OU as good as advertised
It was a classic case of David vs. Goliath Saturday in Norman, Okla.
In this instance, the USU football team was David, but Goliath, in the monstrous form of the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners, mercilessly reaped the spoils.
The Sooners (3-0) lived up to their ranking and were solid from beginning to end in a 54-3 stomping of the Aggies (0-3) at Memorial Stadium.
“They proved they are the No. 3 team, maybe better,” Aggie Head Coach Brent Guy said in a radio interview.
USU’s only score came from the birthday boy, Peter Caldwell, who drilled a 30-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
With the exception of a few plays made by the Aggie defense, including a Roy Hurst interception two minutes into the second quarter, the game was all OU.
The Sooners tallied 617 yards of total offense – 343 rushing, 274 passing – 24 first downs (USU had eight), two interceptions (one was taken back for a touchdown), and even had possession of the ball for three less minutes than USU.
The Aggies put in 153 yards of total offense and averaged 1.9 yards per rush, which is nearly an entire yard better than North Texas or Miami could muster against the Sooners.
“(That’s) not anything to brag about,” Guy said. “The problem is (the Sooners were) just so fast and closed the gaps on us so quick. We just got manhandled a little bit, you know. The most obvious thing was when they got to the open field on kick returns or punt returns or broke the ball on us on offense. We could not, even with guys not blocked, we could not make plays on (their running backs). I don’t know how much we really learned from that game, but we’ve got to delete it real fast.”
The Sooners opened the game quick, scoring on each of their first three drives for a 21-0 cushion. OU’s Juaqu Iglesias broke through for a 35-yard rushing touchdown for his team’s first score.
The next six-pointer came on a 27-yard pass completion from redshirt freshman Sam Bradford to Malcolm Kelly. The third was an eight-yard pass from Bradford to Joe Finley to cap an 81-yard push to the end zone.
Jase McCormick replaced Aggie quarterback Leon Jackson on the first drive of the second quarter. It was brief, 1:30, and fruitless, but on the next drive, Bradford threw his first interception of his collegiate career to Hurst.
The Aggies scored on the next drive, which ended up going 10 plays, 46 yards, and lasting nearly five minutes – USU’s most time consuming drive of the game.
Any momentum USU might have thought it had from those three points was wiped away immediately.
On the first play of the Sooner’s proceeding drive, running back Patrick Allen sprinted 69 yards into the end zone, passing Aggie defenders like they were padded tackling dummies.
Two minutes later the Sooners went 48 yards in 11 plays before a 17-yard touchdown pass.
McCormick fumbled on the first play of the next drive, and OU ended the half with a 32-yard field goal.
In the second half, USU stopped the Sooners on a fourth-and-one from the USU 29. Unfortunately, the Aggies’ first drive (six plays, 21 yards) was the longest yard-wise they would have for the remainder of the game.
Jackson reentered the game in the second half until finally being replaced again by McCormick at the end of the third quarter. McCormick quarterbacked the entire fourth quarter.
Both he and Jackson threw one interception – Jackson’s was taken back 45 yards for a touchdown by Sooner defender Curtis Lofton.
Jackson finished 9-of-14 passing for 65 yards; McCormick was 6-of-10 for 22 yards and was sacked twice.
Junior linebacker Derrick Cumbee led the Aggies with eight tackles.
“We didn’t put ourselves in a great position to play with them today,” offensive guard Shawn Murphy said. “We could have done a little better at that. But credit them. They’re a great team defensively and offensively. It’s Oklahoma. Anybody that they bring in to replace people from last year will be just as good, if not better. They’re definitely a very good team.”
The Aggies start Western Athletic Conference play next week, hosting San Jose State.
“Coach Guy just said it best in the locker room,” Murphy said. “We have to go in, watch film, learn form our mistakes and then focus on WAC play because it’s basically a whole new season for us now. I think we’re definitely feeling good about our chances with them to start our WAC play with a win.”
-samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu