Oklahoma crushes Auburn in the Sugar Bowl, giving Bob Stoops an SEC talking point

Oklahoma won the Sugar Bowl on Monday against Auburn, 35-19. The Sooners had just a 14-13 lead at halftime, but they dominated the second half and cruised to victory.

The game wasn’t ultimately close. The Sooners out-gained the Tigers by a 524-339 margin, and it became a real blowout by the end.

Auburn quarterback Sean White broke his arm on the Tigers’ first drive and played through it, per his father, but didn’t play after the half. It wasn’t a coincidence that Auburn lagged after that, while OU’s offense put distance between the two teams.

Oklahoma running back Samaje Perine set the school’s all-time rushing record in the fourth quarter, making for a pretty cool moment at the Superdome. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield formally and officially set the all-time FBS record for single-season passing efficiency. That’s an amazing achievement.

Oklahoma receiver Dede Westbrook capped a prolific year with one touchdown. OU’s defense was strong throughout, but particularly after White left the game and Auburn’s offense ground to a total halt. The Tigers scored a meaningless touchdown on the last play of the game.

The Sooners’ win is a pretty cool thing for OU coach Bob Stoops, who’s regularly thrown SEC shade over the years and has now beaten an SEC Sugar Bowl team twice in the last four seasons. (The previous was against Alabama to end the 2013 season.)

Stoops ran his record against the SEC’s current membership to 26-7. He’s previously called claims that the SEC is the clear-cut best conference in the sport “propaganda.” That he’s now crushed its ostensible second-best team is a good talking point in his favor, in a year when every SEC team not named Alabama lost at least four games. One game proves nothing about a conference, but Stoops will still enjoy this.

OU running back Joe Mixon scored two touchdowns and played a strong game, finishing with 91 yards on 19 carries and 89 yards on five catches.

Mixon punched a woman in 2014 and was playing in his first game since the tape of that punch became public. ESPN play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger offered extended thoughts on Mixon at two points during the game.