Oklahoma almost blows big lead vs. KSU

Oklahoma Sooners 2009 ... Head Coach: Bob Stoops

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 11-1
2009 Record: 5-3

9/5 BYU (in Arl.) L 14-13
9/12 Idaho St W 64-0
9/19 Tulsa W 45-0
9/26 OPEN DATE
10/3 at Miami L 21-20
10/10 Baylor W 33-7
10/17 Texas L 16-13
10/24 at Kansas W 35-13
10/31 Kansas St W 42-30
11/7 at Nebraska
11/14 Texas A&M
11/21 at Texas Tech
11/28 Oklahoma State

2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 10-2
2008 Record: 12-2

8/30 UT Chattanooga W 57-2
9/6 Cincinnati W 52-26
9/13 at Washington W 55-14
9/20 OPEN DATE
9/27 TCU W 35-10
10/4 at Baylor W 49-14
10/11 Texas (Dallas) L 45-35
10/18 Kansas W 45-31
10/25 at Kansas State W 58-35
11/1 Nebraska W 62-28
11/8 at Texas A&M W 66-28
11/15 OPEN DATE
11/22 Texas Tech W 65-21
11/29 at Oklahoma St W 61-41
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
12/6 Missouri W 62-21
BCS Championship
1/8 Florida L 24-14

Oklahoma Sooners

Oct. 31
at Oklahoma 42 … Kansas State 30
Oklahoma got up 21-0 in the first quarter on three Landry Jones touchdown passes with two throws to Ryan Broyles, but Kansas State roared back with two Keithen Valentine touchdowns and a two-yard Daniel Thomas scoring run to pull within five going into the fourth. Just when it seemed like OU got a little breathing room on a six-yard DeMarco Murray touchdown catch, the Wildcats responded with a Brandon Banks kickoff return for a score. But OU was able to bounce back with a long drive finishing up with a three-yard Murray scoring run.
Player of the Game: Oklahoma RB DeMarco Murray ran 15 times for 62 yards and two touchdowns, and he caught four passes for 28 yards and a score.
Kansas State: Passing: Grant Gregory, 19-30, 174 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Daniel Thomas, 16-88, 1 TD, Receiving: Brandon Banks, 9-156
Oklahoma: Passing: Landry Jones, 26-37, 294 yds, 4 TD
Rushing: Chris Brown, 15-83, Receiving: Dejuan Miller, 9-94, 1 TD
What It All Means: OU is going to have some rocky moments and it isn’t going to be as tight as it was over the last few years, but this was a moment of maturity. When Kansas State kept pushing, the Sooner offense kept responding with Landry Jones playing like a veteran when he had to leading the way to two touchdown drives in the fourth. The offense completed 10-of-13 third down chances, but the defense let up. With the inconsistency on offense, the defense has to be more of rock down the stretch. Coming up with a blowout win at Nebraska would be a nice start to a big final month. 

Oct. 24
Oklahoma 35 … at Kansas 13
Oklahoma’s offense wasn’t humming, but the defense picked up the slack with three interceptions of Todd Reesing including an 85-yard interception return for a score from Dominique Franks in the first half. The Sooner attack woke up in the second half with Chris Brown running for his second touchdown run of the game and taking a Landry Jones pass eight yards for a score. The Jayhawks didn’t get into the end zone until 4:27 to play on a five-yard Todd Reesing run.
Player of the Game: Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles caught 11 passes for 121 yards
Kansas: Passing: Todd Reesing, 22-42, 224 yds, 3 INT
Rushing: Toben Opurum, 13-59, Receiving: Kerry Meier, 8-54
Oklahoma: Passing: Ladry Jones, 26-38, 252 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Chris Brown, 22-66, 2 TD, Receiving: Ryan Broyles, 11-121
What It All Means: The Kansas run defense is good statistically, but it’s not so strong that the Oklahoma ground game should be held to just 85 yards. DeMarco Murray was out, but that’s no excuse; the running attack isn’t working. Everyone is going to force Landry Jones to throw and win through the air, and while he threw a pick, he also had an accurate 26-of-38 passing day. Now that the speculation is over and Sam Bradford is done for his career, this is Jones’s team and the program has to build around him for the next three-plus years. With Kansas State up next, the Sooners have to come up with an impressive win over the new star of the North to prove that they’re the No. 2 team in the league. 

