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For the second weekend in a row Oklahoma's starting defense failed to yield a point to their opponents. Like the Texas Longhorns last weekend, the Kansas Jayhawks scored in garbage time against the two's and three's but struggled heavily against the first-team unit.
Tony Jefferson's 11 tackles led the way for a Sooner defense that recorded three sacks, two interceptions and a fumble. Most notably though, they kept the Jayhawks out of the end zone until the 3:11 mark of the fourth quarter. It was a performance that drew praise from a happy Bob Stoops after the game.
"There was ‘Big' Casey Walker with a fumble return," Stoops said. "They were playing great in every way: run defense, pass defense, getting turnovers, getting pressure, not giving up, not busting and not having any mental errors. Even the touchdown Kansas get against our two's and three's in there, we made them go. We've been very disciplined with how we have been playing."
Landry Jones backed up the defense with 291 passing yards and three scores. The typically high flying Oklahoma offense slowed the pace and only ran 51 plays with 33 of them being passes. The Sooners didn't run a whole lot but they were effective when they did. Led by Brennan Clay's 11.8 yards per carry, OU averaged 5.2 yards per rush as a team.
Everything was on Landry Jones' shoulders offensively on Saturday night and he stepped up to the challenge.
"He's just excellent with his reads and delivering the football," Stoops said about his senior quarterback. "Just look at the pass to Kenny (Stills). I mean the defender is in good shape and he just drops the ball, literally, six inches beyond his reach right into Kenny's chest. All those throws were just him playing comfortable and taking what they're giving him."
Of course, there was also a lot of, "special" in Oklahoma's special teams as well. Justin Brown took a punt return 85-yards for a score in the second quarter and then Roy Finch took the second half kickoff 100 yards for a score to complete Oklahoma's dominance in every way.
The Sooners needed to prove that they were a team of focus, regardless of the opponent, on Saturday night and that's exactly what they did. Celebrate the victory, OU fans, and get ready for Notre Dame.