Instant Analysis: Kansas-Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Sooners’ offense isn’t a source of concern for Bob Stoops or anyone within shouting distance of Owen Field, the home of a high-powered aerial attack. Defense is the object of attention for the Crimson and Cream, and on Saturday against Kansas, that side of the ball came through.

The Sooners washed away the bitter taste of their tough loss to Texas by conquering Kansas in a matchup pitting Stoops, the established OU icon, against KU’s Mark Mangino, a colleague on Oklahoma’s 2000 national title team. After leading Kansas to an Orange Bowl victory last season, Mangino brought a big-time ballclub to Norman for the first time in his head coaching career, but the Sons of Stoops wouldn’t allow their boss to watch a two-game losing streak unfold. Oklahoma mashed Mangino’s men, and the recipe for the afternoon’s satisfying Sooner success was simple enough: Add just a little bit of defense to a big bowl of Bradford.

Yes, this Sam Bradford kid can pitch the pigskin a little bit. After racking up 468 yards and three touchdowns on 53 passing attempts that did not include a single interception, the Oklahoma quarterback showed that he’s not of a mind to have a letdown of any kind. A cool customer in the pocket, Bradford showed why the Sooners will be hard to take down in the second half of this season. As long as No. 14 is healthy, Oklahoma will field a team packed with plentiful portions of firepower. In this jolting of the Jayhawks, Bradford enabled OU to move the ball at will from start to finish; such a scenario is likely to define future games for the Sooners this season.

The question marks and doubts surrounding Oklahoma exist on the other side of the ball, especially now that linebacker Ryan Reynolds is out for the year with an injury. Given the brilliance of Bradford, the Sooners don’t figure to need overwhelming shutdown showcases from their defense in order to win games, but they merely need timely step-up performances that can preserve a little scoreboard padding. That’s exactly what Stoops and defensive coordinator Brent Venables received in this conquest of Kansas.

Whenever the Jayhawks and their superb quarterback, Todd Reesing, threatened to tie the Sooners in this track meet, Oklahoma’s defense had an answer. In the second quarter, a goal-line interception and a goal-line stand caused two lengthy Jayhawk drives to amount to a grand total of three points, preserving both the OU lead and a sense of confidence on the home team’s sideline. In the second half, a rare defensive stop by Kansas enabled the visitors—down 31-24—to climb back into contention, but the Sooner defense answered the bell. A sack of Reesing blunted a Jayhawk drive, and a little over a minute later, Bradford’s fast-break offense tacked on another touchdown to push the OU lead back to 14 points at 38-24. Kansas would never seriously threaten for the rest of the afternoon, as the Sooners pulled away for the win in this matchup of top 20 teams.

OU’s defense could have sagged in the face of Reesing’s resourcefulness. The Kansas quarterback frequently frustrated OU’s defense with his combination of scrambling, pinpoint throws, and field vision that enabled the Jayhawks to keep pace with the Sooners over the game’s first two and a half quarters. But instead of getting demoralized as they did against Texas the week before, OU defenders—particularly the front seven—redoubled their efforts and actually played harder in the game’s latter stages. By continuing to pursue Reesing, Sooner pass rushers shook the will of the entire KU offense. Sacks on three of KU’s first four second-half possessions shut down the Jayhawks and made sure that the final few minutes of regulation would be spent using the victory formation, and not a desperate no-huddle attack characteristic of a team in catch-up mode.

Oklahoma had no time to let down its guard after the loss to the Longhorns in Dallas. Thrown back into the fire against 16th-rated Kansas, the Sooners had to bring another bold effort to the ballpark in order to prevent their dreams from dying. While Sam Bradford propelled the pigskin to perfection, it was the determination of a dogged defense that ran down Todd Reesing in the second half… and racked up a satisfying triumph.