Fox analyst calls out Lincoln Riley for field goal hypocrisy

Fox Sports analyst Matt Mosley called out Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley, citing his hypocrisy about kicking field goals to score more points in wins. Mosley pointed out that Riley had his team kick a field goal with a minute remaining in a 33-point blowout win over Baylor in 2018.

The point Mosley was making comes after Riley was critical of Baylor coach Dave Aranda, after Baylor defeated Oklahoma 27-14. Baylor kicked a field goal with time expiring and a ten-point lead, in a decision made by Aranda to increase their chances if a point differential tiebreaker came into play as the season ends.

The Big 12's code of sportsmanship director kicked a FG with a minute left in 2018 to make it 66-33. pic.twitter.com/5tnS1lESFS

— Matt Mosley (@mattmosley) November 15, 2021

Lincoln Riley and late field goals

The game that Mosley brought up to criticize Riley was when Oklahoma and Baylor met in 2018. Baylor was up 63-33 with time running out in the game, when a fourth down gave Riley a decision to make with his team. With 1:20 remaining in the game, the Sooners kicked a field goal to push their lead to 66-33.

Mosley sarcastically called Riley the “code of sportsmanship director” for the Big 12 in his post, after Riley’s hard stance against Aranda kicking a field goal against him.

“I know why Dave [Aranda] kicked the field goal,” Riley said after the loss. “I don’t agree with it. I still think above all else, there’s a code of sportsmanship that I believe in. I wouldn’t have done it. But that’s his decision, it’s his football team.”

Those who are defending Riley and Oklahoma were quick to point out that the only other thing they could have done in 2018 was take a knee or run a play to turn it over. Critics of Riley stated that he should have taken the knee and ended the game without the extra score.

Big 12 defines tiebreaker rules

The Big 12 announced Monday that point differential will not be used in the event of a three-way tie, per CBS Sports writer Dennis Dodd. Instead, the conference will decide the two championship contenders by using one of the first two options listed in the Big 12 rulebook.

Firstly, head-to-head records of the three tied teams will be compared against one another. However, this could get messy if Oklahoma happens to lose to Iowa State but beat Oklahoma State the following week. In that scenario each of OU, Baylor and OSU will have one win against each other.

The second step of the tiebreaker involves comparing the records of the tied teams against the remaining teams in the conference from top to bottom until a verdict is reached. For example, if Oklahoma beats Iowa State on Saturday and there is a three-way tie at the end of the season, the Sooners and Bears would meet in the Big 12 title. This is because the Cowboys lost to the Cyclones this year, while the other two teams notched wins.

According to the conference, two teams will be able to be selected using the second tiebreaker before the need for the third tiebreaker, which is point differential.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.