Updated: 11/3/03
|
NORMAN, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- While Oklahoma is chasing a second national championship under coach Bob Stoops, there is also the rather large matter of figuring out a way to beat Oklahoma State. The top-ranked Sooners hope to snap a two-game losing streak against the improved Cowboys on Saturday when the rivals clash in a key Big 12 Conference contest. "One (team) is maybe the best team in college football and they other is a darn good football team," Oklahoma State coach Les Miles said. "We are going to play and figure out which one is which." With both teams coming into the contest ranked for the first time since 1988, the latest edition of the "Bedlam" game takes on added significance. Should No. 15 Oklahoma State pull off another upset, the Cowboys would have a legitimate shot to win the Big 12 South title. A victory would pull Oklahoma State (7-1, 3-1 Big 12 South) into a tie with the Sooners atop the division with another showdown against Texas looming next week in Stillwater. In the last two years, the Cowboys have been a major source of frustration for Oklahoma. Two years ago, they knocked the Sooners out of the Big 12 race with a 16-13 win in Norman and duplicated the feat with a 38-28 victory at home last season, although Oklahoma already had clinched a berth in the Big 12 championship game. A year ago, Oklahoma State tore up apart Oklahoma's usually stout defense as Josh Fields threw four touchdowns, including three to Rashaun Woods, who finished with 12 receptions for 226 yards. The Cowboys, who built a 35-6 lead early in the third quarter, outgained the Sooners, 506-303. "Hopefully, this year we can coach a little bit bitter and give ourselves a little bit better opportunity to win," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. Last year's win gave Miles a suprisng 4-1 record against the Sooners. "I don't look at Les Miles vs. (Oklahoma coach) Bob Stoops in any way," Miles said. "I look at our team versus Oklahoma. It's a traditional rival for us, it's bedlam. They are the top-ranked team in the country, let's go play. It's not coach Miles vs. coach Stoops." Oklahoma (8-0, 4-0) will be trying to avoid losing three in a row to Oklahoma State for the first time in the history of the 97-game series, whch the Sooners lead, 74-16-7. But while Fields and Woods remain key cogs in Oklahoma State's high-powered offense, the Sooners also have to find a way to contain Tatum Bell. In last week's 38-10 win over Texas A&M, Bell ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns to join Thurman Thomas and Terry Miller as the players in school history with consecutive 1,000-yard rushing sesons. Bell, who had TD runs of 40, 1 and 26 yards, increased his season rushing total to 1,081 yards. Woods hauled in two TD passes, his first scores since his record-breaking seven-TD performance against Southern Methodist on September 20. The Cowboys have won seven in a row, matching their longest winning streak since 1997. The are seeking their first 8-1 start since 1985. Oklahoma got a bit of a test last week but extended its winning streak to 10 games with a 34-20 victory at Colorado. The Sooners sacked Colorado's Josh Klatt seven times and held the Buffaloes to 40 yards rushing on 25 carries. "I do like the way we are playing this year in all parts of our defense," Stoops said. "They are structurally playing in a better way, taking away big plays. That'll be a big part in this game." Jason White completed 19-of-28 passes for 248 yards and three TDs, including a 59-yard TD strike to Mark Clayton with 1:59 left that sealed the victory. Renaldo Works rushed for 130 yards.
