John Shinn
Football’s an evolving game. There was a day when seeing less than 20 passes a game was rare. Saturday at Owen Field, the huddle became blasé.
Oklahoma’s 57-2 rout of Tennessee-Chattanooga featured a lot of things, but none of it included an OU huddle.
The lack of it had little effect on the Sooners. They scored on the first seven possessions and rolled to a 50-0 lead by halftime.
“The more we got into the game, the more successful we were with it,” OU quarterback Sam Bradford said. “We felt together out there.”
The installation started back in the spring, but offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson remained coy about whether he was ready to commit to it all the way.
“For the first game it was OK,” Wilson said. “I’m not trying to be coy. We’re going to play each game as it goes, but there is some uniqueness in what we can do with it.”
Saturday night was the time to try new things.
Tennessee-Chattanooga, a championship sub division team that went 2-9 last season, was the perfect guinea pig.
The Mocs simply didn’t have the talent or depth (only 63 scholarships in their division) to offer much opposition. It’s hard to imagine there being a bigger mismatch at Owen Field over the last decade.
When their starters were in the game, the Sooners did pretty much whatever they pleased.
Bradford was 17-for-22 for 183 yards with a two first-half touchdown passes. Backup quarterback Joey Halzle made his first appearance late in the first half and took the reins for good after two second-half series.
Chris Brown rushed for three touchdowns and DeMarco Murray, who rushed for a game-high 124 yards, toted two more into end zone. Manny Johnson had nine grabs for 120 yards, Juaquin Iglesias and Quentin Chaney all caught a touchdown pass.
But even after the starters’ evening ended early midway through the third quarter, the huddle never emerged.
Then again the pace was the only alteration the Sooners were making this season. The group scored points with machine-like precision last season. Just about all of them were back on the field Saturday night.
The defense was where questions needed to be answered. How would cornerbacks Brian Jackson and Dominique Franks hold up? What would the linebackers look like with Ryan Reynolds returning in the middle?
Through three quarters, the Sooners had only allowed 11 yards with none coming on the ground. The group only allowed two first downs the whole game.
“We were pumped and we really just wanted to focus on the things we could control,” Franks said. “All we were worried about was doing the things we were supposed to do.”
The Mocs didn’t do much if anything. They used three quarterbacks that were a combined 3-for-17 for 20 yards. The Mocs finished with just 36 total yards.
Defensive end Auston English had 21⁄2 sacks and OU registered five on the night.
Before anyone gets too fired up over Saturday night’s exhibition, take into account who OU was lining up against. The Sooners have faced much tougher tests from their scout team over the last month. They have Cincinnati, Washington and TCU on the rest of the non-conference schedule. The Sooners may walk through those teams like a hot knife through butter, but it will take a little longer than it did Saturday.
Consider the season opener a dress rehearsal for what lies ahead. And OU managed to get through it without wanting any to make any alterations to the script.
“The things we could do right we did. That part was pleasing,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “I’ve coached a lot teams where that hasn’t been the case.”
