Utah State fans are heralding their loss to Oklahoma as a win for their program. Sooner fans are, well, just hoping to forget this victory.
That’s what happens when a program like Oklahoma’s (gaining its 800th program win) and ranked No. 7 stumps its toe against a seemingly inferior team – even if there is a win. Sooners won 31-24 on Saturday night.
But, let’s look at the positives (it shouldn’t take too long):
The Sooners scored six more points than they needed. Wasted effort.
OK, I didn’t think you’d buy that. How about this:
Demarco Murray ran for a career high 207 yards and two touchdowns. Given the fact he carried 35 times and did not share playing time like he has in past years, it is clear he’s going to have a banner season if he stays healthy.
Ryan Broyles had 142 yards and two touchdown receptions. He was a solid player on the field and showed himself to be a top receiver in the country.
Tress Way was the player of the game, averaging 46 yards per punt, with a long of 85 yards. It was the third longest punt in school history and the longest punt at Owen Field since Joe Wylie’s 87-yarder against Kansas State in 1970.
Problem was Oklahoma punted eight times on Saturday night.
But the talk today is more about 1) Landry Jones being off his game and 2) the defensive secondary playing catchup and giving up big plays to Utah State’s QB Diondre Borel.
Let’s hope the age-old wisdom that the greatest improvement made is between game one and game two is true. Also, having a close call like this may create a better mind-set for this team going into this week’s Florida State game than would have existed otherwise.
“It’s not shocking; it’s frustrating,” LB Travis Lewis said. “When you give 421 yards to any team, not just Utah State, as a defense, you know, that’s not good. It’s not playing up to par. The standards here at Oklahoma — winning is not good enough. We are going to come in tomorrow and fix it, learn and take the coaching and move on as fast as we can.”
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Patrick O’Hara’s 32 yard field goal didn’t actually sail through the uprights as much as it limped. So, despite an over-all good kicking game on Saturday night, Stoops must feel unsettled by the place kicking game still.
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Sooner fans got to see highly touted freshman Brennan Clay early. He returned the opening kickoff for 22 yards. Clay said after the game he was a bit jittery – his cleats stuck in the turf as he received the kickoff – but he managed to get average field position for the Sooners to start out the game. Oklahoma then went on a 69 yard drive, capped by a Ryan Broyles TD to open the game with a 7-0 lead.
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Who’s that carrying the ball? A fullback? One of the characteristics of Kevin Wilson’s offense is that the fullback exists only to block people. That changed against Utah State when true freshman Trey Millard got his first carry as a Sooner on a rare fullback handoff. Millard is dubbed “The Load” by Coach Stoops. This may also signal a renewed emphasis on the run game this year.
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The opening intro video this year is pretty good. It features some practice scenes edited in almost a chroma-key-type effect that evokes an epic feel. (OK, you’ll just have to see it). It also features a live following of the team from the locker room onto Owen Field, getting the crowd wound up with anticipation.
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The Sooners played eight true freshman against Utah State.
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Utah State’s offensive coaches quickly identified cornerback Jamell Fleming, in his first career start, as the one to attack. He stumbled a few times early covering Aggie receivers and gave up big gains. Fleming redeemed him self later in the game with his first career interception and first career double-digit tackle game (10).
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I liked his aggressiveness but Tom Wort’s two personal foul penalties showed us there’s a problem reining in his enthusiasm. This is the guy Stoops warned fans in the first few rows about. One penalty was really costly, coming on a third down play in which the Sooners had stopped the Utah State offense.
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We tweeted to the website from campus and from the game on Saturday night. One of our followers noted that the tweets started slowing down about the time the Sooners’ performance began to lag. Well, in our case it was because the phone batter was going dead. Hmmm, could be the Sooners were losing some juice as the night wore on too.
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