OKLAHOMA 47, TULSA 14
Dominque Whaley ran 18 times for 131 yards and four touchdowns in the Sooners’ 47-14 win over Tulsa on a hot Saturday night.
He set a school record for rushing yards in a career opener. He also added his name to a list of six other Sooners who ran for 100-plus yards in a career debut — a list that includes Adrian Peterson.
Not bad for a guy who’s not even on scholarship.
Waley is a walk-on junior transfer from Langston University. He’s wowed teammates and coaches for quite some time, making big plays in practices before he was eligible to play on Saturdays. Whaley had the biggest play of the spring Red-White game, which was the fans’ first exposure to this new star.
“If you’ve been around our program, there’s a reason that his name has popped up,” OU co-offensive coordinator Josh Heupel said. “He’s played extremely well for us, dating back to two springs ago when he wasn’t eligible but he got an opportunity to compete and play in scrimmages.”
Whaley was one of a one-two punch in a running game that averaged more than five yards per carry against Tulsa — an improvement over last year’s 3. The other punch came from Brennan Clay (14-64 yds, 1 TD), leading the Sooners to a total 246 yards rushing for the night.
Needless to say, it was a very pleasant surprise for most Sooner fans who see Whaley as someone coming out of now where.
While Whaley is getting most of the press after the win, the rest of the Sooner offense looked very much like that of the No. 1 team in the nation. The offense racked up 34 first down and 663 total yards.
QB Landry Jones was 35 of 47 passes for 375 and 1 TD. He found his favorite receiver, Ryan Broyles, so much in the first quarter that Broyles had 120 yards receiving and matched his own school record.
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