News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Sooners handle No. 1 ranking

Published: Oct 05, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: Oct 05, 2008 02:11 AM

Sooners handle No. 1 ranking

Oklahoma shrugs off Baylor, 49-17

Oklahoma wide receiver Brandon Caleb gets past fallen Baylor defender Cliff Odom in the second half.

Story Tools

Advertisements
Oklahoma remembers how to play the role of No. 1.

Sam Bradford threw for 379 yards and two touchdowns, DeMarco Murray ran for two scores, and four other Sooners got into the end zone in another lopsided victory over Baylor, 49-17 Saturday in their Big 12 opener.

Bradford threw a 53-yard TD to Manuel Johnson only 70 seconds into the game for the visiting Sooners (5-0), who built a 28-0 lead after one quarter.

Oklahoma last week moved into the No. 1 spot of the AP poll for a record 96th time, but first since 2003. This week, the Sooners have their traditional October meeting against No. 5 Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Johnson got open behind the secondary for a 53-yard catch on Oklahoma's third play of the game for its quickest opening TD of the season -- after Baylor (2-3) went three-and-out in only 31 seconds.

ALSO SATURDAY

NO. 5 TEXAS 38, COLORADO 14: Chris Ogbonnaya scored two touchdowns and saved another as visiting Texas routed Colorado.

The oft-overlooked senior running back scored on a 65-yard dump-off pass and a 13-yard gallop through the befuddled Buffaloes (3-2, 0-1 Big 12), then saved a score when he chased down cornerback Jalil Brown at the Texas 16 after an interception of Colt McCoy, who was picked off twice.

Ogbonnaya finished with a career-best 71 yards on nine carries and caught six passes for 116 yards for the Longhorns (5-0, 1-0).

NO. 7 TEXAS TECH 58, KANSAS STATE 28: Graham Harrell threw six touchdown passes and shattered the school record for career yards passing, leading Texas Tech over host Kansas State.

Lyle Leong snared three touchdown passes from Harrell, who was 38-for-51 for 454 yards and has 12,709 career yards.

Texas Tech (5-0, 1-0 Big 12), with its highest ranking in 32 years, scored on seven straight possessions and did not attempt a punt until Stefan Loucks replaced Harrell late in the fourth quarter against the outmanned Wildcats (3-2, 0-1).

NO. 16 KANSAS 35, IOWA STATE 33: Todd Reesing threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns, and Kansas stormed back from a 20-point hole before hanging on to beat host Iowa State.

Kerry Meier caught seven passes for 125 yards and two TDs for the Jayhawks (4-1, 1-0 Big 12), who tied the third-biggest comeback in school history by outscoring the Cyclones 35-13 in the second half.

It wasn't easy, though.

Cyclones freshman Sedrick Johnson followed a late Iowa State touchdown by recovering an onside kick with 1:13 left, giving the Cyclones (2-3, 0-1) the ball at their own 41. But the Jayhawks' defense clamped down, forcing Iowa State's Austen Arnaud to throw four straight incompletions.

NO. 21 OKLAHOMA STATE 56, TEXAS A&M 28: Dez Bryant caught three passes for touchdowns and scored another on a punt return as Oklahoma State took advantage of five first-half turnovers in rolling over visiting Texas A&M.

The Cowboys set a school record by surpassing 50 points for the fourth straight game, with help from their defense and special teams. Ugo Chinasa and Patrick Lavine each scored on interception returns as Oklahoma State (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) snapped a four-game losing streak to A&M (2-3, 0-1).

All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published, broadcast or redistributed in any manner.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.

No comments have been posted for this story. Log in to be the first to comment.
 

 

The News & Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.

Since The News & Observer does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The News and Observer.

If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.

Hosting Partners of
newsobserver.com

A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company