Oklahoma Sooners Never Let Texas Tech Get Their Guns Up

Last Saturday night's Texas Tech-Oklahoma game was considered by most knowledgeable college football fans to be a tossup. After all, the Red Raiders were the No. 2 ranked team, and the Sooners generally stood at No. 5.

According to ESPN Sports Stats, Texas Tech entered the game with a 479-222 points for/points against margin. Oklahoma was 514/236. Nevertheless, Oklahoma made sure the Red Raiders were never even allowed to reach into their holsters to back up their "Guns Up" slogan, as the Sooners buried them alive, 65-21.

Just how did this happen? Well, for the past decade, no school has enjoyed home cooking more than the Sooners. Since he took over in 1999, Coach Bob Stoops' teams have posted a stupefying 60-2 record at Owen Field. No college football team is even close to matching that 96.77 per cent success level. To drive home their recent offensive dominance even further, in their last 13 home games, Oklahoma has now scored 684 points, for a 52.6 average.

By comparison, in the 10 seasons prior to Stoops reign, the Sooners were a mere 37-20 at home. Still, in a mid-week national TV interview, Stoops somehow felt it necessary to try and pump up the noise even further.

"I've seen a lot of teams come in here and not even use silent counts," Stoops said. "We haven't been a real loud stadium. Now, when we score a touchdown and we're running into the goal line, it's usually pretty loud."

Saturday night, the Sooners faithful thundered from the outset. Of course, any sense of tension or drama was removed rather early. Stopping Tech after one solitary first down, Oklahoma marched right down the field nearly unabated, mostly on the ground, leading to Demarco Murray's one-yard touchdown run, his 12^th of the season.

Before the first half had ended, Murray would add another one-yard TD run, and fellow running back Chris Brown would add two of his three short scoring runs of the game to run his season total to 17. Meanwhile, Heisman Trophy candidate Sam Bradford threw second quarter scoring strikes of 19 yards to Jermaine Gresham and 28 to All-Big 12 receiver Juaquin Iglesias.

That was all she wrote. It was 42-7 at the half as the Sooners were on their way to an incredible two-way attack of 55 carries for 299 yards and Bradford's 17-of-23 passing game for another 326 yards.

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders Heisman candidate quarterback Graham Harrell put up pretty good numbers with a 33-of-55 game and 361 yards. But a good number of those yards were amassed after the verdict was already in. Even so, both figures were way shy of his customary averages of 75 per cent completions and more than 450 yards.

Why did Tech's offense struggle so often against Oklahoma? The anticipatory skills, pursuit, quickness and general athletic ability of the Sooners defense was extraordinary, holding the Red Raiders running game to a meager 45 yards on 22 carries.

The game was eerily reminiscent of Tech's November 23, 2002 game at Norman. The Red Raiders went in a win shy of capturing The Big 12 South, only to be demolished, 60-15.

No pun intended, but even on end around and other trick plays, Oklahoma's defense stayed home...where they are most comfortable.