SEATTLE — Oklahoma made no boastful predictions going into Saturday night’s game with Washington. It was a business trip and little more.
The Sooners played that way in their 55-14 destruction of Washington at Husky Stadium.
“We talked about going on the road and playing strong,” wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias said following the Sooners’ third straight game scoring at least 50 points. “That’s what we did. It was very encouraging.”
It was a game No. 3 OU (3-0) was supposed to win. It entered as a three-touchdown favorite. The only reason prognostication wasn’t more lopsided was its road struggles last season.
The Sooners left the state only three times to play on another team’s home field in 2007 and those three games were three of the Sooners’ worst performances, with two ending in losses. Sam Bradford set the world on fire a year ago, but in those three games the Sooner quarterback only threw one touchdown pass against a trio of interceptions.
Saturday night was a different story completely.
Bradford played like he was in a state of nirvana in Nirvana’s hometown. He threw for 304 yards and matched a career high for the second straight game with five touchdown passes. He never sniffed throwing an interception while OU did just about anything it wanted with the ball.
“Nothing is ever easy, but we knew if we came out and executed the way we can, this was a possibility,” Bradford said. “I wouldn’t say this surprised us.”
DeMarco Murray, Chris Brown and Mossis Madu rushed for 188 yards — in the first half. The Sooners’ offensive line shoved Washington around like practice dummies. Washington didn’t have a sack and the Sooners averaged a gaudy 5.8 yards per carry with Brown averaging 8.2.
The first half was all that really mattered Saturday night. OU had ripped away any thoughts of the Huskies (0-3) pulling a stunning upset well before the sun started to set over the Pacific Ocean.
The Sooners scored on five of their first seven possessions, making just about everything look easy in the process. That victory-sealing spurt included three straight touchdowns in a little less than 8 minutes in the second quarter.
Washington had no answer. Its only chances at points ended with a pair of wide-right field goal attempts. Defensively, dual-threat Washington quarterback Jake Locker never got in anything close to a groove. He threw for 154 yards, but his legs didn’t amount to much. He rushed for just 44 yards. He found the end zone once, but the Sooners were up 41-0 at the time.
An offense firing on all cylinder was a big part of it, but the Sooners also came up with three first-half turnovers, which all turned into OU touchdowns.
“On the road you always have to be conscious of turnovers,” said cornerback Brian Jackson, who caused one of the fumbles and recovered two of them. “Seeing that we got a couple of them in the first half, it really got us going.”
There’s no absolute guarantee the Sooners’ road woes are a thing of the past. Washington was overmatched from the opening kickoff. Much tougher tests will come when conference play begins. At Kansas State, at Texas A&M; and the regular-season finale at Oklahoma State will likely be better barometers. Those are places the Sooners have traditionally had to win brawls that come down the last possession.
But for the first time in several years, OU was able to get on a plane, spend a night in an unfamiliar hotel, but still play like it has in the comforts of Owen Field or the Cotton Bowl.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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