From The Oklahoman
by Barry Tramel
The numbers kept rising, along with the blood pressure of both defensive coordinators and every gridiron purist watching.
OU's Sam Bradford's passing: 189 yards after one quarter, 313 at halftime, a school-record 468 for the game.
Kansas' Dezmon Briscoe's receiving: 60 yards after one quarter, 193 at halftime, a school-record 269 for the game.
Crazy totals even for this sport gone crazy.
But here are the numbers that explains Oklahoma's 45-31 victory Saturday: 97 and 0.
The Sooners ran 97 plays. They committed zero turnovers and allowed zero sacks.
Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Snap the ball that many times, fling the ball that far over Owen Field, and still, no major mistakes.
Now you know why college football in general, and Big 12 football in particular, has gone the way of video games. Wide open no longer is high risk. At least not with Sammy B. quarterbacking and his Great Wall of Norman protecting. “The line that doesn't block anybody?” OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson asked with more than a hint of defiance.
Wilson seemed a little chapped at the criticism leveled his line's way after the 45-35 loss at Texas last week.
Wilson's point: This offense, when it works well or when it works even weller, is a group effort. Yes, Cool Hand Sam is phenomenally accurate and sharp, but that's because he's given time to carve up defenses.
Bob Stoops said the O-line received the first game-ball presentation in the locker room.
“The offensive line really made my job easier,” Bradford said. “They kept me protected. I can't tell you how much time I had back there.”
As opposed to, say, KU's Todd Reesing. The Little Quarterback That Could was his usual feisty self, completing 24 of 41 for 342 yards.
But OU sacked Reesing five times, and he threw two interceptions. The Sooners finally put away Kansas with a defensive surge — five straight stops in the second half. Three of those Jayhawk possessions were doomed by sacks.
“If we have a couple of those glitches, we're hanging on for dear life,” Wilson said. Said Reesing, “We fought our hardest to keep up with them, which we did for awhile, but in the end they had more firepower than we did.”
Firepower is the Big 12 brand in 2008. Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Kansas itself and, of course, Texas, a 56-31 thrasher of Missouri on Saturday night. In this league, you've got to score big to win.
Bradford's numbers are just plain silly: 26 touchdowns, five interceptions, 71 percent completions, 2,520 yards.
Stoops, rarely given to hyperbole, surrendered. “Sam Bradford is just sensational,” Stoops said. “It's a rare occasion he makes a mistake ... we really had a huge day, an incredible day.”
Bradford's 468 passing yards broke the school record of his mentor, Josh Heupel. But when Heupel threw for 429 yards against Louisville back in Year 1 of Bob Stoops, the Sooners didn't rush for any 206 yards, like they did Saturday, when the only numbers that didn't rise were OU mistakes.
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