Sooners clean it up in shutout
Now that’s a little more like it.
The scoreboard gives you one indication that Oklahoma played a heck of a lot better in its second game compared to its first, but there were a lot of other elements as well.
The preparation, the execution and focus were all there. The shutout is just an added bonus as the Sooners blanked visiting Western Carolina 76-0 on Saturday night in front of 83,538 fans to improve to 2-0 this season.
Everybody knew because of the level of competition that the margin was going to be pretty wide, but what Lincoln Riley’s group did this evening compared to the 40-35 eked out victory vs. Tulane last week was respond to any and all challenges.
But now? It can’t be about patting yourself on the back. If OU is truly a national championship contender, the hunger must remain.
“The thing for us is, it’s not easy, you got to go do it, but it’s pretty obvious to everybody in here that we needed to go have a great week based on how we played in the second half in the first game,” Riley said. “Now, the new challenge is, all right you played a complete game, you did some good things, everybody feels better in the locker room, all of that—what do we do with that? Is there a sense of satisfaction or are we a hungry team that knows we got a long ways to go?
“We had a successful week because we allowed ourselves to be pushed out of our comfort zone and work and improve and be very intentional about everything tonight. Nothing should change. We’ve got to have a tough week and continue our climb.”
Check marks across the board. OU defense allowed just 178 yards on 63 plays, less than three yards per snap. Alex Grinch’s guys caused three turnovers.
Flip it over to the offense, and Spencer Rattler’s night was done after the first 30 minutes and a five-touchdown outing. OU put up 624 yards and scored its most points since the 2003 season.
“Like Coach Riley told us in the locker room after, every team we play is no-face and nameless,” Rattler said. “Meaning we have to approach every game the same. With this game, we cleaned up a lot of stuff.
“We knew we wanted to make it a statement game no matter who we played. We came out and played some great ball, maybe some of our best ball. We just have to carry that on and get better and better each week. That's our plan going forward.”
Three players had two-touchdown performances in running backs Todd Hudson and Jaden Knowles and wide receiver Jadon Haselwood.
The running game looked crisp as Eric Gray and Kennedy Brooks trusted the offensive line a lot more, and the line delivered by opening up the holes OU fans have come to expect.
It was a program clicking on all cylinders. For the majority of the game, Western Carolina had negative rushing yards.
Isaiah Thomas, Danny Stutsman, Ethan Downs and Jordan Kelley forced fumbles, while Shane Whitter and Bryson Washington each recovered one. Washington added an interception as well in the fourth quarter.
“I mean it feels good,” said defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey, who had 1.5 sacks vs. the Catamounts. “The whole week of practice, we practiced finishing, finishing, finishing, every play, every rep, just going in and doing what we need to do, focusing on the fundamentals and realizing that everything else will come. It felt good to have a shutout.”
This is what was supposed to happen, but sometimes it’s OK to just accept what was expected. No curveballs, no head scratching, everything simply going to plan.
A plan that now goes toward Nebraska as the Sooners and Huskers meet in the 50th anniversary of The Game of the Century, won by the Huskers 35-31 in 1971.
If OU truly has learned the lesson from the second half vs. Tulane, it’ll be on full display once again next week. Being clean one week won’t be enough, and we’ll see if the Sooners understand that the rest of the way.