Contents

2016 Oklahoma Sooners football team

2016 Oklahoma Sooners football
Big 12 champion Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 35–19 vs. Auburn
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 5
Record	11–2 (9–0 Big 12)
Head coach	Bob Stoops (18th season)
Offensive coordinator	Lincoln Riley (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Mike Stoops (10th season)
Base defense	3–4
Captain	Jordan Evans Baker Mayfield Samaje Perine Ahmad Thomas
Home stadium	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the 122nd season of Sooner football. The team was led by head coach Bob Stoops, offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, and defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, as well as such players as Mark Andrews, Orlando Brown, Jordan Evans, Baker Mayfield, Joe Mixon, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Samaje Perine, and Dede Westbrook.

OU was ranked third in the 2016 preseason AP and Coaches' polls. The Sooners lost two of its first three games to non-conference foes (#15 Houston and #3 Ohio State), and neither game was especially close. By the end of September, OU had dropped completely out of the top 25 of both polls. At that time in late September, four of its Big 12 rivals were ranked above them.

Conference play began on October 1 with a 52–46 win at AP #21 TCU and ended with a 38–20 home win against #11 Oklahoma State. Oklahoma finished conference play with a 9–0 record, winning their eleventh Big 12 Championship and second consecutive championship in a row. The conference championship was Stoops’ 10th championship in his 18 years as OU head coach.

Despite the 9 consecutive wins and the conference championship, OU missed out on a return to the 4-team national championship playoff.

Oklahoma did play in the 2017 Sugar Bowl against the Auburn Tigers, winning handily, 35–19. Oklahoma finished the season ranked 5th in the AP poll and 3rd in the Coaches poll, with an 11–2 record.

On June 7, 2017, Stoops announced his retirement after 18 seasons as head coach.^[1] Offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley was promoted to head coach.

Oklahoma announced their 2016 football schedule on November 24, 2015. The 2016 schedule consists of 6 home games, 4 away games and 2 neutral-site games in the regular season. The Sooners will host two non-conference games against Louisiana–Monroe and Ohio State and travel to Houston, Texas to play Houston in NRG Stadium, a non-conference game at a neutral site. Oklahoma will host Kansas State, Kansas, Baylor and Oklahoma State, and travel to TCU, Texas Tech, Iowa State and West Virginia in regular conference play. Oklahoma will play the Texas Longhorns in Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl stadium on October 8 for the Red River Showdown, the 111th game played of the series.^[2]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	11:00 a.m.	vs. No. 14Houston*	No. 3	NRG Stadium Houston, TX (Texas Kickoff)	ABC	L 23–33	71,016
September 10	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe*	No. 14	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	FSN PPV	W 59–17	87,037
September 17	8:00 p.m.	No. 3Ohio State*	No. 14	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	FOX	L 24–45	87,979
October 1	4:00 p.m.	at No. 21TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	FOX	W 52–46	45,000
October 8	11:00 a.m.	vs. Texas	No. 20	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Showdown)	FS1	W 45–40	92,100
October 15	11:00 a.m.	Kansas State	No. 19	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ESPN	W 38–17	86,049
October 22	7:00 p.m.	atTexas Tech	No. 16	Jones AT&T Stadium Lubbock, TX	FOX	W 66–59	60,478
October 29	6:00 p.m.	Kansas	No. 16	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	FS1	W 56–3	86,301
November 3	6:30 p.m.	atIowa State	No. 14	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA	ESPN	W 34–24	50,662
November 12	11:30 a.m.	Baylor	No. 11	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC/ESPN2	W 45–24	86,249
November 19	7:00 p.m.	at No. 14West Virginia	No. 9	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ABC	W 56–28	57,645
December 3	11:30 a.m.	No. 10Oklahoma State	No. 9	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Bedlam Series)	FOX	W 38–20	87,527
January 2, 2017	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 14Auburn*	No. 7	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ESPN	W 35–19	54,077
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 1 released prior to game All times are in Central time

