Oklahoma got its mojo back with Saturday’s 45-31 victory over Kansas and it also stabilized itself in the national championship picture.
The only poll that really matters — the Bowl Championship Series standings — was released Sunday afternoon and the Sooners positioned themselves at No. 4. Texas, Alabama and Penn State hold the first three spots, respectively, but OU’s ranking is critical because it’s assumed the place of the best one-loss team. One spot better than USC. Three ahead of Georgia. Five clear of Ohio State and six in front of Florida.
None of it will matter without more chaos atop the standings, but the impressive performance against Kansas helped the Sooners earn the status.
The Sooners scored nearly at will in moving to 6-1 and 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference. They set a season high with 624 yards of total offense and did so by throwing and running the ball effectively. Both DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown rushed for over 80 yards and they combined for three touchdowns.
The running game had been heavily scrutinized after struggling in the loss to Texas the previous week. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson sensed a better performance coming in the days leading up to the Kansas game.
“We had a better week of practice, with the mindset of trying to do a little bit better,” he said. “I actually thought the way those running backs practiced, they might have bigger days than they had. But the way the game got going, we had some good matchups in the pass game, so we took advantage. I didn’t realize we threw it that much until the game was over.”
The Sooners had plenty of options. They ran an unheard of 97 plays against the Jayhawks. It was five more than they have gotten off in any game this season and 30 more than they ran against the Longhorns.
“The guys overall certainly executed a lot better,” OU coach Bob Stoops said.
Thank the Sooners defense for the opportunity. Kansas accumulated a lot of yards — a season 491 against the Sooners — but it was 2 of 12 converting third downs. Most of its yards came on big plays, or busts as OU’s defense would refer to them.
“We were in good position a majority of the time,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “We gave up some stuff on some real correctable things.”
The Sooners were in a state of flux against the Jayhawks. It shifted safety Nic Harris to middle linebacker to replace Ryan Reynolds. Quinton Carter was moved into a starting role at strong safety.
The switch paid off well enough. Harris helped shore the Sooners’ intermediate pass defense and Carter led OU with 10 tackles.
“To see him have success and come through when we needed him to, obviously it’s a very good positive,” Venables said of Carter.
Whether or not the Sooners will remain with Harris at middle linebacker remains to be seen. Both Venables and Stoops said part of the decision was based on matching up with Kansas’ spread offense.
Its next three opponents, starting with Kansas State this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. then Nebraska and Texas A&M;, feature more traditional offenses.
That could mean a bigger onus on getting a traditional middle linebacker ready to play.
“We’ll have options depending on what personnel we see,” Venables said.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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