Steve Schmidt
NORMAN — Want to know the best way to wash away the bad taste left by one of the most controversial endings in the history of college football?
Eat a cupcake.
Following a trio of tough nonconference opponents (UAB, Washington, Oregon), it was Oklahoma’s turn to take a cue from Oklahoma State’s scheduling. And so the Sooners consumed a pastry in the form of the Sun Belt Conference’s Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, to the tune of 59-0.
It was a time to for the Sooners to take their minds off what unfurled last week at Autzen Stadium, while venting their frustration on a 34-33 losing outcome to the Ducks by means of a blue and silver punching bag.
In doing so, the Sooners learned that the best way to not worry about the past is to beat the stuffing out of an overmatched opponent in the present.
After the game, OU players were not about to become historians.
“It’s in the past,” Reggie Smith, who scored his team’s final touchdown on 61-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, said of the Oregon fiasco. “We just got to keep going. What’s done is done and we just got to keep practicing and get ready for the next game.”
Or as linebacker Rufus Alexander, who tied a school record with five tackles for loss, put it: “Coach (Bob) Stoops addressed it on Tuesday. We’re over with it. We’re done. Moving on. You can’t dwell on it. If you dwell on it, somebody’s going to creep up and get you.”
Oklahoma had 462 yards of offense compared to Middle Tennessee’s 95 yards.
“It was good to play well in all parts of the game and for a full 60 minutes,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “We understand that we are going to see stiffer and tougher competition as we go, but it is pleasing to go out (on offense, defense and special teams) and not have penalties, to take care of the football until the end.”
Oklahoma State proved to be fond of the Sun Belt snack bar as evidenced by the combined 83-15 beating OSU put on conference members Arkansas State and Florida Atlantic earlier this year. By halftime, OU was on pace to exceed OSU’s two-game offering after taking a 45-0 sofa cushion of a lead into the break. If all the starters played for the entire game the school’s most points in a game (82 against Colorado in 1980) might have been in jeopardy.
Although the Sooners chose a path of least resistance this week, consider this: The Sooners are the only Big 12 team this year to play all of its games against Division I-A opponents. The last time OU played a I-AA opponent was during Stoops’ first game as head coach against Indiana State in 1999.
With 14:56 left in the second quarter, the Sooners already had the game wrapped up, with the home team taking a 31-0 lead after Adrian Peterson powered his way for a 2-yard touchdown run. Game over. Drive home safely.
Able to do pretty much anything they pleased on offense, the Sooners had racked up 300 yards of total offense after the first play of the third quarter. From that point on, the major focus was avoiding the injury bug and thinking about the trip to Dallas to play Texas in two weeks.
Last season, Peterson suffered a high ankle sprain in the game leading up to the Texas game, a 43-21 victory over Kansas State. It was an ailment that Peterson never did fully recover from until the end of the year. The following week, A.D. only recorded 10 yards on three yards in a 45-12 pasting by the Longhorns.
As soon as Peterson ran for over 100 yards and scored three times, the running back’s night was finished midway through the third quarter.
“He didn’t want to come out, of course I had to convince him,” said Stoops of Peterson, who finished with 128 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. “Ultimately I care more about him being healthy and it was the right thing to do.”
So was scheduling a bye heading into the biggest game of the Sooners’ season — as well as the start of their Big 12 slate.
Said Stoops: “It couldn’t come at a better time.”
