John Shinn
Owen Field was overfilled Saturday night. Most expected to see a game they’d never seen before. No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 2 Texas Tech were two of the highest-scoring teams in college football. Some thought 100 points might be possible.
Might have been if the Sooners had a few more plays. They were the ones firing on all cylinders in a 65-21 romp over the Red Raiders.
The game was one of the most highly anticipated of the season. Not only did it have major implications in the Big 12 south and national championship races, OU quarterback Sam Bradford and Texas Tech signal caller Graham Harrell were posed against each other in the Heisman Trophy pageant.
There wasn’t anything the Sooners didn’t beat the Red Raiders in. The performance was the most dominant the Sooners have put forth this season and it came at the absolute perfect time.
Texas Tech (10-1, 6-1 Big 12) controlled its own destiny for just about everything before the game started. A win would have wrapped up the Big 12 south and secured a berth against Missouri in the Big 12 championship game Dec. 6 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Harrell would have been a shoe-in for the Heisman Trophy.
Now the south division is a three-way tie with the Red Raiders, Sooners and Longhorns all equal at 6-1 in the league with identical records against south opponents. Assuming they all win out (Texas hosts Texas A&M; Thursday, the Red Raiders host Baylor next Saturday and the Sooners wrap up their season with Bedlam in Stillwater) the representative will be whichever is ranked higher in the BCS rankings.
Hard to believe the Sooners didn’t amass a boatload of style points in their destruction of the Red Raiders. Beating the second-ranked team in late November is always impressive. Absolutely demolishing them reaches a whole new level.
“I think we sent a message to whoever was watching,” OU defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. “We’re for real.”
If OU isn’t national championship material, it did one of the best acting jobs of all time.
He threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns.
Harrell’s numbers were respectable with 361 yards and three touchdowns. However, Bradford’s team had a running game and a defense.
Harrell’s had neither.
The Sooners rushed for 299 yards. DeMarco Murray went for 125 and two touchdowns. Chris Brown tacked on 108 and three TDs.
“Tonight kind of proved that when we’re balanced, we’re a pretty hard team to stop,” Bradford said.
OU was as balanced as it could be and mirrored what it had done in its four games since its Oct. 11 loss to Texas.
That Red River Rivalry loss is the only reason there’s any debate about whether OU belongs in the BCS title game. If its defense keeps playing like it did Saturday night, it should get there.
The Sooners (10-1) held one of college football’s most potent offenses (Texas Tech was averaging 47.9 points) in check and set up two touchdowns themselves.
Hard to believe it was the same group that had given up over 28 points in the five games leading up to Saturday’s.
“We had been watching TV all week. It had been all over ESPN and no one was giving our defense a chance,” Lewis said. “We took that as a challenge. We came out here and played hungry tonight.”
In the process, OU gave all those with a vote in the BCS process something very tempting to chew on. The Sooners will find out how influential the performance was when the latest version is released tonight.
The only thing guaranteed is OU will move up at least one spot. But crushing No. 2 is usually a much bigger springboard.
OU coach Bob Stoops did some lobbying after the game, mentioning that Texas Tech had beaten Texas just three weeks ago. But his summation of Saturday night’s performance pretty much said it all.
“Where do you start? Everything was what you want it to be,” he said.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
