Stoops responded by saying, “I intend to be at Oklahoma. That’s the only (job) right now that I’m looking to do. I’m going to be at Oklahoma next year. I can’t be in two places at once.”

Stoops has also hit the recruiting road since he doesn’t have to prepare for a Big 12 Championship game. He has been sending the message to his recruits that he will return to Oklahoma. Despite a rough season, Stoops looks to bounce back and gain momentum for next year by bringing in these high quality recruits.

Ryan Broyles running down the filed after a reception against Nebraska.

The Sooners next opponent was the Texas A&M Aggies, and it was a home game for the Sooners. Oklahoma rebounded from the Nebraska game by putting up enormous offensive numbers. Landry Jones responded from last week’s 5 interception game by throwing 5 touchdowns against the Aggies. Jones threw for 392 total passing yards and led the team to a 65-10 blowout to become bowl-eligible. Oklahoma rushed the ball efficiently for a total of 248 yards, which opened up many options for the offense. Demarco Murray, Ryan Broyles, Chris Brown, and Adron Tennel each scored two touchdowns and proved to be Oklahoma’s playmakers. The Oklahoma offensive line showed improvement as they didn’t allow a sack versus the Aggies. Overall, the Sooners had 640 total yards of offense. Turnovers killed Texas A&M as they committed four of them, which showed that the defense stepped up once again for the Sooners. The Sooner defense only allowed 226 yards of offense and Brian Jackson returned a fumble for a touchdown to add points to the board. The special teams stepped up by causing three turnovers, two on kickoffs and one on a punt return. Oklahoma displayed a good showing and embarrassed the Aggies. With Oklahoma being so up and down in their games, it’s hard to tell how they will do in the next game. 

Demarco Murray carrying the ball against Texas A&M. He finished the game with 143 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

 Oklahoma’s last road game of the season was in Lubbock, Texas against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. It was not a pretty sight as the Sooners would get rolled 41-13. Oklahoma has struggled in their last meetings against Texas Tech when playing them in Lubbock. Texas Tech was out to get the Sooners because OU ruined Texas Tech’s title hopes last year when they blew tech out 65-21. Oklahoma’s offense couldn’t get anything going versus the Tech defense. Oklahoma was held to 310 total yards of offense and only 13 points. With that being said, the Sooner defense didn’t help out much as they allowed 549 total yards of offense and 388 of them were passing yards. Oklahoma’s defense had been great all year, but Texas Tech exploited OU’s weaknesses. The Defensive backs had been relatively good all year but Tech broke them a part. What hurt OU was the time of possession as Tech had the ball for most of the game.  This was a disappoint to the Sooner fans and many are wondering whether or not the Sooners can take out the cowboys in Bedlam. I think the Sooners can but they will need to stop Oklahoma State’s high-powered offense.

Landry Jones getting pressured from the Texas Tech defense.

Demarco Murray carries the ball during the Red River Rivalry Shootout.

The next week, the Sooners traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to take on the Kansas Jayhawks. This was a true test to see how the Sooners would bounce back from the Texas loss and if they could get a road win. The Oklahoma defense had too much speed for the high-powered Kansas offense and held them to only 13 points. Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing struggled with the passing game as he finished with 224 yards passing and three interceptions. The Sooner offense played extremely well as they established a running game to open up the passing game for Landry. Chris Brown finished the game with 2 rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. Landry Jones had little trouble with the Kansas defense as he finished with 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Ryan Broyles led all receivers with 11 receptions for 121 yards. The Sooner defense keeps improving, and Dom Franks had the highlight of the game with an 85 yard interception return for a touchdown. Oklahoma won the game 35-13, and it was a good moral boost for them to win on the road. Can the Sooners stay on track and keep winning conference games?

Chris Brown running the ball against K-State.