|
|
White's 3 TDs, tenacious D lead Sooners
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Bob Stoops silently stewed as he listened to the chatter coming from Oklahoma State all week. Oklahoma's coach had the final say after the rout was over. "Sometimes it's good to be doubted," Stoops said after his top-ranked Sooners beat Oklahoma State (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) 52-9 on Saturday. "There's enough good things said about us. Sometimes it's good to have that sarcasm said about you." Jason White threw for two touchdowns and ran for another and Oklahoma's defense was dominant once again in ending a two-game losing streak against the Cowboys. Oklahoma (9-0, 5-0 Big 12) remains on track for the Big 12 title and a spot in the BCS' national title game -- the Sugar Bowl -- while Oklahoma State (7-2, 3-2) dropped a game behind Texas and into third place in the Big 12 South. The loss all but ends the Cowboys' hopes of a BCS game. It was the first time both teams came into the game ranked since 1988. Last Saturday, Oklahoma State coach Les Miles said the Sooners were the nation's best team "so we are told." There's no more doubt which team is better. The momentum of the game shifted late in the first quarter on Darrent Williams' fumble of a punt return. Williams fielded the ball, dropped it, then tried to pick it up. The ball squirted away and Oklahoma recovered at the 50. Eight plays later, Kejuan Jones scored the first of his two touchdowns to give the Sooners a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. "They are an awfully good football team, we knew that coming in," a more contrite Miles said. "We didn't get exactly what we wanted from our football team, but they certainly did." In a game that featured two of the nation's top offenses, it was Oklahoma's heralded defense that stole the show. Oklahoma State's celebrated trio of quarterback Josh Fields, running back Tatum Bell and receiver Rashaun Woods couldn't do much against the Sooners when the game was still competitive. "All week the whole talk was about their offense," Stoops said. "You would have never thought we played any defense around here." The Cowboys had more punts (5) than first downs (3) in the first half, and had more penalty yards (58) than offensive yards (47) late into the third quarter. In the Sooners' final show of superiority, Oklahoma State failed to punch the ball into the end zone on three tries from the 1 early in the fourth quarter. After Oklahoma stuffed fullback Shawn Willis on fourth down, the school-record crowd of 84,027 exploded into cheers, Stoops vigorously pumped his fist on the sideline and players were celebrating on the field. Oklahoma State's only touchdown came on Williams' 11-yard return of an interception 26 seconds into the third quarter. "We showed a lot of pride and toughness on defense," Stoops said. "Our defense not giving up a touchdown all day, that's the finest defense I've seen them play." The Cowboys, who came into the game averaging 445 yards, were held to a season-low 161 yards. Woods, who had 20 catches for 355 yards and four TDs in the previous two wins over OU, was held to four receptions for 25 yards. Fields was 9-of-24 for 62 yards with an interception and was sacked four times, three by Dan Cody. Bell rushed for 122 yards, but most came long after the contest had been decided. "They pretty much dominated us," Oklahoma State guard Ben Buie said. "We had to get away from our game plan. They really didn't surprise us. We knew what they were going to do, but we just couldn't stop them." Meanwhile, White had an off-game but connected when he needed to. He went 11-of-27 for 194 yards with two interceptions and two touchdowns and scored again on a 1-yard sneak. Renaldo Works led the Sooners with 103 yards rushing on 19 carries and Jones added 86 yards on 22 carries. Mark Clayton finished with six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, the school-record 17th of his career. "This was one of those hurdles we knew we had to get over," Jones said. "We came out fired up and knew we had to take care of business today." The Sooners, who saw their 2001 national title hopes derailed by the Cowboys and then lost to them 38-28 last year, were eager to make amends. Stoops, a former assistant at Florida under Steve Spurrier, even appeared to rub it in like his old boss used to. The Sooners added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including one off a reverse to receiver Mark Bradley, who then threw the ball to reserve quarterback Paul Thompson in the end zone. The Sooners are now the owners of the nation's longest winning streak at 11 games. Oklahoma has won all seven games against Oklahoma State when ranked No. 1.
