Big 12 Championship: So much adversity, so much satisfaction

ARLINGTON, TX — So where does Saturday’s Big 12 Championship rank for Oklahoma?

It almost feels mundane to say the Sooners are Big 12 champs again. Like, that’s not the standard — it’s actually the minimum. The first floor of what this program should be capable of.

But now, even knowing there almost certainly will be no chance of a playoff berth (and another year gone by without a national championship — that’s 20 in a row now) — this conference crown feels decidedly different.

Not that beating Baylor in overtime wasn’t hard. Not that keeping Texas from the throne wasn’t gratifying. Even the 2017 win over TCU was special.

But this one — 27-21 over No. 6-ranked Iowa State was different.

“Yeah, I can agree with that,” said defensive end Ronnie Perkins after the Sooners held off Iowa State for their sixth straight Big 12 crown, 14th overall and 50th league title in program history. “We faced way more adversity than other OU teams.”

Perkins wasn’t a prisoner of the moment. He wasn’t caught up in a wash of emotion. He’s completely serious — and he’s right.

“Shoot, when the year started off in February, we practically got kicked off campus,” Perkins said. “Couldn’t practice, couldn’t work out. Then we didn’t see each other again until July.”

“This one does feel different in that way,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “It does. It’s maybe the most unlikely, I guess you might say, just with all we had to overcome — both across the country, every team, everybody, and then specific to our group — we had to overcome a lot.”

COVID-19 was one thing. Everyone experienced that. But this OU team started the year 0-2 in conference play and still somehow bounced back and added to the stack. Another new quarterback, a disrespected defense, two star players opting out, another starter transferring, three other starters suspended — and the ones still smiling and celebrating at AT&T Stadium on Saturday afternoon are the ones who get yet another championship ring.

"We didn't even know if we were going to play a game," said quarterback Spencer Rattler, "and now we're holding trophies and winning rings."

“I told the team in the locker room after, ‘You remember two specific moments: One moment when we had to send our whole team home after having only one spring practice, not knowing what was next; and then in that locker room in Ames, Iowa, when you were 0-2 in the conference.’

“And I told them, ‘You know, a place like OU, man, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s not like, well, if we just go off and have a bad season, that people aren’t going to pay attention. They always pay attention to OU.’ ” I mean, this is such a national powerhouse and there’s never anywhere to hide in this program, so you got really one choice you got to step up.

“And I think that everybody in our locker room believed that this was possible … and what a tremendous run it's been.”

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson was one of the suspended three, along with Perkins and wideout Trejan Bridges, who made his return only Saturday — but didn’t even find out he would be eligible until Friday.

If those three had been there for the Kansas State and Iowa State games, it’s entirely likely that Oklahoma would not have two losses — or maybe even one — and who knows what the ceiling would be when playoff and bowl matchups are announced Sunday morning.

“It means a lot,” Stevenson said, “especially with how this year went with COVID and my suspension and my teammates’ suspension. It’s been a rough year all around. You get to six and it means everything. You don’t take it for granted at all. It’s a blessing.”

"It was most definitely a lot of emotions," Perkins said, "basically because back in Ames, I had to sit on the sideline and watch my team lose when I knew I could’ve been a big factor in that game and help us win."

“This team overall,” said defensive back Tre Norwood, “we showed fight from the first snap to the last snap, and that’s what you just love to see. We strained on all three sides of the ball and we came out on top. So it’s one of those types of things where you’re excited. … I mean, six in a row. So you can’t top that. It’s an ecstatic feeling. I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and the Sooners once again got their opponent’s best shot. Of the four teams Oklahoma faced in the title game since 2017, Iowa State might have been the best, and the Sooners certainly got the Cyclones’ best shot, coming within a last-minute interception from knocking off the champ.

"It feels amazing," Rattler said. "Words can't really describe it right now. I mean, where we started and where we're at now, it's just night and day. Who would have known we'd be here winning this six times in a row."

Riley said winning a championship in a normal year is hard enough. Once. But winning a sixth one? With everything this team has endured?

“To think that we could continue to do it has been odd,” Riley said. “It is. It’s a little surreal right now, just the pride in — not just the players, but just the whole program. It took every single person making a sacrifice for this to even be possible and every single person to get out of their comfort zone and do everything that they could. And it took that. It would not have happened without that.“

“It was a tough year, man,” Perkins said. “From what I had to deal with to COVID, losing guys the day before the game, not knowing if your team gonna play that Saturday. It was a long, stressful year, man. One thing I can say is, we can tell the story that we lived through it, that we played through it.”

And won another championship.

"It's just a great, great feeling right now," Riley said. "Feels good to be the champ."

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