After Oklahoma’s 52-7 shellacking of the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday the Sooners advanced to No. 7 in the lastest Coaches Poll and No. 8 in the AP poll — setting the stage for a major showdown against the undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Norman this week.
The Notre Dame game will be at 7 pm, with ESPN’s College Gameday coming from the OU campus. It will be the first visit to Norman for the Fighting Irish since 1966.
Oklahoma’s game against Kansas was highlighted by Landry Jones throwing for 291 yards and three touchdowns and the Sooner kicking game, which accounted for a kickoff return and a punt return for touchdowns in the same game for the first time in school history.
Justin Brown made up for a lost fumble on his previous punt return by running his next chance back 90 yards and diving at the pylon for the score. Roy Finch then opened the second half with a 100-yard runback to stretch the lead to 45-0.
The Jayhawks were never a challenge for the Sooners. Kansas scored a shutout-preventing touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The Sooners’ first-team defense hasn’t given up a point in two straight weeks heading into next Saturday night’s showdown against No. 5 Notre Dame on Owen Field.
For their part, Jones and the first-team offense scored on their first six possessions — settling for Michael Hunnicutt’s 37-yard field goal on their first drive and then scoring touchdowns on the next five.
The streak was finally broken up in the third quarter, after Jones was called for intentional grounding to set up a second-and-26 hole that proved too much to overcome. That ended up being the final series for the starters, who left with a 52-0 lead after just 46 offensive snaps.
Brown and Finch helped that total with their unique double dip. Brown provided the Sooners’ first punt-return score since Ryan Broyles did it in 2009, and it had been an even longer drought on kickoff returns — since DeMarco Murray’s score against Baylor in 2007.
Oklahoma improved to 14-0 under coach Bob Stoops in games that immediately follow the Red River Rivalry against Texas.
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Just saw on Soonersports.com: In an effort to create a striped look for TV, OU has asked that odd number sections wear white and even number sections wear red to the Notre Dame game. Thought you might spread the word to your readership. Thanks for all the work you do to produce your website.