Tulsa's flashy offense puts up fight; OU finally scores knockout

By Berry Tramel

Published: September 22, 2007

TULSA — You remember the old Yogi Berra line about that restaurant is so crowded, nobody goes there anymore?

College football is getting the same way. Offenses are so unorthodox these days, everybody's doing it. And Tulsa is doing offense very, very well.

Which explains why Oklahoma's 62-21 rout of Tulsa on Friday night — a 41-point verdict on the road, against a team at least in the upper half of OU's 2007 foes — brought relief as much as jubilation.

"Glad to get that behind us,” OU defensive backs coach Bobby Jack Wright said of chasing TU's new-fangled offense and slippery quarterback Paul Smith. "Puts a lot more stress on your defense. I was really glad to get tested.”

North Texas didn't do it. Miami didn't do it. Utah State didn't do it. But Tulsa and coordinator Gus Malzahn's offense, which runs players in motion from every angle and tosses passes from every direction, most definitely tested the Sooners.

And OU passed. Eventually.

"I liked the way it went,” Bob Stoops said. "Defensively, they had us on our heels early a little bit. We settled in in the second half and played well.”

But the first half in River City was trouble. Tulsa flanker Jesse Meyer entered Friday with 11 catches total in 15 career games. By halftime Friday, Meyer had seven catches for 114 yards and was drawing comparisons to Garrett Mills, the TU tight end who stunned the Sooners for 13 catches and 152 yards two years ago at Owen Field.

The first half was a fireworks stand set ablaze. Smith threw for 264 yards (finished with 350). OU tailback Allen Patrick ran for 130 yards (finished with 145). Sudden Sam Bradford threw for 162 yards on 16 throws (finished with 244, on 16-of-22 passing). New favorite receiver Juaquin Iglesias had five catches for 85 yards (finished with eight for 142).

OU led 35-14, and it seemed like it could have been 49-28.

"Very unconventional offense, the different things they do,” Stoops said. "So it was a discipline test.”

The second half was much better. The Sooners allowed 266 total yards on 39 plays in the first half; they allowed 132 yards on 34 plays in the second half. The DBs quit allowing long passes. The pass rush intensified.

OU six times sacked Smith, no small accomplishment considering Smith's quick feet. Auston English had two of the sacks; linebacker Curtis Lofton had 14 tackles.

After Tulsa opened the second half with an 81-yard touchdown drive that cut OU's lead to 35-21, the Sooners gave up just 61 yards the rest of the game.

That's more than acceptable against this Tulsa offense. Smith ranks with Mizzou's Chase Daniel as the best quarterbacks OU will face. Chances are, Tulsa's offense is the best on the whole Sooner schedule, which says a whole lot about TU and a whole lot about Oklahoma & the 11 Pipers Piping.

The Big 12 stinks, in part because it doesn't have enough offenses like Tulsa's. Let's hope Texas A&M fans weren't watching Friday night, else they'll get all lathered up again over the Aggies forgetting what century they are in.

OU most definitely does not stink, and any American interested in the Sooners' status could see that Friday night. The OU offense was not tested — Tulsa is incapable of putting up a fight on defense — but the defense was. And passed.

Comments