SEATTLE — Oklahoma swears it has left its road woes in the past. It’s spent an entire offseason and preseason talking about what went wrong last season when the Sooners went 1-2 in their three true road games (as well as a neutral-field loss at the Fiesta Bowl).
The final score of tonight’s game against Washington (0-2) will be the most telling statistic. But here are five keys to look for during the game to see if No. 3 OU (2-0) has really left its road woes in the past.
Don’t dig a hole
This is what cost the Sooners in last season’s loss to Texas Tech. They trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half of what turned into a 34-27 loss. It’s easy to say Sam Bradford getting knocked out of the game with a concussion was the biggest reason OU lost that game, and his absence for the final 3 1/2 quarters did the Sooners no favors. Still, Tech got out to a big lead after Bradford went down because the Sooner defense couldn’t stop the Raiders.
But here’s why OU can’t afford to stumble out the gate: The largest deficit the Sooners have come back from to win the last 10 seasons is 14 points. If they the fall behind by more than that, history says OU will return to Norman with its first loss of the season.
Play smart
Penalties are killers whether they happen on home or foreign soil, but they’re magnified on the road. The reason is penalties, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, tend to put teams in first-and-long or third-and-long situations. In those situations, particularly on third down, the penalty doesn’t simply cost yardage, but perpetually brings a rowdy crowd back into the game.
This was telling against Texas Tech last season. The Sooners committed eight penalties that night with most coming on the offensive side. Every one seemed to be a drive killer. The road is a hard place to play. No team needs to make it harder with its own mistakes.
Win turnover battle
This is where the ball started rolling away at Colorado last season. Coaches believe the’re the biggest factor in every game no matter where it’s played. Losing the ball kills momentum for one team and feeds it to another. Giving up a short field or coming away emptyhanded after a long drive is demoralizing.
It doesn’t mean everything: OU actually won the turnover battle at Texas Tech last season. But it should be a telling statistic tonight because the Sooners are unquestionably the better team. One of the few ways the Huskies can stay in the game is with gift-wrapped scoring opportunities.
Move the ball
Failing to do this handcuffed the Sooners against Colorado, Texas Tech and Iowa State last season. Offenses are too good these days to get into a punting match. If a defense is forced to play more than half the game, it’s going to give up points and most likely a lot of them, particularly late.
No one is asking an offense to score on every possession, but a couple first downs every time it touches the ball helps win the field position battle and keep a defense fresh.
The Sooners couldn’t do it in the first half in their loss the Red Raiders, the fourth quarter against the Buffaloes and pretty much the whole game against Iowa State.
Finish strong
When you’re playing on the road in a tough environment, which Husky Stadium will be, you have to expect to be in a close game. If Washington, a 20-point underdog, is still in the game with 15 minutes to play it will be a confident team. This is where last season’s loss to Colorado provided some experience to the Sooners.
If the opportunity is there to knock the Huskies out early, OU needs to do it. But if it’s toe-to-toe late, OU can’t go into a shell. The great teams close the deal no matter what the circumstances. The Sooners didn’t do it at times last season. But it’s a new year.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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