No huddle needed, Sooners romp 52-26
I had never seen a football game where there were no huddles. Well, until Saturday. The Sooners did not need any as they sliced and diced a Cincinnati Bearcat team that was hoping to gain some big time respectability when they arrived in Norman. The Big East team left Saturday night beat up and broken — including losing their starting QB Dustin Grutza to a fractured fibula.
Sam Bradford’s 395-yard passing performance would be the talk of the day, except that such games are expected of him. So, the talk of Campus Corner is about a local fellow who until today made the police news in the local paper more than the sports section — one Master Ryan Broyles. Broyles sat out last year as punishment for taking gasoline from a service station without paying and missed last week’s game for undisclosed reasons. But none of that kept the former Norman High star from playing like a college super star against a stingy Cincinnati secondary that lead the nation in interceptions last year.
Broyles set a school record 141 yards for a newcomer receiver. His day began on Oklahoma’s opening drive, grabbing a Bradford pass and streaking down the boundary for 31 yards. Then Bradford hit Broyles for 27 yards more for a touchdown. He later made a leaping catch to complete a 43 yard pass play to ignite the Sooner offense.
Oklahoma’s defense had some busted coverages. But the front seven was stout. Jeremy Beal and Travis Wilson were in on almost every play. The Cincinnati spread offense managed only two earned touchdowns all day until the last two seconds of the game. More serious for Oklahoma coaches is to figure out how kick off coverage collapsed on Saturday, alowing Cincinnati to return a kick for a TD.
My grades for the game: OU Offense: A- Defense B- Special Teams: D-
Next Up: Washington. I would have thought this game would be a snoozer until Wash U. came an extra point away from forcing overtime against BYU on Saturday, thanks in large part to a Pac-10 official’s decision to flag the UW QB for a TD celebration. We are sure that conference officials will know who the conference visitors are next week in Seattle. — Mike