Florida Gators rattled as Oklahoma pieces together an overwhelming 55-20 Cotton Bowl Classic win

Florida senior linebacker Jeremiah Moon did his part to get Oklahoma fired up in the locker room and posting his words on its bulletin board. That he did with his comment leading up to Wednesday night‘s Cotton Bowl Classic.

To the media he openly said that the Sooners were a good team, but on the other hand, were not of Southeastern Conference caliber as they will find out against us.

And that they did, except that his words were chewed up when 6th-ranked Oklahoma were its eighth-straight game by overpowering the 10th-ranked Gators in every phase of the game to the tune of 55-20, with Florida easing the pain by scoring on its final drive to cancel out what would have been a record 42-point setback. But there were records just the same, with the Sooners totaling 684 yards, 435 along the ground and 249 through the air.

They did by striking quickly before a limited turnout at AT & T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., where 11 days before they had celebrated a sixth consecutive Big 12 championship over then-6th-ranked Iowa State. They again answered the call here by winding up at 9-2after losing back-to-back tilts against Iowa State and Kansas State. And after the four-overtime win over Texas, they were off and running, passing, and piecing together a much improved defense.

Yes, Florida did not have the services of its top four receivers who opted to skip this game via the coronavirus pandemic, but Oklahoma was shorthanded for its first five games after senior running back RhamondreStevenson, junior defensive end Ron Perkins and sophomore wide receiver Trojan Bridges had been suspended from the previous season’s final game, that and junior defensive back Tre Norwood sidelined for the first four games with a shoulder injury.

But now they were at full strength, had all the weapons they would need to finish the Gators off at 8-4. It was 17-0 after the first seven minutes when Oklahoma’s true freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler began with a first possession touchdown pass to fellow freshman Marvin Mims, which brought Mins a program freshman record ninth touchdown. Next came three interceptions off Florida senior quarterback    Trask, who had been picked off only five times all season, and the first one was run back 41 yards into the end zone by Norwood. Next came a pick from Perkins that led to a field goal and it was 10-0. Shortly after, it was again Norwood with an interception in the end zone on a one-on-one defensive dandy that would up the lead to 17-0.

The Gators did trim the gap to 17-13 with a short surge led by back-up quarterback Devin Jones, who ran 33 yards for one TD, and then passing for another in which the PAT was wide left. A 61-yard scamper by Stevenson, who finished with 186 yards on 21 carries, brought a 24-10 lead, and Rattler’s fake into the middle became a 28-yard touchdown run up the middle, and it was now 31-13 at halftime. The Sooner D harassed Trask in the third quarter and shut the Gators down while Rattler again showed the way with a touchdown pass to Bridges and sophomore Gabe Brkic’s field goal upped the lead to 41-13 after three quarters.

Trask didn’t return for the final quarter, being replaced by Jones, next season’s leading candidate for that position. Rattler exited with 5:37 remaining as his season improved each time out and on the heels of transfer quarterbacks Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jaylen Hurts making the Heisman Trophy finals three-straight times, with Mayfield and Murray hoisting the winning trophy and Hurst finishing second to LSU’s Joe Burrow. A28 ps for Trask, he was below average on 16 for 28 passing for 163 yards and Jones 8 for 16 and 86 yards passing and 9 for 73 running the ball. Norwood, Perkins and Bonitto forced Trask and Jones into hurried plays.

Joining Stevenson on the huge rushing machine was freshman Marcus Major with 110 yards on 11 carries. The Sooners also called on freshman Seth McGowan to run the ball along with junior TJ Pledger. Sophomore Theo Weave was on the end of one of Rattler’s three touchdown throws, and sophomore tight end Austin Stogner returned from a calf injury to reel in five passes for 24 yards. With the benches clearing in the final quarter, Oklahoma went up 55-13 before Jones scored again on a 1-yard burst.

It was the most points scored in a bowl game for the Sooners, and the most ever allowed by Florida, which had lost back-to-back games to LSU on a final-play field goal, and then giving top-ranked, undefeated Alabama a tough test before falling 42-38. As for the Big 12, this was its third win in a row, following Oklahoma State’s triumph over Miami and Texas’ 55-13 rout over Colorado. And it put a huge damper on Moon’s pre-game notice.

Florida totaled 521 yards, 250 along the ground and 271 though the air. Trask ran the ball three times for zero yards. First downs favored the Gators, 28-25, in third downs, it was Oklahoma 4-for-9 and Florida 4-for-13. In kickoff returns, the Sooners came away with three for 81 yards and the Gators with four for 74. Punting had Florida with 8 for 61 yards and Oklahoma with 4 for 40, and on punt returns it was the Gators with 4 for 197 yards and the Sooners with 2 for 84 yards.

Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley has now gone 45-8 in four seasons after replacing Bob Stoops, whose sophomore receiving son, Drake, caught four passes for 14 yards, and junior Charleston Rambo brought down five for 23 yards. Norwood was named Defensive Player of the Game, and Stevenson the Offensive Player of the Game.

Except for graduating Stevenson, and unless some of the Oklahoma undergraduates opt for the college draft, the Sooners could return a load of talent with Rattler, Mims, McGowan, Pledger, Major, Stogner, Weave, Bridges, Rambo, Stoops, Perkins, Norwood, Bonitto and sophomore linebacker David Ugwoegbu, and kicking specialist Brkic. They open next season in nonconference play at Tulane.

In the postgame award celebration on stage, the Sooners got behind former Oklahoma player Malcolm Kelly to entertain with some rap, and the entire team chanted SEC who?, SEC who?, SEC who? We are the Big 12. Of course, Jeremiah Moon did not join them, probably now in the Florida locker room realizing he chose the wrong words and it cost his team in big chunks in embarrasing style.