No Baker Mayfield? No problem for Oklahoma football.
The Sooners played their first game in three years without their Heisman-winning quarterback, but you wouldn’t have known the difference if you didn’t check the box score and stat sheet.
With redshirt junior Kyler Murray at the controls to begin the 2018 college football season for Oklahoma, the Sooners scored the first 56 points, rolled up an impressive 650 yards of offense, and played much more disciplined on defense in hammering a good Florida Atlantic team in OU’s 2018 home opener on Saturday.
Oklahoma scored early and often in the opening quarter, scoring on all three of its offensive possessions and adding a blocked punt for a special teams touchdown to pull out in front 28-0. The Sooners added 14 more in the second quarter and retired its offensive starters to the sidelines, taking a 42-0 advantage into the locker room at the half.
If there was any concern about Murray taking over for Mayfield this season, it was quickly dispelled by halftime, as Murray’s day ended with 9 of 11 passing for 209 yard and two touchdowns.
Five running backs saw action in the game for Oklahoma, as the uber-talented stable of OU ball carriers accounted for 316 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the game. Redshirt junior Rodney Anderson led the Sooner rushing attack with 100 yards on five carries and two touchdowns. Trey Sermon added 69 yards on six carries and a touchdown.
On the receiving end for the Sooners, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown started off the 2018 season the way he ended the 2017 season, with several highlight-reel catches and 133 yards receiving on six receptions, all in the first half, including a 65-yard TD reception.
Freshman receiver Drake Stoops, son of former Sooner head coach Bob Stoops, also got into the pass-receiving act, catching two passes in the game for 16 yards.
Oklahoma had three 65-yard touchdown plays in the first half of the game.
As impressive as the Oklahoma offense was in the Sooners’ 2018 season-opener, their 13th consecutive win in the opening game of the season, the real storyline in this game was the improvement demonstrated by the OU defense. In the first half, with the starters playing on defense, Oklahoma held Florida Atlantic scoreless in eight possessions, allowing only 133 yards of total offense.
A rejuvenated Sooner defense posted two quarterback sacks, nine tackles for loss and intercepted a pass.
Oklahoma Sooners Football
The Owls took the opening kickoff and moved the ball down the field all the way to the OU 16-yard line, bringing back sick memories of all of the problems on defense the past several years. But a personal foul penalty moved Florida Atlantic backward, and the opening drive eventually stalled back at the 48 on the Sooner side of the field. After that, the Oklahoma defense settled down and exercised total command of the FAU offensive game plan.
Florida Atlantic broke into the scoring column for the first time with just 55 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but by that time, and against a number of backups on defense for OU, the Sooners had the game well in hand with a 56-7 advantage.
Former Oklahoma quarterback Chris Robison started the game at QB for the Owls. Robison, a former four-star recruit, was dismissed from the Sooner team prior to last season for violation of team rules. The former Sooner completed 15 of 26 passes against his former team for 157 yards.
The Sooners received a big scare early in the fourth quarter when backup QB Austin Kendall was run out of bounds after picking up a first down and crashed into a communications equipment trunk, knee first.
The redshirt sophomore Sooner quarterback, who was in a close battle throughout preseason training came with Murray to win the starter’s job, was helped off the field and taken too the locker room. At game’s end, there was no word on the extent of the injury.
It was a totally dominant opening win for the Sooners, who host UCLA at home next weekend. If this game is any indication, this Oklahoma team might be even better than the Sooner squad that finished No. 3 in the nation in the final national polls last season and advanced to their second College Football Playoff appearance in the last three years.
That’s a scary thought for OU’s opponents this season, but a great feeling for the Sooner Nation.