A big thank you goes out to Jayson "Jay" Knight here for getting me set up and allowing me to cover this game for him. I will hopefully be covering more games for him and the paper in the weeks to come. McAlester News Capital is a great paper and the experience thus far, amazing!
OU Dominates 'Noles 47-17
McALESTER — After a kickoff for a touchback, OU’s offense took the field with Landry Jones at the helm for the Sooners looking for redemption after last weeks sub-par performance. Jones led the Sooner offense down the field with crisp, accurate passes, racking up 77 passing yards. After a 14 yard pass to senior Cameron Kenney, running back Demarco Murray rushed two times gaining three yards each rush to the FSU 1 yard line. On third and 1 yard to gain, Murray took the handoff from Jones, diving over the offensive line for the games first touchdown.
As the Sooners took the field for the first time on defense, ‘Noles quarterback Christian Ponder took the field, leading a ‘Noles offense that racked up 56 points week one against Football Bowl Subdivision opponent Samford. The Sooners defense was not able to keep Ponder in check as the ‘Noles drove the field 70 yards in four minutes, forty-two seconds for a one yard touchdown run by ‘Noles running back Jermaine Thomas.
When the Sooners took the field for the second time, Landry Jones once again looked to lead his offense down the field to pay-dirt. The Sooners drove 80 yards in three minutes, forty-one seconds, a drive highlighted by a beautiful 22 yard pass over the middle of the field to Demarco Murray, 21 yards rushing for reserve running back Mossis Madu and capped off by a perfect fade route pass to the endzone from Jones to wide receiver Ryan Broyles, the Sooners once again took the lead 14-7.
The Sooners defense once again took the field, noticeable more excited and ready for the ‘Noles and Christian Ponder. After the ‘Noles committed a block in the back on the kickoff from Tres Way, Ponder failed to move the offense and on third down in FSU territory, Ponder was called for intentional grounding after defensive end Frank Alexander pressured the senior quarterback. After a 10 yard punt return by Ryan Broyles to the OU 46 yard line, the Sooners offense once again took the field. After 3 plays for 11 yards, the first quarter ended. Once the second quarter began, the Sooners took the field and two plays later, Jones connected on another perfect pass, this time to senior wide receiver Cameron Kenney for 37 yards. The Sooners led then at 21-7.
After the Sooner score, FSU found themselves in trouble. Christian Ponder moved the ‘Noles offense down to the OU 40 yard line when Ponder was sacked for a 3 yard loss back to the Sooner 43 yard line. A punt into the endzone gave the Sooners the ball back at the 20 yard line and they made quick work of the ‘Noles defense. Five plays for eighty yards in just one minute and twenty nine seconds found the Sooners in the endzone once again. Landry Jones found tight end James Hanna for a forty-six yard touchdown pass, Hanna’s first of his career. Patrick O’Hara continued the Sooners woes at the place kicker missing the extra point giving the Sooners a 27-7 lead.
Florida State took the field looking to get back in the game once again, but the Sooner defense had other plans. Ponder completed a 14 yard pass to start the drive, but went three-and-out and gave the Sooners the ball back at their own 21. Jones hooked up with wide receiver Ryan Broyles on three consecutive plays 31 yards, but Jones’ pass on 1st down from the Florida State 37 yard line was ruled a fumble and recovery for Florida State, giving the ‘Noles new life on offense.
After three different reviews to determine the yard line of the fumble, the ‘Noles took over on their own 40 yard line; however, the Seminoles could do nothing with their opportunity and punted the ball back to the Sooners after three plays. Oklahoma took over at their own 30 yard line after just a 26 yard punt from Shawn Powell. Oklahoma had its own problems on offense after Jones took a 9 yard sack back to the Oklahoma 20 yard line.
After another three-and-out series for the Seminoles, Oklahoma took the field on the Florida State 49 after an eight yard return by Broyles and a fifteen yard late hit penalty on the Seminoles. Jones hit junior receiver Dejuan Miller for a thirty-four yard gain to the Florida State thirteen. After two incompletions, Jones found senior running back Demarco Murray for a twelve yard gain, then Murray once again drove through the Seminoles defensive line for his second 1 yard touchdown of the game. After a drive of six plays for forty-nine yards in just fifty-seven seconds, OU took a commanding 34-7 lead.
