Will This Be The Highest-Scoring Bedlam Ever?

Fans of fast-paced, offensive football, this Bedlam’s for you. Here’s a look at both teams’ offensive prowess in what could be the highest-scoring Bedlam in history.

For the second year-in-a-row, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State meet as top-10 teams and since 2010, the Bedlam winner has an average score of 45.2 points per game.  Odds are, it will take at least 45 to win on Saturday and both schools are practiced in posting video game-like scores. The Sooners are second in the nation at 45.3 points-per-game and the Cowboys aren’t far behind at 40.4 ppg, the fourteenth best scoring offense this year.

Both teams average more than 500 yards of total offense; OU 550.8 (322.7 pass, 228.1 rush) OSU 500.4 (335.2 pass, 165.2 rush). Both teams are top-10 nationally in passing yards, thanks in part to the Big 12’s two most efficient quarterbacks, Baker Mayfield and Mason Rudolph. Mayfield’s 194.7 mark is the top passer efficiency rating in the nation while Rudolph is No. 11 with a rating of 160.4.

Coupled with each quarterback are two of the best receivers in the nation. DeDe Westbrook and James Washington are at the top of the Big 12 in receiving yards per game. Westbrook has 1,354 yards and 15 touchdowns through the air and Washington has 1,159 yards and nine scores. Both average 19.3 yards per catch.

Given the success by Mayfield-Westbrook and Rudolph-Washington, it’s easy to forget about the wealth of running backs in this matchup. Joe Mixon and Chris Carson average 6.9 yards per carry, Justice Hill averages 5.5 and Samaje Perine gets 5.2 per tote. Mixon, out of everyone, stands out. He’s one of just five running backs with more than 1,000 yards rushing and 400 yards receiving this season and is averaging an incredible 8.16 yards per touch. On the opposite sideline, Hill just rushed for 154 yards against TCU, which has the conference’s third-best rushing defense.

The highest-scoring Bedlam in history was 2008’s 61-41 slugfest, won by OU, that featured future NFLers Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray, Kendall Hunter, Sam Bradford, Brandon Pettigrew and Jermaine Gresham. Second to that is 2012’s 51-48 Sooner win, a game in which Landry Jones threw for 500 yards and Joseph Randle ran for 113 yards and four touchdowns.

Point is, there will be fireworks on Dec. 3rd in Norman. What’s uncertain is which team will come out on top in a wildly offensive contest.