|
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Oklahoma State...... 0 3 6 0 - 9 Record: (7-2,3-2)
Oklahoma............ 10 14 14 14 - 52 Record: (9-0,5-0)
Scoring Summary:
1st 11:05 OU - DiCarlo, Trey 28 yd field goal, 4-0 0:53, OSU 0 - OU 3
04:22 OU - Jones, Kejuan 2 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 11-61 5:16, OSU 0 - OU 10
2nd 11:47 OU - Jones, Kejuan 3 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 8-50 3:49, OSU 0 - OU 17
06:49 OU - Jones, Brandon 6 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 8-40 3:15, OSU 0 - OU 24
01:26 OSU - Phillips,Luke 31 yd field goal, 4-3 0:55, OSU 3 - OU 24
3rd 14:34 OSU - Williams,Darre 11 yd interception return (Phillips,Luke kick failed), , OSU 9 - OU 24
05:29 OU - White, Jason 1 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 8-81 2:27, OSU 9 - OU 31
02:13 OU - Clayton, Mark 17 yd pass from Bradley, Mark (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 1-17 0:07, OSU 9 - OU 38
4th 08:50 OU - Jones, Brandon 66 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 8-99 3:44, OSU 9 - OU 45
05:42 OU - Bradley, Mark 14 yd pass from Thompson, Paul (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 5-37 2:23, OSU 9 - OU 52
OSU OU
FIRST DOWNS................... 10 25
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 37-99 50-221
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 62 225
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 24-9-1 29-13-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 61-161 79-446
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-2 3-29
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 2-21 1-10
Interception Returns-Yards.... 2-25 1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-42.0 3-41.7
Fumbles-Lost.................. 3-2 1-0
Penalties-Yards............... 6-58 4-26
Possession Time............... 26:53 33:07
Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 16 8 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 2 0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-2 7-7
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-6 4-31
RUSHING: Oklahoma State-Bell,Tatum 22-122; Shaw,Seymore 3-16;
Willis,Shawn 3-9; Morency,Vernan 2-minus 1; Team 1-minus 13; Fields,Josh
6-minus 34. Oklahoma-Works, Renaldo 19-103; Jones, Kejuan 22-86; Hickson,
Donta 6-30; White, Jason 3-2.
PASSING: Oklahoma State-Fields,Josh 9-24-1-62. Oklahoma-White, Jason
11-27-2-194; Thompson, Paul 1-1-0-14; Bradley, Mark 1-1-0-17.
RECEIVING: Oklahoma State-Woods,Rashaun 4-25; Bajema,Billy 1-15;
Nease,Chay 1-11; Bell,Tatum 1-6; Willis,Shawn 1-3; Johnson,Charli 1-2.
Oklahoma-Clayton, Mark 6-96; Jones, Brandon 3-84; Rankins, Jejuan 1-18;
Bradley, Mark 1-14; Peoples, Will 1-9; Jones, Kejuan 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS: Oklahoma State-Williams,Darre 1-11; Smith,Khreem 1-14.
Oklahoma-Nicholson, Dont 1-0.
FUMBLES: Oklahoma State-Fields,Josh 2-1; Williams,Darre 1-1.
Oklahoma-Perkins, Antoni 1-0.
SACKS (UA-A): Oklahoma State-DeGrate,Victor 1-0; Smith,Khreem 1-0.
Oklahoma-Cody, Dan 3-0; Allen, Gayron 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Oklahoma State-Grant,Vernon 4-4; Richmond,Greg 3-4;
DeGrate,Victor 3-5; Williams,Darre 4-1; Smith,Antonio 2-4; Duren,Paul 2-5;
Holland,Jon 2-2; Coe,Clay 2-2; McLemore,Dan 2-2; Girtman,Brad 1-4;
Smith,Khreem 1-3; Wright,Thomas 1-2; McGee,Pagitte 1-0; Ransom,Jamar 1-0;
Nease,Chay 1-0; Jones,Greg 1-0; Jones,Robert 1-1; Craig,Elbert 1-1;
Lawson-Kennedy 0-1; Fountain,Marqu 0-1; Carter,Fath' 0-1; Nethon,Jeremy 0-1.
Oklahoma-Pool, Brodney 4-4; Allen, Gayron 3-5; Perkins, Antoni 4-1; Cody,
Dan 4-0; Lehman, Teddy 3-2; Nicholson, Dont 2-4; Dvoracek, Dusty 3-1;
Everage, Brando 3-0; Strait, Derrick 2-2; Jackson, Jonath 2-0; White, Jason
1-0; Birdine, Larry 1-0; Jackson, Pasha 1-1; McCoy, Matt 0-1; Dennison,
Russe 0-1; Thibodeaux, Cal 0-1; Bradley, Mark 0-1; Klein, Kory 0-1;
McGruder, Lynn 0-1; Harris, Tommie 0-1.
Attendance: 84,027
Updated: 11/3/03