TULSA — There had been one constant through Oklahoma’s first three games: Sam Bradford was the best quarterback on the field.
The redshirt freshman’s debut against North Texas was flawless. His encore against Miami was even better. Round 3 against Utah State was more of the same.
But Bradford’s hot play was always tempered with another basic fact: The best athletes on the field were the guys he was throwing to, handing off to and standing behind at the line of scrimmage.
That was the case Friday night in No. 4 OU’s 62-21 victory over Tulsa at Chapman Stadium.
Bradford had another exquisite night. He was 16-for-22 for 244 yards with three touchdown passes. It was the fourth straight game he’s thrown for 200 yards and fourth straight with at least three touchdown passes.
But he’s been getting a lot of help.
Friday, Juaquin Iglesias caught eight passes and broke double that amount of tackles, finishing with 142 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
“Juaquin is making a lot of big plays,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “He stepped up and had a lot of plays in the end.”
He was far from alone.
The Sooners ran the ball at will. They finished with 285 rushing yards with Allen Patrick leading the way with 145 yards. The offensive line continued its run of bullying defenses.
The versatility kept Tulsa’s defense guessing all night. Bradford was never sacked and only hit the turf a handful of times.
It’s doubtful Bradford will ever experience what Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith went through Friday night. Smith was Tulsa’s offense. Anything positive that happened for the Golden Hurricane started with the fifth-year senior making a play.
Smith was the only reason Tulsa made it a game. Sacked six times and hit a dozen more, he still managed to throw for 350 yards and two touchdowns.
All of it came while rarely setting his feet against a relentless pass rush.
“He does a great job of avoiding people, jumping around and keeping himself alive,” Stoops said.
It was out of necessity. Smith was in the Sooners’ sights from the first play from scrimmage. Tulsa never got anything going on the ground. The Sooners’ just pinned their ears back and went after Smith like a pack of wild dogs.
For all the great passes Bradford has thrown and threw Saturday night, he still took his three- and five-step drops unmolested. If the first option wasn’t there, time was available to find option No. 2 and at times No. 3.
Smith didn’t have that comfort. After his first three steps, the ones that followed included evasive measures.
“I feel like I put some miles on,” OU defensive end Auston English said after an evening spent chasing the elusive Smith. English had two of OU’s six sacks. It could have easily been 20.
Smith was that cagey. When he did have time, it was generally on play-action that was sly enough to leave a master magician wondering where the ball would go.
The Golden Hurricane’s second touchdown, a 48-yard bomb to Brennan Marion, was induced by slight of hand. The 28-yard hookup with Jesse Meyer that set up Tulsa’s first touchdown came after a ball fake that made David Copperfield proud.
But it was only enough to make things interesting for a quarter-and-a-half. In the end, it was the talent surrounding the quarterbacks that was the difference. It was a gigantic mismatch OU exploited all night.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
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