LOS ANGELES — In each of his first three seasons as Oklahoma's coach, Lincoln Riley entered October with an unblemished record and a top-10 ranking … only to drop a game unexpectedly.
In 2017, it was Iowa State that upset the third-ranked Sooners. A year later, Texas knocked No. 7 Oklahoma off its throne with a game-winning field goal. A year after that, Riley's Sooners were once again upended in October, this time by Kansas State.
Each of the three defeats at the time appeared to doom any hope of Oklahoma making the College Football Playoff. But in all three cases, Riley's team didn't lose another game for the rest of the regular season. All three ended up earning places in the Playoff.