Oklahoma would now travel back to Norman to take on the Kansas State Wildcats. The week of this game, the Sooner nation found out that Sam Bradford would have surgery on his shoulder and would not return for the rest of the season. Bradford also stated that he would enter his name into the 2010 NFL Draft. Landry Jones would have to step up and lead the Sooners for the rest of the year. Jones was beginning to look more comfortable as the starting quarterback and his teammates had trust in him. Oklahoma would start this game off with great play on both sides of the ball. They looked to run away with the game as OU led early in the game 21-0. K-State would not give up, and they fought their way back into the game. Once again, the Oklahoma defense proved it was the back bone of this team. The defense secured the game with an interception by Quinton Carter with on three minutes remaining in the game. Jones finished the game with 294 yards passing and four touchdowns. Demarco Murray had a strong outing as he scored three of Oklahoma’s touchdowns. Dejuan Miller led the Sooners with 9 grabs, 94 yards receiving, and a touchdown. Overall, the Sooners played well enough to come out with a victory. Oklahoma won the game 42-30 over the K-State Wildcats. Oklahoma was now getting into the heart of their schedule and many were  wondering how the Sooners would finish out Big 12 play. It wouldn’t be an easy task but the Sooners were up for the challenge.

Dom Franks returns a punt against Baylor

Although the Sooners got beat by Miami the week before, they were now looking forward to starting Big 12 conference play against the Baylor Bears, and having their Heisman quarterback back from a shoulder injury. Sam Bradford, who had been out since the BYU game, was pleased to get back out on the field and play with his teammates. The Sooners wanted to start conference play with a win heading into the Red Rivalry Shootout, and they would do just that. The only concern Oklahoma had been whether Sam’s shoulder had the endurance to play a full game.

Bradford said after the game, “I felt good just the way my arm responded, the way I was able to play four quarters and the way I was able to make some throws in the fourth quarter that had some heat on them.”

Sam Bradford came out on top of things and played a great game. He threw for 389 yards, a touchdown, and  completed 27-49 passes, which is the second-most passes he has thrown in a game. The only downfall of his performance was the 22 incompletions he threw. That’s the most imcompletions he’s thrown in a game, but it was largely due to the receivers dropping his passes. Even though the Sooners weren’t connecting on all cylinders, it was good to see Sam Bradford back on the field leading the Sooners. With the loss of Ryan Broyles to a hairline fracture on his left shoulder-blade, the other Sooner receivers were expected to step up. Brandon Caleb had seven receptions for a career-best of 139 yards receiving, but he didn’t have a touchdown. Sam’s only touchdown pass was to Adron Tennell in the fourth quarter. The Sooner rushing game was very affective against the Bears, as the Sooners rushed for 197 yards. Demarco Murray had 107 total yards rushing, but it was Chris Brown who had the two rushing touchdowns. The Sooner defense was stellar in this game, as they only allowed 268 total yards. Baylor threw for 262 passing yards, but only finished with 6 yards rushing. Oklahoma’s special teams looked impressive against Baylor, and Jimmy Stevens tied a school record for four field goals in one game. The Sooners won the game by a score of 33-7, improving their record against the Bears to 19-0.The win against Baylor improved OU’s record to 3-2. While the Sooners didn’t play a tough opponent, it was good for them to open up Big 12 play with a win and gain some confidence heading into the Texas game. It’ll be a tough game in the Cotton Bowl, but do you honestly think OU could upset the Longhorns?? I doubt it, but they have a better chance with Sam Bradford back.

Adrian Taylor pressures a pass thrown by Jacory Harris.

