By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer
Oklahoma got back on the winning track with Saturday's 33-7 victory over Baylor. It got a much-needed confidence boost from the return and stellar play of quarterback Sam Bradford.
But it didn't come close to answering the lingering question that hangs over the first six weeks of every Sooner season: Are they good enough to beat Texas?
Though OU rolled up over 500 yards of total offense, and dominated the game defensively with the exception of one second-quarter drive, it's a question OU hasn't come close to answering.
The struggles of the receiving corps was evident Saturday afternoon. Bradford threw for 389 yards, but the offense was plagued by 11 drops, including three on potential scoring plays.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson admitted it's rare to have that many blown plays and still be able to put up the numbers OU did.
"That is extremely high," he said. "And it is unusual to have that many drops and still have the numbers that we had passing and still keep drives alive. We tend to, in our reduction of negative plays, we feel that a drop is a wasted play. It's not much different than a penalty. When you get a penalty, you get a down over. When you get a drop, it's no yards and a loss of down. So through time, we're trying to show our guys that one of the best ways to end a drive is by having drops."
Bradford was 27-for-49 Saturday. If not for those 11 drops, he easily could have surpassed his career high of 468 yards passing.
Bradford took a positive tact Saturday.
""I think we're going to get better as an offense every week. I still feel like our receivers made some great plays today," he said. "I love the energy they played with today. They were flying around, made a lot of downfield blocks and sprung some runs for us. I'm sure we're going to eliminate some of those drops going down the road, but I thought they played great today."
The Sooners (3-2, 1-0 Big 12) have to catch the ball if they want to be a factor in the conference race. The showdown with No. 3 Texas (5-0, 2-0) is a chance to gain a stranglehold on the Big 12's south division and prove the addition of Bradford puts them at a different level.
Bradford helped OU overcome some of the issues. Landry Jones played well (10 touchdown passes against three interceptions) in his three starts, but it was obvious the Sooners run in a different gear when Bradford's on the field.
They snapped the ball 99 times against Bears. It was 17 more than OU's previous season high set against Tulsa and 39 more than it had against Miami.
The potential remains for OU to be an explosive team. But it's not good enough to beat a team like Texas when it shoots itself in the foot.
What haunts OU is just about every receiver in its arsenal has had problems. Brandon Caleb, who had seven catches for 139 yards against Baylor, gets a pass because his one bout with the drops came on a rain-soaked night against Idaho State.
The rest have struggled to make simple catches in ideal weather conditions.
Junior Cameron Kenney was benched for most of the second half due to drops. Sophomore Dejuan Miller and true freshman Jaz Reynolds saw their most extensive playing time of the season. Both put up decent numbers, but they also missed some balls they should have had.
The biggest irony of the day was Bradford's lone touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter was to Adron Tennell, who's seen his playing time sliced due to dropped passes.
"I think a lot of that is inexperience. We have all kinds of yardage and big plays, if we just catch the ball better," OU coach Bob Stoops said. "I'm hopeful and I believe the ability is there. It's just time and time on the field to make an improvement and to make those plays when they are there to make."
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