Playoff. If one team has a chance, though, it just might be Oklahoma.

The Sooners have a quality nonconference win (at Tennessee) and have looked good so far in conference play outside of a bad day against a bitter rival. They have a chance to add three Top 15 wins (two on the road) to the resume when it matters most, too. On top of playing like they've got a lead foot, things look promising for a surprise Sooners playoff bid. 

If anybody can crash the party and make a good case to be in a semifinal, don't discount Oklahoma. Big Game Bob may still have a few cards left to play.

Bryan Fischer is a national college football columnist at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.