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
Related Photos
-
John Froschauer
-
John Froschauer
Discussion
Sooners win big in Seattle
- OU Sports
-
-
Schedule easing up for Sooners
For some time, the Oklahoma women have been done no favors by their schedule. That may still be the case, but not for much longer....
-
Sooners using roller-coaster season as motivation
Oklahoma’s women’s gymnastics team has been anything but consistent. After dominating its season opener, the Sooners fell to No. 7 Oregon State and No. 9 Nebraska before trouncing then-No. 2 Arkansas....
-
Sooners open season with World Series aspirations
The Sooners haven’t even taken the field yet, but there is already talk of a national championship floating around the Oklahoma locker room. The Sooners will take the first step toward that goal when they open the season at 1:15 p.m. ...
-
Sooners have to eliminate mistakes that are costing them wins
It was a typical practice for Oklahoma on Thursday. The long workout had a lot of energy and precision. It mirrored many it has had over the last three months....
-
Move to Big 12 is chance at stability
Maybe this Internet thing’s really going to make it after all. Maybe even as a news source....
-
Sooners struggling to make climb
Oklahoma left the Lloyd Noble Center floor feeling an emotion that has become far too common on Monday. The 71-68 loss to Missouri was another tough loss in a season that’s getting tougher every day....
-
Sooners quartet needs help from teammates
How well did Oklahoma play Monday night? So well, even after missing 14 of 23 free throws, Steven Pledger, one of the nation’s best sharpshooters, had an open 3 to send the Sooners into overtime against No. 4 Missouri....
-
Sooners good enough everywhere but the free throw line
Steven Pledger sank to the floor with his face in his hands as the buzzer sounded. He couldn’t believe the 3-pointer he took with about 1 second remaining didn’t go through the net. It wasn’t the only thing running through his mind after ...
-
Last season ended in first trip to College Word Series since 2004
Hunger. Passion. Those were the two words most often repeated at the Oklahoma softball squad’s Media Day on Monday. And it’s those two traits that the Sooners are bringing to the 2012 season, which kicks off on Friday....
-
Campbell has another big night when Sooners needed her to step up
Scoring Oklahoma’s last nine points in a narrow victory over Texas Tech, freshman Sharane Campbell had been instrumental in front of the home crowd in one victory already this season....
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
Schedule easing up for Sooners