Oct. 17
Texas 16 … Oklahoma 13
Hunter Lawrence nailed a 32-yard field goal to break a 13-13 tie, and the Texas defense held on in a tough, ugly win. Lawrence also hit two 42-yard field goals to tie it at six, and then the two teams traded passing touchdowns with Marquise Goodwin scoring from 14 yards out midway through the third quarter before OU answered with a 35-yard Ryan Broyles touchdown. Texas held Oklahoma to -16 rushing yards and knocked out Sam Bradford early, and OU never recovered with five turnovers, 10 penalties, and just 3-of-15 third down conversions. Texas only gained 269 yards and committed 11 penalties.
Player of the Game: Texas DE Sergio Kindle made six tackles, half a sack, four tackles for loss, and two quarterback hurries
Oklahoma: Passing: Landry Jones, 24-43, 250 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Chris Brown, 12-23, Receiving: DeMarco Murray, 8-116
Texas: Passing: Colt McCoy, 21-39, 127 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Foswhitt Whittaker, 18-71, Receiving: Marquise Goodwin, 4-36, 1 TD 
What It All Means: Landry Jones did his best in a rough situation, but he threw two rookie interceptions, even though Texas made great plays to come up with them, and the running game didn’t help him out. The O line was awful, and the coaching staff abandoned the run and put the game in Jones’ hands. That’s part of the reason why there weren’t any second half points, and the inability for Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray to get into the open didn’t help. OU can only wonder what might have happened if Sam Bradford was healthy for a full season, and now it’ll likely be up to Jones to try to win a shootout next week at Kansas.

Oct. 10
at Oklahoma 33 … Baylor 7
Sam Bradford’s shoulder held up just fine but he didn’t throw a touchdown pass until the game was well out of hand. Jimmy Stevens hit second half field goals from 35, 25, 21 and 24 yards out and Chris Brown started off the scoring with second quarter touchdowns from one and four yards away. Baylor got a three-yard Andrew Judy touchdown catch in the second, but never threatened to push the Sooners. OU outgained the Bears 586 yards to 268.
Player of the Game: Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford completed 27-of-49 passes for 389 yards and a touchdown.
Oklahoma: Passing: Sam Bradford, 27-49, 389 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Chris Brown, 26-95, 2 TD, Receiving: Brandon Caleb, 7-139
Baylor: Passing: Nick Florence, 22-41, 220 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Terrance Ganaway, 4-8, Receiving: Ernest Smith, 6-71
What It All Means: Bradford is fine. He might have only completed 27-of-49 passes, but his receivers didn’t give him a lot of help with several drops, The defensive line didn’t come up with a lot of sacks, just two, but it stopped the Bear running game cold allowing just six yards. This was the tune-up needed before the Texas game, at least for Bradford, and while the team is hardly razor-sharp, it was mediocre and still won easily by 26. It could’ve been a bigger blowout, though, and there can't be any missed chances next week.

Oct. 3
at Miami 21 … Oklahoma 20
Miami overcame two early Jacory Harris interceptions and a 10-0 deficit with three Harris touchdown passes including an 18-yarder to Jimmy Graham and a 38-yarder to Travis Benjamin in a 21-point midgame run, but OU had its chances. The Sooners started out the scoring with a ten-yard Cameron Kenny catch early in the first, and they got a two-yard DeMarco Murray touchdown run late in the third and a 39-yard Jimmy Stevens field goal with 4:18 to pull within one. And then Miami used its power game with an eight-play, 54-yard drive to run out the clock. Miami outgained OU 342 yards to 341.
Player of the Game: Miami RB Javarris James ran 15 times for 150 yards
Oklahoma: Passing: Landry Jones, 18-30, 188 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: DeMarco Murray, 23-80, 1 TD, Receiving: Cameron Kenney, 6-72, 1 TD
Miami: Passing: Jacory Harris, 19-28, 202 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Javarris James, 15-150, Receiving: Aldarius Johnson, 4-45
What It All Means: The defensive line got to Jacory Harris and was rock-solid sound early, and it did a decent job against the run, for the most part, but when push came to shove late, OU got shoved. Landry Jones was more than fine under center, but he wasn’t asked to do a whole bunch as the running game and the defense were supposed to carry the Sooners, and they did, but there wasn’t a chance to pull out the game late. If OU’s D is supposed to be among the best in America, it should’ve given Jones and the attack one final shot in the final four minutes. The talk will be about Sam Bradford probably coming back for the Baylor game to tune up for Texas, but the bigger issue is the secondary that missed too many assignments and couldn’t get off the field late. 

