Clay Horning
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Now that’s more like it. Really.Oklahoma didn’t run away and hide and the Sooners never exactly stepped on Missouri’s throat and there’s no question they got their share of breaks, even though, as long as we’re being honest about it, so did the Tigers.
But there were lots of things that could have happened Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field that might have allowed the watching-at-home Sooner Nation to turn off their televisions long before Marcus Walker made it academic with a fourth-quarter interception, the game already in the bag.
So there’s that. But also this.
Maybe for the first time all season, the Sooners did everything they had to do to win, first downs, total offense and third-down efficiency aside.
OU made plays. Lots of them. Most important, they made one every time they needed one.
And say what you want about a Bob Stoops era that’s been marked by great quarterbacks, terrific defense and a swagger that takes everybody back to the middle 70s, more than anything its been about teams comprised of players who came through when it mattered.
Like Torrance Marshall at A&M;, Josh Heupel against Nebraska, Nate Hybl at the Rose Bowl, Antonio Perkins against UCLA, Jason White at A&M; and Clint Ingram at the Holiday Bowl.
Big game-saving, game-changing, sometimes even season-saving plays. The new glory days of Sooner football have been built on them and Saturday, against Missouri, in the nation’s only game among ranked teams, the Sooners made one after another.
The score was 26-10.
The story was the plays.
If it wasn’t always comfortable, it was never in jeopardy.
Had OU required more, it would have done more.
It was that kind of day.
“We’re just getting better all the time,” Sooner coach Bob Stoops said.
It was an interception — and a fumble recovery — even on the same play, a combination of the efforts of Rufus Alexander (tip), Zach Lattimer (pick/fumble) and C.J. Ah You (recovery) that led to OU’s first lead, and another, Walker’s, that sealed it … and still another, from Lendy Holmes, that wrapped it up pretty. But there was so much in between.
After Paul Thompson put the Sooners up 7-3 with a sharp little option keeper, Larry Birdine spun Missouri’s Tony Temple right into a big hit from Darien Williams, who sent the ball flying where Holmes would recover. Not long after, it was 14-3.
Then Jason Carter blocked a punt into the end zone.
Who blocks punts anymore?
But Carter blocked it and it was 16-3 at the half.
Tiger quarterback Chase Daniel led an absolute dream of a drive out of intermission, but that was when Allen Patrick took over. Given new life after a roughing-the-kicker penalty, Patrick sparked the Sooners on an 80-yard march with back-to-back runs of 10 and 11 yards.
Defense came next, turning first-and-goal from the 2 for Missouri into first-and-10 at the 1 for OU. Brent Venables’ unit has come a long way. It got its first shutout against Middle Tennessee and its first goal-line stand against the Tigers.
On a day he finished with 165 yards on 36 carries, Patrick made his next big turn by picking up 15 while facing third-and-7 from the shadow of the goalpost.
Even punter Mike Nall had a moment, sending one high enough to bring rain (with a stiff wind at his back: not easy) allowing his mates to down the ball at the Tiger 3.
Then Walker ended the drama.
“It wasn’t always pretty and easy,” said Venables, who can’t be too happy Missouri finished with 360 yards of total offense (against OU’s 258). But, he added, “It was nice to get our hands on the ball some … and (make) some big hits.”
It was nice to see some big plays.
From the offense, the defense, even special teams.
“We fed each other,” Venables said. “We worked together instead of against each other.”
Biggest win of the season.
Thanks to big plays.
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
