John Shinn
Oklahoma was quizzed for a week about how it would cope with the loss of Adrian Peterson. Saturday night it provided an answer: Dominate defensively.
The 20th-ranked Sooners dominated from the opening kick in a 24-3 victory over the Buffs at frigid and wind-swept Owen Field.
Just about all of the 84,443 in attendance were waiting with bated breath to see how the Sooners would respond to their latest hit of adversity.
“We knew we had to step it up,” OU linebacker Zach Latimer said. “Any time a player goes down, guys have to step it up to overcome it.”
Step it up they did.
Colorado (1-7, 1-3 Big 12) only had five first downs and a paltry 113 yards of total offense. The performance had all the makings of a shutout. The only thing that prevented it was Mason Crosby’s 39-yard, third-quarter field goal.
OU coach Bob Stoops has been critical of the unit the entire year, but he was happy Saturday night..
“I was really pleased how they played the entire night,” he said of the defense. “Very solid in our position, adjusting, being physical in tackling and containing the quarterback as well.”
Colorado quarterback Bernard Jackson had the type of night that can lead to visits with a psychiatrist. He was just 3-for-14 for 39 yards. He was also picked off once by Latimer.
Jackson was never sacked, but he spent the entire night on the run.
“We didn’t expect them to blitz as much as they did,” Jackson said. “It kind of threw us off a little bit.”
Because of it, the Buffaloes were as one dimensional as they could be and the Sooners teed off on the other dimension.
“We knew coming in that Colorado is a team that likes to run the ball,” said OU linebacker Rufus Alexander, who had 11 tackles. “They do it on almost every single play, so we knew it was to be physical.”
The wind didn’t help matters.
The Sooners had problems throwing the ball as well. Paul Thompson was just 17-for-26 for a season-low 105 yards.
“Any time I threw the ball into the wind, I could just see the ball wobbling around,” he said. “I know it was hard for the receivers to focus in on it.”
But the Sooners played error free, going without a turnover for the second straight game. And still relied heavily on the running game.
Allen Patrick, who was making his first start, rushed for 110 yards. He didn’t provide many highlights, but butted heads with Colorado defenders 35 times.
It was the most carries any Sooner running back has had in a game since 2004.
“I’m a little sore,” Patrick said. “But I did what I had to do to get things done. We really stuck with the game plan and followed through.”
In a lot of ways, it was a game of attrition. Both teams settled into a field position battle early and played things close the vest.
The difference was OU’s ability to seize the high ground quickly. Thompson hit Manuel Johnson for a 3-yard touchdown pass on the Sooners’ opening possession.
The catch capped a 12-play, 61-yard drive and set the tone for the night. The longest play from scrimmage was 22 yards and big plays were virtually nonexistent.
Garrett Hartley hit a 46-yard field goal in the final seconds of the opening period. The boot put the Sooners up 10-0 and it became trench warfare from then on.
“It was like one of those old fashioned Big Ten games,” OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. “Both teams were playing great defense.”
But Allen managed to break through with a 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. The run capped a 12-play, 54-yard drive and pretty much salted the game away.
Colorado, which never got closer than 22 yards from the Sooner goal line, got nearly half of its yards on one fourth-quarter drive. But the end result was Crosby’s 39-yard field goal.
The Sooners tacked on the final tally when true freshman Chris Brown, who was pulled out of redshirt, scored on a 4-yard run with 17 seconds left.
It capped an ugly game, but one that looked like a thing of beauty to those wearing crimson.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
