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2018 Oklahoma

12–⁠2 (8–⁠1 Big 12), coached by Lincoln Riley, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Oklahoma in 2018, game by game: won vs. Florida Atlantic 63–14; won vs. UCLA 49–21; won at Iowa State 37–27; won vs. Army 28–21; won vs. Baylor 66–33; lost vs. No. 19 Texas 45–48; won at TCU 52–27; won vs. Kansas State 51–14; won at Texas Tech 51–46; won vs. Oklahoma State 48–47; won vs. Kansas 55–40; won at No. 12 West Virginia 59–56; won vs. No. 9 Texas 39–27; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 34–45+49−11Won 63–14 vs. Florida Atlantic+49Florida AtlanticWon 49–21 vs. UCLA+28UCLAWon 37–27 at Iowa State+10Iowa StateWon 28–21 vs. Army+7ArmyWon 66–33 vs. Baylor+33BaylorLost 45–48 vs. No. 19 Texas-3No. 19 TexasWon 52–27 at TCU+25TCUWon 51–14 vs. Kansas State+37Kansas StateWon 51–46 at Texas Tech+5Texas TechWon 48–47 vs. Oklahoma State+1Oklahoma StateWon 55–40 vs. Kansas+15KansasWon 59–56 at No. 12 West Virginia+3No. 12 West VirginiaWon 39–27 vs. No. 9 Texas+12No. 9 TexasLost 34–45 vs. No. 1 Alabama-11No. 1 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsFlorida AtlanticW 63–⁠1472%
Sep 8vsUCLAW 49–⁠2186%
Sep 15atIowa StateW 37–⁠2769%
Sep 22vsArmyW 28–⁠2180%
Sep 29vsBaylorW 66–⁠3387%
Oct 6vs19TexasL 45–⁠4868%
Oct 20atTCUW 52–⁠2762%
Oct 27vsKansas StateW 51–⁠1483%
Nov 3atTexas TechW 51–⁠4672%
Nov 10vsOklahoma StateW 48–⁠4783%
Nov 17vsKansasW 55–⁠4095%
Nov 23at12West VirginiaW 59–⁠5664%
Dec 1vs9TexasBig 12 Championship GameW 39–⁠2767%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs1AlabamaOrange Bowl, CFP SemifinalL 34–⁠4536%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 45–⁠34 in the Orange Bowl, CFP Semifinal; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Big 12 champions.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 7
  2. Wk 2: 6
  3. Wk 3: 5
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 6
  6. Wk 6: 7
  7. Wk 7: 11
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 8
  10. Wk 10: 7
  11. Wk 11: 6
  12. Wk 12: 6
  13. Wk 13: 6
  14. Wk 14: 5
  15. Wk 15: 4
  16. Final: 4

Big 12 champions8–⁠1 in the conference, won the Big 12 Championship Game

Led the nationKyler Murray: total offense (5,362 yds), total offense per game (383.0)

Heisman TrophyKyler Murray, QB; also the Davey O’Brien and Manning

Consensus All-AmericanBen Powers, OL

Record
12–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠1 first in Big 12
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
677–⁠466
Coach
Lincoln Riley
Elo
1795 +94 this season
SP+ rating
24.9 No. 4 of 130; offense No. 1, defense No. 84, special teams No. 30
SRS
17.8 No. 4 of 130 in FBS
Returning
41% of last season’s EPA, No. 102 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 9 roster talent No. 11 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Cale Gundy and Bill Bedenbaugh
Defensive coordinators
Mike Stoops and Ruffin McNeill
Captains
Rodney Anderson, Kenneth Mann, Kenneth Murray, Ben Powers and Austin Seibert
Offense
Air raid
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense1st of 130
  • Defense121st of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted1st of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted117th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.4555%1.371st of 130
Defense0.2548%1.25121st of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.40 off
0.19 def		54% off
45% def		—1st off
117th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.8own 2812% allowed
Defense4.3own 2814% caused

CORE rating 23.2, 4th of 130 (offense 31.2, defense 8.0).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsKyler Murray QB4,364 yds
Passing touchdownsKyler Murray QB42 TD
Rushing yardsKennedy Brooks RB1,056 yds
Rushing touchdownsTrey Sermon RB13 TD
Receiving yardsMarquise Brown WR1,318 yds
Receiving touchdownsCeeDee Lamb WR11 TD
TacklesKenneth Murray LB155 tkl
SacksRonnie Perkins DE5 sacks
InterceptionsParnell Motley CB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Brey Walker OT★★★★★No. 29
Brendan Radley-Hiles CB★★★★No. 38
Ronnie Perkins WDE★★★★No. 66
Michael Thompson DT★★★★No. 72
T.J. Pledger APB★★★★No. 100
Ron Tatum SDE★★★★No. 101
Jalen Redmond WDE★★★★No. 135
Jaquayln Crawford ATH★★★★No. 183

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.909
Running backs14.00.954
Receivers32.70.813
Offensive line24.50.945
Defensive line53.80.942
Linebackers33.70.904
Defensive backs53.20.892
Athletes and specialists43.00.870
Whole class243.50.898

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 1Kyler Murray QBArizona Cardinals
Rd 1Marquise Brown WRBaltimore Ravens
Rd 2Cody Ford OTBuffalo Bills
Rd 3Bobby Evans OTLos Angeles Rams
Rd 4Dru Samia OGMinnesota Vikings
Rd 4Ben Powers OGBaltimore Ravens
Rd 5Austin Seibert KCleveland Browns
Rd 6Rodney Anderson RBCincinnati Bengals

Roster 121

The 2018 roster

121 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big 12

7 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2018 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2018 Big 12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma8–⁠112–⁠24
Texas7–⁠210–⁠49
West Virginia6–⁠38–⁠420
Iowa State6–⁠38–⁠5
TCU4–⁠57–⁠6
Baylor4–⁠57–⁠6
Oklahoma State3–⁠67–⁠6
Texas Tech3–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas State3–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas1–⁠83–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.