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Big 12 Acknowledges Clock Error Late in Oklahoma's 4OT Win vs. Texas
October 12, 2020
The Oklahoma Sooners needed four overtimes to defeat Texas on Saturday, but the Big 12 Conference is admitting that it could have taken just the final six minutes of regulation.
Texas scored a touchdown with 14 seconds left to play to force overtime, after a clock reset on an earlier drive added an additional 46 seconds to the game clock in the fourth quarter. Per The Athletic's Jason Kersey, the conference acknowledged that 39 seconds should not have been added to the game clock.
After a snap at 6:06, quarterback Sam Ehlinger went out of bounds short of a first down with 5:57 left on the clock. When the teams reset at 5:50, the officials called for a clock adjustment to 6:36. Ehlinger then rushed for the first down but threw an interception before he could score from the Oklahoma 23-yard line.
With an additional 39 seconds on the clock, the Longhorns advanced downfield again in regulation to score the game-tying touchdown.
"Big 12 Conference football officials liaison Greg Burks acknowledges that a timing error did occur," the conference said Monday night, per Kersey. "The play clock should have been set to 5:57 after that play."
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley acknowledged the play during a teleconference Monday morning (h/t 247 Sports). He said that despite questioning from the Texas staff, the officials did not budge:
"We questioned the officials about it. I actually thought they were going to stop it and talk about it, and they didn’t. But we were not happy about it over on our sideline and didn’t get a ton of explanation on it. The game was kind of ongoing then and I haven’t had a chance to connect with (Big 12 coordinator of officials) Greg Burks on that, but I certainly will be."
With the Sooners able to grab the 53-45 victory in four extra frames, they improved 2-2 this season (1-2 Big 12), while Texas fell to the same record.