atNRG Stadium • Houston, TX Texas Kickoff

• Date: September 3, 2016
• Game time: 11:07 a.m. CDT
• Game weather: Temperature: 72 °F (22 °C) • Wind: Calm • Weather: Indoor
• Game attendance: 71,016
• Referee: Referee: Cooper Castleberry, *Umpire: Jim Adams* Linesman: George Gusman * Line Judge: Kelly Deterding * Back Judge: Donnie Aultman * Field Judge: Scott Gaines * Side Judge: Anthony Fleming * Center Judge: Chris Tallent
• TV announcers (ABC): Dave Pasch (Play-by-play), Greg McElroy (color) & Tom Luginbill (sideline)

atGaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma

• Date: September 10, 2016
• Game time: 6:06 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: Temperature: 77 °F (25 °C) • Wind:N 16 • Weather: Clear
• Game attendance: 87,037
• Referee: Referee: Brandon Cruse, *Umpire: Marlo Fitzgerald, *Linesman: Bradford Edwards, * Line Judge: Quentin Givens, * Back Judge: Daniel Young, * Field Judge: Rich Almeroth, * Side Judge: Tuta Salaam, * Center Judge: Vijay Madduri
• TV announcers (FSOK PPV): Brendan Burke (Play-by-play), Brian Baldinger (color) & Christian Steckel (sideline)

atGaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma

• Date: September 16, 2016
• Game time: 8:02 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: Temperature: 66 °F (19 °C) • Wind ESE 7: • Weather: Partly Cloudy
• Game attendance: 87,979
• Referee: Referee: John O'Neill, *Umpire: Robert Colosimo, * Linesman: Tripp Sutter, *Line Judge: William Krispinsky, *Back Judge: Michael Elliott, *Field Judge: Terry Anderson, *Side Judge: Stephen Hassell
• TV announcers (FOX): Gus Johnson (Play-by-Play), Joel Klatt (Color) & Shannon Spake (Sideline)

Kickoff was delayed from the original start time of 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. due to lightning and thunderstorms in the vicinity of the University of Oklahoma.

atAmon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas

• Date: October 1, 2016
• Game time: 4:05 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: Temperature: 82 °F (28 °C) • Wind SE 4: • Weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 47,851
• Referee: Referee: Mike Defee, *Umpire: Robert Richeson, * Linesman: AL Green, *Line Judge: Derek Anderson, *Back Judge: Terry Jones, *Field Judge: Joe Blubaugh, * Side Judge: Lo Van Pham
• TV announcers (FOX): Gus Johnson (Play-By-Play), Joel Klatt (Color), & Shannon Spake (Sideline)

atCotton Bowl • Dallas, Texas

• Date: October 8, 2016
• Game time: 11:06 a.m. CDT
• Game weather: Temperature: 65 °F (18 °C) • Wind: No Wind • Weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 92,100
• Referee: Referee: Reggie Smith, *Umpire: Tab Slaughter, *Linesman: Mike Moeller, *Line Judge: Mark Stewart, *Back Judge: Lyndon Nixon, *Field Judge: Matt Mills, *Side Judge: Tim Murray
• TV announcers (FS1): Gus Johnson (Play-By-Play), Joel Klatt (Color) & Shannon Spake (Sideline)

atGaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman OK

• Date: October 15, 2016
• Game time: 11:01 a.m. CDT
• Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C) • Wind:S 21 • Weather: Partly Sunny
• Game attendance: 86,049
• Referee: Referee: Brad Van Vark, *Umpire: Michael Cooper, *Linesman: George Gusman, *Line Judge: Frank LeBlanc, *Back Judge: Brian Ernest, *Field Judge: Jason Ledet, *Side Judge: Gene Semko
• TV announcers (ESPN): Mark Jones (Play-By-Play), Rod Gilmore (Color) & Quint Kessenich (Sideline)

