ESPN’s College GameDay wasn’t on hand, but Saturday’s Big 12-SEC clash had all the makings for a “big game” atmosphere in Norman, OK.
The heavily-favored Oklahoma Sooners learned early Tennessee wouldn’t go away easily, but the Sooners prevailed, 34-10, to improve to 3-0.
Oklahoma’s offense settled for two fields goal in the first quarter, but Keith Ford scored OU’s first touchdown for the third straight game via a 23 yard pass from Trevor Knight.
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Ford finished the day with a rushing and a receiving touchdown, though he earned just 56 yards on 15 carries.
Trevor Knight and Sterling Shepard continued to prove problematic for defenses. Shepard caught five of Knight’s 20 completions and once again broke the 100 yard threshold in receiving yards.
Knight and Shepard made things difficult for the Volunteers, who had little answer for the Oklahoma Sooners offense.
The Sooners stormed out to a 13-0 lead, but the OU defense finally bent a little bit. Oklahoma prevented Louisiana Tech and Tulsa from capitalizing on big plays, but the Vols had a little more luck.
Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley was sacked five times, but he was able to connect with Josh Smith for a 40 yard touchdown in the second quarter for Tennessee’s lone TD.
The Vols did make the Sooners punt more often and didn’t let Oklahoma surpass 40 points. However, the story of the night was Oklahoma’s defense.
While the Vols challenged the Sooners from time-to-time, the OU defense always found a way to recover and get the ball back to Knight and the offense.
In the third quarter, Jalen Hurd, Tennessee’s highly touted freshman running back, picked up a 43 yard gain to put the Vols deep in Sooner territory. At the time, Tennessee was only down by 17 points, but Zack Sanchez picked off Worley in the back of the end zone for his third interception of the season.
Worley didn’t just throw one interception Saturday night. And his one to Sanchez wasn’t nearly as costly.
Tennessee had its chances at taking the momentum, but the Sooners would not allow for the Sooner fans who striped the stadium oh so well to go home disappointed.
Justin Worley marched the Tennessee Volunteers down field, but on third and goal from the Oklahoma four-yard line, Julian Wilson snatched a Worley pass and took it 100 yards the other way.
The Sooners defense kept the score in tact after Wilson’s big play, not allowing any garbage time scores.
The Oklahoma Sooners will be riding high in to Morgantown, WV next weekend when they face the upset-minded West Virginia Mountaineers. That game will kick off at 6:30 pm CST on FOX.
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