2019 Oklahoma Sooners Football Countdown to Kickoff | 87 Days!

Welcome back to another edition of our 2019 Countdown to Kickoff! As of this fine Thursday, there are 87 days until Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma Sooners begin another championship quest. For today’s installment, I want to highlight two incredible plays from two outstanding receivers that perfectly exemplified each of their games. First up: Marquise Brown.

In 2017, weeks before he was known around the college football world as ‘Hollywood’, Marquise Brown was still finding his place within Oklahoma’s offense. After transferring in from the JUCO ranks, all that was really known about him was his game-breaking speed. Other than that, he was largely unproven. He finally received his chance late against Tulane.

With Kyler Murray spelling Baker Mayfield in the latter stages of the game, fans were able to witness Brown’s true talent. Yes, Murray’s throw on this play was amazing in its own right, but the more unknown commodity at the time was the thin but speedy wideout who blew past his defender. Once K1 dropped back and chucked it down the field, it was all up to Marquise to seal the deal.

This touchdown reception would go down as the longest of his two year career at OU, and sparked a remarkable run that eventually saw him selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

On a personal note, this next play will always be one of my all-time favorite moments from one of my all-time favorite Sooners.

In 2009, Oklahoma finished an injury-riddled year 8-5, including a win in the Sun Bowl over Stanford. By OU’s standards, that’s a bit disappointing, especially coming off an appearance in the BCS National Championship. Fortunately, receiver Ryan Broyles was one of the lone bright spots in a largely forgettable season.

The hype around Bedlam that year was mixed, to say the least. The Cowboys weren’t juggernauts, but they sensed the Sooners were vulnerable, even with their own struggles with QB injuries. Still, this is Bedlam, and history has a tendency to repeat itself. Long story short, OU blanked OSU, 27-0, and Broyles capped off the day with this spectacular 87-yard punt return.

I’ll never forget how thrilled I was to see him find the lane and race to the north end zone. The shutout was the icing on the cake, but this return was electrifying. What a player. What a play.

Now let’s cover any days we missed since our last countdown post:

88 Days! - Oklahoma’s 88 Bedlam wins over Oklahoma State

Bedlam has been mighty kind to those who’ve donned the Crimson & Cream over the last century and change. Is it an in-state rivalry? Yes. Is it competitive? Yes. Is it close?

Not even.

The all-time record between these two programs is 88-18-7 in OU’s favor, of course. That’s a staggering .779 win percentage. And while many of the games in recent history have been quite competitive, the end results are still the same. The Sooners are currently on a four-game winning streak against the Cowboys, and have won 14 of the last 16 meetings. Talk about one-sided dominance.

If you recall, the 88th win for OU was an absolute doozy. I think my heart stopped about a hundred times before the final whistle blew. As a nice refresher, please enjoy these highlights from Oklahoma’s thrilling 48-47 win over Oklahoma State.

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