Sooners 55 – Huskies 14, Final Thoughts

We knew, and said, going into Saturday night’s game at Washington that the only way the Sooners could lose was if they beat themselves and it turns out that we were right because Washington was absolutely no match for Oklahoma. That shouldn’t take away from the pressure that this team felt to perform well on the road though. Two seasons of poor performances outside of the Norman city limits had every Sooner fan wondering what they were going to see at Husky Stadium.

In two games at home this season OU has been physically intimidating and dominant and it turns out that they can be the same way on the road. Washington turned out to be the confidence booster that we had hoped they would be and if the Sooners can keep the same nasty attitude all season long that they’ve displayed through the first three games then this is going to be a special season.

Through three games we can say with confidence that Oklahoma’s offense is dangerous and explosive and their defense is punishing. In three games now they’ve had three opposing quarterbacks set out plays after taking hits.

Report Card

 

Quarterbacks – Sam Bradford was amazing again by completing 18 of 21 passes for 304 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also added a one yard touchdown plunge. The best thing I saw from Bradford was how he handled being under pressure. His first touchdown pass was a perfect strike despite being hit while making the throw. Bradford averaged 16.7 yards per completion.

Grade: A+

 

Offensive Line - The o-line is living up to their hype as they are paving the way for one of the most explosive offenses in the country. The Sooners cranked out 591 yards of offense at an average of 8.3 yards per play. For the third game in a row they didn’t let Sam Bradford be sacked.

Grade: A+

 

Running Backs – Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray both cracked the 100 yard mark with Brown going for 110 yards on 13 carries and Murray 100 yards on 16 carries. They averaged 8.2 and 6.2 yards per carry respectively and while neither one of them reached the end zone Mossis Madu did, twice. Madu had 50 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Grade: A+

 

Receivers/Tight Ends – When your quarterback is putting up insane numbers then your receivers are going to have pretty good nights as well. Ryan Broyles had another big night catching three passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Jermaine Gresham also had two touchdowns on three catches with 99 receiving yards.

Grade: A+

 

Defensive Line – The defensive line didn’t rack up a lot of stats in the area of tackles but they did their job of holding off blockers to allow the linebackers to make plays all over the field. Gerald McCoy and Cory Bennett did register sacks.

Grade: A

 

Linebackers: Keenan Clayton and Travis Lewis combined for 16 tackles and 2 sacks. Ryan Reynolds added 5 tackles to bring the starters up to 21 total tackles. The linebackers did an excellent job of containing Jake Locker and the Washington running backs. In all they held the Huskies to under 90 yards rushing and less than three yards per carry.

Grade: A+

 

Defensive Backs: Keenan Clayton and Brian Jackson both forced fumbles as the Oklahoma secondary played very physical against Washington receivers. The Huskies were able to pass for 249 yards but 95 of that came in garbage time. Oklahoma’s starters held Jake Locker to 154 yards passing.

Grade: A+

 

Special Teams: Oklahoma is still struggling here and these are issues that could get you beat. Jimmy Stevens missed the extra point attempt after Oklahoma’s second touchdown and the kickoff team gave up 155 yards on returns.

Grade: C