Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State: Score, Highlights, Reaction for 2015 Bedlam Series

The Oklahoma Sooners are atop the Big 12 once again.

Thanks to 344 rushing yards between Samaje Perine, Joe Mixon and quarterback Baker Mayfield, the Sooners won the Big 12 championship by defeating the Oklahoma State Cowboys 58-23 on Saturday night in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Sooners' official Twitter account celebrated the victory:

Oklahoma took the Stillwater crowd out of the game early thanks to a couple of big plays. After the Cowboys got on the board with a field goal, Alex Ross returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to the 4-yard line.

Mayfield found Sterling Shepard on the next play for a four-yard touchdown to help put the Sooners up 7-3. ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter provided the clip of Ross’ kick return that ignited the OU spark:

Despite J.W. Walsh responding on the next drive with a 26-yard touchdown to Jhajuan Seales and Oklahoma State taking a 10-7 lead, it was all Oklahoma the rest of the way.

Two possessions later, Oklahoma took the lead and never relinquished it again. Perine, on the first play of the drive, took a handoff to the right side and went untouched 68 yards for a touchdown to help give Oklahoma a 14-10 lead. That began a run of 27 unanswered points for Oklahoma.

Perine came into Saturday's game dealing with ankle issues, which put his status in question. ESPN.com's Max Olson saw the run and thought Perine's ankle looked fine:

You can watch the replay here, courtesy of Sooner Sports TV:

The Sooners again scored quickly on their next possession, as Mixon took a carry up the right sideline, thanks to a huge block at midfield, and went 66 yards for a touchdown to help give OU a 21-10 lead.

ESPN's College GameDay caught the end of the run as Mixon crossed the goal line:

Oklahoma scored 30 points in the second quarter and took a 44-20 halftime lead.

Perine and Mixon finished with 131 and 136 yards, respectively, and two touchdowns apiece, which helped take the pressure off Mayfield, who had to throw only 25 times for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

Walsh played well in relief of Mason Rudolph, who suffered an ankle injury and did not return. Known mostly for his running ability, Walsh threw for 325 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. James Washington caught seven passes for 169 yards and one of Walsh’s touchdowns, but it was Oklahoma State’s rushing attack that needed help.

Oklahoma outgained the Cowboys 344-132 on the ground Saturday.

The Bedlam game is one of the most intense rivalries in college football, but it's been one-sided. Oklahoma's official Twitter celebrated as the Sooners reclaimed bragging rights once again:

Two weeks ago, Oklahoma State was in the driver’s seat, having beaten the TCU Horned Frogs, and two wins away from a conference championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Now, the Cowboys have gone from being a playoff threat to possibly falling out of contention for a spot in a New Year's Six bowl.

With the Big 12 lacking a conference championship game, the Sooners' win over the Cowboys may have guaranteed them a spot in the CFP. They came into Saturday ranked No. 3 in the CFP rankings, and with no other game left on the schedule, it would take a meltdown from the committee for anything to change.

Postgame Reaction

Oklahoma was in trouble back on Oct. 10. That seems like a distant memory now.

Oct. 10 refers to the day the Sooners lost to the Texas Longhorns. It was supposed to be the end of the Sooners' Big 12 title hopes and potential College Football Playoff hopes.

Since then, the Sooners have won seven in a row and have scored over 40 points six times. Not only did they assert themselves back in the race over the last two months, but dominated en route to get to this point and have played well at the right time, and Dan Wolken of USA Today agrees:

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The most remarkable aspect of the story, however, is the transformation Oklahoma made after its inexplicable loss to Texas back on Oct. 10. Since then, the Sooners have been an absolute handful and aside from the second half against TCU (without quarterback Baker Mayfield) have arguably been as impressive as any team in the country. They won't be the No. 1 seed, but they look like a team peaking at the right time.

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Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops has now won nine Big 12 championships in the last 12 years. His job security was called into question after his Sooners lost to Clemsokn in the Russell Athletic Bowl last year by John E. Hoover of Tulsa World.

Now, he has his team two wins away from winning a national championship, and Stoops is clear of the task at hand, per B/R's Bryan Fischer:

It says a lot about where Oklahoma finished, especially with where they were supposed to finish. The Sooners were picked to finish third in the Big 12's preseason poll, behind TCU and Baylor.

Oklahoma proved everyone wrong, and Stoops wasn't afraid to admit it, per freelance journalist David Ubben:

Oklahoma State, on the other hand, was in the driver's seat. All it had to do was run the table and the Cowboys would be where Oklahoma is at, but the Cowboys couldn't have performed any more bad than they did the last two weeks.

First losing to Baylor's backup's backup quarterback, now to giving up a number of big plays to Oklahoma, the Cowboys' bowl status is up in the air. Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy thought his team didn't have enough left in the tank to make a substantial comeback, per Kyle Fredrickson of The Oklahoman:

Once the Sooners established their dynamic running attack, the Cowboys couldn't recover. It's been the strong point of Oklahoma's offense since that loss to Texas. Now that it's more evident than ever, like Wolken said, Oklahoma may have peaked at the right time.

That could be a scary thought for the other three teams in the Final Four.