It started on the first drive, continued on others and never let up the entire way for Oklahoma. Usually when you make that type of statement, you’re talking about the offense.

On this day, however, it was about the Alex Grinch defense. A dominant outing in every way imaginable paved the way to a 62-9 rout of visiting Kansas on Saturday evening.

Just how dominant? OU had nine sacks, 11 tackles for loss, two interceptions. Forced KU to 3-of-19 conversions on third down and just made life as chaotic as possible for KU quarterbacks.

It almost became a story of who would get to the quarterback first?

“It's a good feeling, but it also brings along a lot of friendly competition,” defensive lineman Ronnie Perkins said. “It practically became a race to the quarterback. We fighting each other for TFLs. It's a great feeling for the defense and the D-line. I feel like it's all making us better having to battle each other for stats.”

Perkins isn’t lying. He finished with 1.5 sacks, but he was overshadowed by perhaps the best performance of Nik Bonitto’s career. The RUSH linebacker finished with four tackles and a career-high three sacks.

When you add it all up, seven players were credited with some form of those nine sacks. Perkins set the tone on the first possession, and the rest of the line followed his lead.

“It’s really intimidating,” Bonitto said. “That just sets the tone of what they are going to have to be dealing with all game. I feel like we did a really good job of setting the tone up front. We just kept going at them and kept getting pressure. I felt like it wears the offensive line down. I was really proud of how we started that game.”

As has been the case the last few games, pressure in the trenches is leading to opportunities in the secondary. It did once again with Tre Brown and Brendan Radley-Hiles each earning interceptions in the first quarter.

The OU offense was close to really clicking on all cylinders, but it definitely did enough to let the defense play wild and free.

Quarterback Spencer Rattler threw for a touchdown and ran for another, while Rhamondre Stevenson added two scores on the ground.

That type of execution was really the only thing OU (5-2 overall, 4-2 Big 12) could gain from a game like this. That was one of the storylines heading into this one. When you understand KU isn’t going to push you on the scoreboard, how do you make sure you’re still making strides with Bedlam vs. Oklahoma State just around the corner?

The biggest surprise of the season has been the fact OU’s defensive line has been the strength of the team. They’ve had moments throughout the year and put it all together against the Jayhawks.

“I think we've talked about the disruption up front,” Grinch said. “I think in some ways it has kind of been a steady build. I think part of it ... what happens is, are you okay with just getting there once? And then it kind of becomes, I don't know, feeding off of each other. Maybe then a friendly competition, even name the player.

“But Nik Bonitto gets production a lot, now I got to go get mine type of mentality. No, when you can be as disruptive in the front as we were tonight, obviously, it doesn't get much more ideal than that.”

Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Stripling each had 1.5 sacks, while Josh Ellison, Brynden Walker and Jordan Kelley were all credited with .5 sack.

Winners of four in a row, this feels like a much different OU team than the last time the Sooners were playing at Owen Field.

The Big 12 championship is still well within their reach, and there’s a belief now the defense is going to hold up its end of the bargain the rest of the way.