At the half, OU had 321 yards passing from Landry Jones, the second highest total for an OU quarterback all-time, second only to former Heisman winner Sam Bradford against North Texas in 2007. Jones ended the half with three passing touchdowns, Ryan Broyles also lit up the Seminoles defense with eight grabs for eighty-nine yards and a score while Demarco Murray, although only gaining 21 yards on the ground, scored twice as OU entered the locker room with a comfortable 27 point margin.
The Seminoles came out quick on offense in the second half. Running back Jermaine Thomas busted off a 34 yard run that took the Seminoles to the OU 41 yard line, but they could not move the ball past the OU 37 and punted to the Sooners where they took over at their own 5 yard line. After the Sooners moved the ball out to their own 17 yard line, center Ben Habern hiked the ball over Landry Jones’ head and after a positive play on third down, the Sooners were forced to punt. Tres Way boomed a 65 yard punt, his longest of the day, and pinned Florida State on their own 15 yard line.
The Sooners finally got their first big defensive play at 9:30 in the third quarter when Seminole quarterback Christian Ponder dropped back to pass and was picked off by linebacker Travis Lewis who returned the interception to the Florida State eight yard line. On a third and goal play from the seven, Landry Jones completed a pass to tight end Trent Ratterree for a touchdown. After the PAT, the Sooners took a commanding 41-7 lead.
The Seminoles took the field trying to get anything to click on their offense. A big hit by Sooner Linebacker Ronnell Lewis on the kickoff might have been an omen of things to come. Seminole Quarterback Ponder dropped back on a second and twelve and threw his second interception of the day to Jameel Fleming. Four plays and one minute, seventeen seconds later, the Sooners scored again, this time, however, a 39 field goal by Patrick O’Hara, atoning for his missed PAT earlier in the game.
By the end of the third quarter, Oklahoma had answered all the critics of their performance the previous Saturday against Utah State where, although Oklahoma pulled out the win against the Aggies, the Sooners admittedly did not play up to expectations. Chalk it up to nerves, first game butterflies, whatever the reason, OU dominated a highly talented and top 20 ranked Florida State for three quarters, much like the Sooners felt they should have dominated the Aggies of Utah State. Bob Stoops’ offense was clicking on all cylinders and the defense stepped up to the challenge of taking on a Heisman candidate quarterback in Christian Ponder, forcing him into bad throws, intercepting him twice, only allowing him to pass for 94 yards and registering three sacks.
After sacking Christian Ponder for the fourth time in the game, place kicker Dustin Hopkins put the Seminoles back in the scoring column with a booming 52 yard field goal that took the score to 44-10. Oklahoma would answer that score with a fifteen play, 54 yard drive that spanned five minutes and thirty-four seconds, resulting in a 38 yard field goal by Patrick O’Hara. On the drive, true freshman running back Brennan Clay was injured and had to be taken off the field with an apparent neck injury. The Sooners lead 47-10 at that point as Florida State Head Coach Jimbo Fisher pulled his senior quarterback in favor of backup E.J. Manuel. After a fumble recovery by the Sooners defensive back Gabe Lynn and a punt by Tres Way, Seminole quarterback E.J. Manuel was able to put Florida State back into the endzone, making the final score 47-17.
The Sooners took home a convincing win, dominating on both sides of the ball against a talented group in Florida State. Question marks in the defensive backfield were answered with two interceptions of what was touted as a Heisman quarterback. It has been said that Owen Field is where Heisman campaigns come to die. The Sooners certainly lived up to that billing today.
The number 10 ranked Sooners certainly proved their worth in staying in the top ten, if not proving that the first game of the year was a mere aberration. A crisp, well-prepared and motivated Sooner club stepped on to Owen Field today and silenced every critic they may have had during the previous week. Count this Oklahoma team as back, ready to make a Big XII Championship and National Title run.
OU’s home game winning streak has now been extended to 32 games. (I'm adding in a little here that I forgot to add to the article for the paper...sorry Jay!) Next up for the Sooners, a clash with The Air Force Academy, the first time since 1965 that a service academy has made the trip to Owen Field. That game saw the Navy Midshipmen shutout the Sooners 10-0. Armed with a vaunted rushing attack, the Falcons will surely look to take the ball right at the heart of the Sooners defense and test young tackles Jamarcus McFarland and Stacy McGee. This could easily be a game that Sooners senior defensive tackle makes a name for himself as a rush stuffing stud worthy of serious conference accolades as he overcomes last year's horrific leg injury in the Sun Bowl.
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