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Oklahoma kept itself in seclusion since last season. Practices were closed. Inquiring eyes were kept away.
What were the Sooners hiding in their guarded lair just south of Owen Field?
Saturday night the gates swung open and the secret was revealed. A monster was unleashed and it ran amuck in a 79-10 victory over North Texas.
“I was pleased with the overall play,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “I was pleased with the backup play. The second- and third-teamers all really played well.”
Pleased might have been how he felt. But it might have been like expecting socks for Christmas and getting a new house instead.
The Sooners had questions that needed answers in the season opener. The biggest was how Sam Bradford would handle the pressure of being OU’s starting quarterback. The redshirt freshman had never taken a snap in a college game until Saturday night.
He looked a little frazzled at first, scrambling for no gain on on the first play. But things got better quickly.
Bradford threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns. The opening-night performance was unrivaled by any OU quarterback.
It was the night he’d been dreaming about since he was old enough to fling a football.
“I just wanted to come out and play smart and play within myself,” he said. “And take care of the ball.”
Bradford’s 21-for-23 effort showed what’s within him has the potential to be pretty big and none of his pass attempts came anywhere near a North Texas defender.
The Sooners kept things simple for him. North Texas stacked nine players near the line of scrimmage. OU turned to short swing passes to the wide receivers.
The simple passes gave Bradford confidence and the Mean Green couldn’t stop them either.
“We worked on that all week,” Iglesias said. “It was just a dump off for when they had too many people in the box. It’s worked for us in the past and it worked for us tonight.”
Iglesias had seven catches for 128 yards. Malcolm Kelly added four more for 118. Two finished in the end zone. The second one was a dazzling circus grab in the east corner of the south end zone.
It gave the Sooners a 49-0 lead.
OU’s receivers simply overmatched North Texas. Everywhere Bradford looked there was a mismatch.
“I think what we hoped would happen tonight is that our receivers would step up and make big plays,” Stoops said.
They did and so did the running backs
DeMarco Murray found the end zone five times.
The redshirt freshman from Las Vegas enticed fans in spring and preseason scrimmages with dazzling runs. Murray proved he wasn’t a mirage from the desert, rushing for five touchdowns and 87 yards.
“I was real nervous coming in, but once I got out there for warm-ups it all turned into energy,” Murray said. “The line did a great job the whole night. There were some pretty big holes.”
North Texas was playing its first game under new coach Todd Dodge. He built a national reputation as a prep football guru while leading Southlake Carroll (Texas) High School to a 79-1 mark over five seasons.
The spread offense he implemented even earned the moniker “Dodge Ball.” But the Mean Green took the equivalent of a night’s worth of point-blank blasts to the face.
“When you play a great team like that you have a chance of having disappointment,” Dodge said. “I told my football team that you have to give credit where it’s due.”
Quarterback Daniel Meager was just 15-for-27 for a meager 108 yards. He was sacked six times and threw three interceptions. The second was returned 25 yards by Nic Harris for a touchdown.
Running the ball was an exercise in futility. Michah Mosley led the way with 15 yards on five carries. That was the same number North Texas netted as a team.
As opening-night performances go, it’s hard to believe the Sooners could come up with one much better.
Things should get tougher soon. Miami, which blew through Marshall 31-3 Saturday, comes to Owen Field next Saturday. The flames of a rivalry that burned white-hot 20 years ago will rekindle.
But the Sooners head into their Week 2 showdown knowing they’re capable of big things.
Saturday night a monster was unleashed.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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