Lincoln Riley points to his undefeated Oklahoma football team winning four times

Lincoln Riley figures it this way. Win and win and win and win, and if it’s not good enough for the Associated Press college football pollsters, you drop further and further back.

“Boy, times have changed,” said the undefeated Sooners head coach. It used to be you win and move up, not win and fall down.”

Riley’s record is 4-0. In pre-season, his talented team was ranked second behind defending national champion Alabama. When the season began, Oklahoma was No. 4, but behind No. 3 Ohio State, but when the Buckeyes lost at home to Oregon, the Sooners moved up to No. 3.

Then came the unexpected 40-35 close survival against Tulane, which was switched from New Orleans to Norman because of the rising floods in the Big Easy. But this almost turned into a late upset and put Oklahoma back at No. 4.

The other three games were also played at home, yet  the polls kept it at the fourth spot after romping over Western Carolina, 76-0. But the 23-16 triumph over unranked Nebraska, followed by the almost upset that got the Sooners past West Virginia, 16-13, on a last play field goal, had the final say.

“Look, I admit we could and should be playing better,” Riley said, “but if we don’t slaughter anybody, it’s not a good sign read by the pollsters. To me, a win is a win, and if it’s a close games, you either do enough to win or fail to do so. Let’s see, we have scored 155 points and given up 64, and that includes the romp over Western Carolina, but heck, they are in our schedule.”

His team now plays its initial away game, going to Big 12 rival Kansas State Saturday. The Wildcats, who stunned Oklahoma in 2017, was 4-6 last season but opted to not play in a bowl game due to not enough players having to prepare for it.

Now they are 3-1, with 38-17 victories over Nevada, 24-7 over Stanford, 31-23, and lost last week at Oklahoma State, 31-20.

After KSU, Oklahoma plays its annual game against Big 12 (and soon to be SEC rival) versus Texas at the Cotton Bowl, then is home to Texas Tech, at current No. 21 Baylor, home to disappointing, unranked Iowa State, and at No. 19 Oklahoma State.

The All-America sophomore quarterback Spencer Rattler is doing just fine, but there’s been a mess of dropped passes, not enough protection from the offensive lines, although Rattler is relaxed and poised. Eric Gray, a sophomore running back transfer from Tennessee, was late to sign up, but has played the last two games and brought a one-two punch with returning Kennedy Brooks.

Rattler has a number of receivers, but some have not cut right, cut left, gone up the middle or deep. But he shrugs it off and says everything will get better.

“He’s quite the player,” said Riley, “very skilled, athletic, and a great team leader in his own quiet way. And just to let the poll people know, we might slaughter some teams, and then what. I liked the old way better, win and you stay up there in the rankings, and we’ve won four times.”

The defense could be better. It has made mistakes, allowing big passes and big runs, but at times has made the big plays, which is why it has won the three close contests.

See you later Sooners as you prepare to finally hit the road.