atJones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, Texas

• Date: October 22, 2016
• Game time: 7:10 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: 77 °F (25 °C) • Wind:SSW 10 • Weather: Clear
• Game attendance: 60,478
• Referee: Referee:Cooper Castleberry, *Umpire: Jim Adams, *Linesman: Carl McNeil, *Line Judge: Mark Stewart, *Back Judge: Donnie Aultman, *Field Judge: Scott Gaines, *Side Judge: Anthony Fleming
• TV announcers (FOX): Joe Davis (Play-By-Play), Brady Quinn (Color) & Bruce Feldman (Sideline)

atGaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma

• Date: October 29, 2016
• Game time: 6:06 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C) • Wind:SSW 23 • Weather: Clear
• Game attendance: 86,301
• Referee: Referee: Brandon Cruse, *Umpire Marlow Fitzgera, *Linesman: B.Edwards, *Line Judge: Quintin Givens, *Back Judge: Daniel Young. *Field Judge: Rich Almeroth, *Side Judge: Tuta Salaam
• TV announcers (FS1): Brian Custer (Play-By-Play) & Petros Papadakis (Color)

atJack Trice Stadium • Ames, Iowa

• Date: November 3, 2016
• Game time: 6:33 p.m. CST
• Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C) • Wind:NW 5 • Weather: Clear
• Game attendance: 50,662
• Referee: Referee: Dan Romeo, *Umpire: Scott Teifer, *Linesman: Andy Warner, *Line Judge: Marc Bovios, *Back Judge: Chris Alston, * Field Judge: Ed Vinzant, *Side Judge: Jim Murphy, * Center Judge: Ken Ray
• TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Flemming (Play-by-Play), Jesse Palmer (color) & Laura Rutledge (sideline)

atGaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma

• Date: November 12, 2016
• Game time: 11:06 a.m. CST
• Game attendance: 86,429
• Referee: Referee: Reggie Smith; *Umpire: Tab Slaughter; *Linesman: Mike Moeller; *Line Judge: Mark Stewart; *Back Judge: Lyndon Nixon; *Field Judge: Matt Mills; *Side Judge: Tim Murray
• TV announcers (ABC/ESPN2): Mike Patrick (Play-by-Play), Ed Cunningham (Color) & Dr. Jerry Punch (Sideline)

atMountaineer Field • Morgantown, West Virginia

• Date: November 19, 2016
• Game time: 7:08 p.m. CST
• Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C) • Wind:W14 • Weather: Snow flurries
• Game attendance: 57,645
• Referee: Referee: Cooper Castleberry, *Umpire: Jim Adams, *Linesman: Carl McNeill, *Line Judge: Kelly Deterding, *Back Judge: Donnie Aultman, *Field Judge: Scott Gaines, *Side Judge: Anthony Fleming
• TV announcers (ABC): Chris Fowler (Play-by-Play), Kirk Herbstreit (Color) & Sam Ponder (Sideline)

atGaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma

• Date: December 3, 2016
• Game time: 11:35 a.m.
• Game attendance: 87,527
• Referee: Referee: Brad Van Vark, *Umpire: Michael Cooper, *Linesman: George Gusman, *Line Judge: Kelly Deterding, *Back Judge: Joel Wetzel, *Field Judge: Jason Ledet, *Side Judge: Gene Semko
• TV announcers (FOX): Tim Brando (Play-By-Play), Spencer Tillman (Color) & Bruce Feldman (Sideline)

atMercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans

• Date: January 2, 2017
• Game time: 7:50 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 54,077
• Referee: Referee:John O'Neill* Umpire:Jim Shaw* Linesman:Tripp Sutter* Line Judge:John Quinn* Back Judge:Kevin Schwarzel* Field Judge:Terry Anderson* Side Judge:John Hayes
• TV announcers (ESPN): Brent Musburger (play-by-play), Jesse Palmer (analyst), Kaylee Hartung (sideline reporter)

The 2017 NFL draft was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of ArtinPhiladelphia on April 27–29, 2017. The following Oklahoma players were either selected or signed as free agents following the draft.