26 BIG 12
OKLAHOMA SOONERS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oklahoma's R.J. Washington, left, wraps up Idaho State quarterback Kyle Blum, center, for a sack as teammate Carter Whitson, right, moves in to assist in the fourth quarter of the Sooners' 64-0 win last Saturday. Oklahoma is preparing to face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane tomorrow at home.
Defense builds on solid performance
By James Roth
The Oklahoma Daily
NORMAN, Okla. — The Oklahoma football team's defense in week one looked like it had some flaws.
However, after Saturday's victory over Idaho State, the defense has something solid to build on.
The Sooners' defense shut out the Bengals and was able to provide some scoring as well with a fumble recovery for a touchdown. The defense was as relentless as the rain was; the Sooners did not slow down all game and held the Bengals to a total of 44 yards of offense.
Even more impressive is that the Sooners did not allow the Bengals to gain positive running yardage for the entire game.
The Sooners defense was so strong, behind the solid play of linebackers Ryan Reynolds and Travis Lewis, that it did not allow the Bengals to get a first down until the second quarter.
The Bengals rushed for negative 22 yards on the night.
"We went out there with a chip on our shoulder tonight," said Lewis after the game Saturday. "We really played like we had a lot to prove."
The Sooners needed a strong performance to get rid of the bad taste left in their mouths by BYU a week earlier. After Saturday's game the Sooners looked like they were able to correct mistakes they made the previous week and build some momentum for the defense for upcoming weeks.
"We were definitely more consistent tonight, we played hard and most importantly smarter," said defensive tackle Gerald McCoy after Saturday's victory.
Next week the Sooners will face off against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and will try to continue their strong defensive play.
"They're an excellent football team," said head coach Bob Stoops about the Golden Hurricane. "They have been winning 11, 12 games a year, so we're aware of them."
The Sooners are 15-7-1 all time against the Golden Hurricane and have not lost to Tulsa since 1996. If the Sooners' defense is able to play the way it did against Idaho State, it should be able to improve on that record and continue to build momentum and confidence for the rest of the season.
Sooners try to avoid loss to Tulsa
By Jono Greco The Oklahoma Daily
NORMAN, Okla. — Non-conference games have provided many trap games and losses for the No.12 Sooners in both the regular season and bowl games the past few years.
This weekend's game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, who hail from Conference USA, provides another test to avoid adding to the legitimacy of non-Bowl Championship Series conferences and the argument of overrating the Big 12.
The Big 12 has been dealt two blows so far this season by Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference.
The first came in week one when Brigham Young University beat OU 14-13, and the second last weekend when the No.21 Houston Cougars defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys Saturday 45-35.
The victory gave Conference USA some national respect, and now Tulsa has been handed the job of adding to that respect by possibly defeating Oklahoma.
But that is a daunting task for the Golden Hurricane, even though it is putting out one of its best teams in recent years.
The Sooners hold a 15-7-1 series lead, and have won the last four meetings.
Tulsa has come out of the gate strong with its two road wins over Tulane and New Mexico, and is looking to stay undefeated against an Oklahoma squad that still has a lot of question marks.
The conference as a whole is 12-12 so far this season, but Tulsa is a perfect candidate for giving validity to the conference, and propelling itself into the top 25.
The head-to-head record could be used as a motivating factor for both Tulsa and its conference.
Tulsa, Houston, Southern Mississippi and Southern Methodist are the only undefeated teams left in the conference, but it is unlikely all four will end the season with a zero in the loss column. Houston has the easiest schedule of the remaining undefeated teams, with its toughest game remaining coming against Tulsa.
Including the Sooners, the Golden Hurricane has three ranked teams on its schedule.
The other two teams are Houston and No.10 Boise State,with both games at home.
THE WAVE SEPTEMBER 18,2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN