Oklahoma’s dominant defense shut out Kansas in the second half.
Oklahoma’s offense gained 609 yards on offensive yards.
But the Sooners D gave up a big play early, and the O scored touchdowns on just four of nine trips to the red zone, leaving Oklahoma fans thinking that their 47-17 win in Lawrence, Kansas was, well, rather ugly.
Better news: Sooner great Ryan Broyles’ pass catching made him the new NCAA career reception record holder.
The red zone trouble was particularly nagging, as the Sooners seemed to move the ball at will, until getting within 20 yards of the goal line. Then, a Kansas defense that was ranked last in all of college football, put the skids on the Sooner machine.
“Sorry we didn’t score very time, but we’re working on it,’’ said Coach Bob Stoops, during his post-game press conference.
Meanwhile, Broyles had come into the game just one catch away from becoming the NCAA’s career leader. Stoops knew that, so he called a pass play that sent the Norman High alum on a deep post route. And QB Landry Jones tossed it deep.
The catch was for a 57-yard TD. Broyles set the new record — in style.
“Ryan Broyles was just out of this world,” Stoops said. “When you set a national record, that’s pretty special, but to do it with over 200 yards is unreal.”
Broyles finished with 13 catches for a school-record 217 yards and two scores. He now has 326 catches in his career. The two TDs against Kansas puts him at 44.
“I was just in the moment out there,” said Broyles, who admitted to getting a bit emotional on the sideline after setting the NCAA mark. “I’ve been blessed to be around some great quarterbacks.”
Great ones, indeed. Many of his early catches came from Sam Bradford, who is now throwing passes on Sundays for the St. Louis Rams. These days they’re coming from Jones, who threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns against the Jayhawks’ struggling pass defense.
“I can’t say enough about the way he’s grown over the past couple of years,” Jones said. “It’s not just his stats. He’s a great wide receiver.”
Although Oklahoma may have been looking for some style points a week after obliterating the Texas Longhorns 55-17, especially with the first BCS standings to be released on Sunday, this game wasn’t exactly how it was drawn up.
Dominique Whaley added 165 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Michael Hunnicutt hit all four of his field-goal attempts for the Sooners, who didn’t put away the Jayhawks (2-4, 0-3) until Broyles’ second touchdown catch with 10:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Kansas QB Jordan Webb endured constant pressure and was sacked five times. Webb finished 13 of 25 for just 108 yards, and the Jayhawks managed just one first down and six yards total offense after halftime.
“We didn’t feel we were far off from playing really well,” Stoops said.
The game started out a bit lackluster for the Sooners. Kenny Stills slipped on the first play. Then he dropped a second pass. Jones missed his first four passes against a defense that allowed 56 points in the first half alone against Oklahoma State.
Jones eventually got on track, though, hitting his next two pass attempts to Stills. The second went for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 11:32 left in the first quarter.Hunnicutt’s 36-yard field goal made it 10-0, and it looked as if the Sooners were off and running.
Kansas center Jeremiah Hatch was hurt on the ensuing possession when he was blocking downfield on a short pass completion. Hatch was immobilized and removed from the field on a stretcher, but returned to the stadium and was walking on the sideline by the end of the game.
On the first play after Hatch was hurt, with the Jayhawks facing fourth-and-1, Webb pitched the ball to Sims around the corner and he went untouched 56 yards for a touchdown.
Whaley fumbled early in the second quarter but Kansas could only manage a tying field goal, and Roy Finch capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive with an 8-yard run that made it 17-10.
The Jones-to-Broyles connection really got going after that.
After catching a few short passes on the perimeter, Broyles went flying downfield on a post route and Jones hit him in stride for his record-setting reception. The touchdown made it 24-10.
“Now I can just play ball,” Broyles said, “and not have to worry about it.”
Kansas answered with Miller’s touchdown plunge moments later, but Hunnicutt added another field goal just before halftime and two more in the third quarter to make it 33-17.
Broyles finally put the game away when he got wide open and hauled in a 43-yard pass with 10:22 left in the game that put the Sooners ahead 40-17.
Whaley added the exclamation point when he scored from 10 yards out in the closing minutes.
“We kind of were up and down, you know? But that’s the game of football,” Jones said. “We just kept playing. Kansas is a good team. They came out here and played hard at home.”
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