Sept. 19
at Oklahoma 45 … Tulsa 0
Landry Jones set a school-record with six touchdown passes including two to Brandon Caleb in the first half from seven and 63 yards out, and he worked with Ryan Broyles on the final three scores of the game with scoring passes from ten, 14, and 35 yards out. Tulsa managed just 269 yards of total offense and was never threatened against an OU defense that registered six sacks. OU LB Ryan Reynolds made 13 tackles with two sacks.
Player of the Game: Oklahoma QB Landry Jones completed 25-of-37 passes for 336 yards and six touchdowns
Tulsa: Passing: G.J. Kinne, 12-26, 106 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Jamad Williams, 9-39, Receiving: Trae Johnson, 4-50
Oklahoma: Passing: Landry Jones, 25-37, 336 yds, 6 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Chris Brown, 16-73, Receiving: Ryan Broyles, 11-128, 3 TD
What It All Means: Landry Jones is starting to find his niche, but he’s also still making a few too many mistakes. He got time to work, and while he wasn’t always on and he threw two interceptions, he played well enough to not have to be hidden against the better teams. The rushing punch of Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray did a nice job, and the receivers took short to midrange passes for several huge plays, but Jones also kept cool under fire and he had the type of confidence-building game he needed to have going forward. If he’s the main man under center against Miami and Texas, which it’s looking more and more like he’ll be, he needs to be able to show he can consistently shine without making too many errors.

Sept. 12
at Oklahoma 64 ... Idaho State 0
Oklahoma's offense got to stretch its legs as Landry Jones threw three touchdown passes to Ryan Broyles in the first half before the ground game took over. Chris Brown ran for a two-yard score and DeMarco Murray scored from three and nine yards out in the layup. Idaho State was held to -22 yards rushing  and was outganed 564 yards to 44.
Player of the Game: Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles caught seven passes for 155 yards and three scores.
Idaho State: Passing: Kyle Blum, 11-26, 66 yds
Rushing: Ben Laporta, 13-8, Receiving: Isaiah Burel, 4-39
Oklahoma: Passing: Landry Jones, 18-32, 286 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: DeMarco Murray, 12-101, 2 TD, Receiving: Ryan Broyles, 7-155, 3 TD
What It All Means: While it was an expected blowout against Idaho State, and the defense never let the game be interesting, there are still causes for concern. Landry Jones was fine, but he missed on way too many makeable passes while the O line again, for the third game in a row, got stuffed on the goal line when the team was trying to make a statement. It was a good game for Jones to get some live action, but until Sam Bradford is back, OU needs to win with its pair of terrific backs and the defense. DeMarco Murray averaged 8.4 yards per carry and Chris Brown averaged 5.9.

Sept. 5
BYU 14 … Oklahoma 13
Max Hall connected with McKay Jacobson for a seven-yard score with 3:03 to play leading the way to a one-point lead, but OU had one last shot. Tress Way’s 54-yard field goal attempt fell short and wide, and BYU had the shocking upset. Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury, and backup Landry Jones couldn’t get the offense moving as Jimmy Stevens connected on field goals from 35 and 22 yards out after BYU tied it at seven on an Andrew George five-yard touchdown grab. OU started off the scoring on an eight-yard Ryan Broyles catch from Bradford. The two teams combined for 22 penalties.
Player of the Game: BYU QB Max Hall completed 26-of-38 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
BYU: Passing: Max Hall, 26-38, 329 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Bryan Kariya, 17-42, Receiving: Dennis Pitta, 7-90
Oklahoma: Passing: Sam Bradford, 10-14, 96 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Chris Brown, 14-59, Receiving: Brandon Caleb, 4-57
What It All Means: Oklahoma wasn’t just without All-America tight end Jermaine Gresham, but it completely lost its fire after Sam Bradford’s shoulder got crunched. Even so, the defense came up with a good enough performance to get the win, even if the offense didn’t do anything once Bradford left. There were too many penalties, not enough pressure on Max Hall, even with four sacks, and the team held on to the ball for just 22:58. Basically, OU lost its stars, and the rest of the team didn’t pick up the slack.