Hurricanes. The Hurricanes were coming off a loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies,  where the got embarrassed by losing 31-7. Oklahoma, who last week beat the Golden Hurricane, could not handle these Hurricanes. The Sooners were without Sam Bradford once again, which meant Landry Jones would get his third consecutive start. The Hurricanes were looking for revenge in this game because Oklahoma had humiliated them in 2007 by beating Miami 51-13. Oklahoma had the momentum at the start of the game when Jacory Harris’s pass was picked off by Dominique Franks. Oklahoma would take advantage of this by capitalizing with a touchdown pass from Landry to Cameron Kenney to take an early lead of 7-0. The Sooners would then put another score on the board by driving 95 yards, but only to come out with a 21-yard field goal by Jimmy Stevens to make the score 10-0. Miami struggled offensively in the first half with Jacory not clicking, but they would finish the first half with an 18 yard touchdown pass from Harris to the tight end Jimmy Graham. This made the score 10-7 and cut the Sooner lead to only three points heading into halftime. Miami came out of halftime by forcing Oklahoma to turn the ball over on their first drive. This gave Miami an excellent scoring opportunity as they started their possession in the red zone. Harris would connect with Dedrick Epps on an 11-yard pass to Dedrick Epps, which gave the Hurricanes a 14-10 lead. The Sooners then struggled to get an offensive possession going because of costly penalties. When Miami got the ball back, they scored once again on a 38-yard touchdown pass that was wide open because Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks blew coverage on the Miami receiver. This expanded the Hurricanes’ lead to 21-10. Oklahoma would make a rally and come back with a 2-yard touchdown run by Demarco Murray to make the score 21-17. In the fourth quarter with under five minutes remaining, the Sooners would face a tough decision of kicking a field goal or going for it on fourth down. Oklahoma elected to kick a 39-yard field goal, and Jimmy Stevens made it to make the score 21-20 in favor of the Hurricanes. The Oklahoma defense was then counted on to get a defensive stop so the Sooner offense could get a chance to win the game. But the Hurricanes did not let up, as they ran the remaining time off the clock with a solid running game. Miami received their biggest win of the season as they beat Oklahoma with a score of 21-20. I thought the Oklahoma defense looked very sluggish as the game went on and the secondary made too many mistakes. The offense was not very consistent and had a hard time getting in rhythm. With this loss, it puts the Sooners at a 2-2 record going into Big 12 play. The Sooners next game is against the Baylor Bears in Norman. Sam Bradford should be back for this game and hopefully he can turn this season around and get the Sooners moving in the right direction. Can the Sooners still win the Big 12 Championship? I think they can but it’s a long shot as the Sooners will have to overcome a tough Big 12 schedule.

Landry Jones attempting a pass against Tulsa.

After winning their first game of the season, the Sooners looked to regain focus and take down the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The Sooners showed no signs of weakness against Tulsa as they came out fired up and ready to play. Many people thought that Tulsa could upset Oklahoma, but the Sooners made sure that wouldn’t happen.  While Tulsa ran thirty-one out of their first thirty-three plays in Oklahoma territory, they came out with zero points because of turning the ball over to Oklahoma. The Sooners took advantage  of these early turnovers that the Golden Hurricane committed by capitalizing on them with scores. Oklahoma’s defense looked stout and caused chaos for the Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne. G.J. struggled to get the offense in sync, and he committed three turnovers. Kinne threw two interceptions and had a fumble, which showed that OU’s defense was aggressive and focused. Tulsa finished the game with only 269 total yards and a big goose egg on the score board. On the offensive side of the ball for Oklahoma, Landry Jones played with tremendous poise and was connecting on all cylinders. Although Jones threw two interceptions, he had a total of 336 yards passing and six touchdowns, which put his name in the Sooner record books. Landry broke the previous record of five touchdown passes in one game with his six touchdowns. Ryan Broyles looked sharp as he finished with 128 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Brandon Caleb emerged as a potential starter because he stepped up and finished with 104 yards receiving and two scores. Oklahoma’s running game was decent by finishing with a total of 193 yards rushing. Demarco Murray had the highlight of the game with his 13 yard scamper into the end zone by spinning twice along the same sideline and then leaping over the goal line by doing a front flip. Oklahoma didn’t let up at all and compiled their second straight shutout victory in a row by winning 45-o. This marked the 26th straight home win for the Sooners at Memorial Stadium. The Sooners have a bye week to get prepared for their next game against the Miami Hurricanes. Despite losing to Virginia Tech, Miami will be ready for the Sooners, and Oklahoma knows it will be difficult to go to Miami and come out with a victory. Can the Sooners march out of Miami with a victory? I think they can, but it depends on how OU’s defense plays and whether Landry can keep up his good playing.