Oklahoma football: Boomers and busters from Week 3 win at UCLA

Once again, the offense sparkled, the defense had moments of shine as well as sputter and quarterback Jalen Hurts took over control of the game early as the fifth-ranked Oklahoma football Sooners rolled to their third consecutive 2019 win.

There were plenty of positives to glean from Oklahoma’s 48-14 win over a not-very-good UCLA team, but the victory was not without some concerns

The Sooners are finished with the nonconference portion of the 2019 schedule. They will have an extra week to work on things with an off weekend coming up before opening the conference season, hosting Texas Tech on Sept. 28.

Lincoln Riley has a perfect 9-0 record against nonconference opponents as head coach of the Sooners.

Here are some Boomers and Busters from Oklahoma’s 21st consecutive true road win”

Boomers

Jalen Hurts. This one is a no-brainer. The Alabama graduate transfer strengthened his front-runner position in the Heisman race with another performance for the ages. Hurts completed 15 of 20 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another 150 yards and a score in the win over UCLA.

He became the first Sooner to pass for more than 200 yards and run for more than 100 in the first half of a game. His 141 rushing yards in the first half is the most ever by an Oklahoma quarterback.

With three passing and one rushing touchdown, Hurts has accounted for 13 touchdowns (nine passing and four rushing) through the first three games. He has completed 80.3 percent of his passes (not a bad showing for a player whose passing skills were considered below those of his two immediate predecessors) with no interceptions.

Charleston Rambo. For the second consecutive week, Rambo was a primary receiving target for Jalen Hurts. Rambo led the Sooner receivers with five receptions for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He now has four TD catches for the season.

Jaden Davis. Davis intercepted a pass a week ago against South Dakota, and the true freshman was all over the field making defensive plays in the UCLA game. He led the defense with six solo tackles.

Oklahoma defense. The Sooners looked really good in the opening half against UCLA, holding the Bruins to just 109 total yards over the first 30 minutes. For the game, OU also recorded four sacks, six tackles for loss,  four quarterback hurries and allowed 311 total yards of offense.

Rhamondre Stevenson. For the third straight game, Stevenson made an appearance at running back late in the game and took full advantage of the opportunity. The junior-college transfer rushed for 37 yards and scored Oklahoma’s final touchdown of the game. In three games, Stevenson has rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns (one in each game) and is averaging 8.7 yards per carry.

Busters

Penalties. Once again, the Sooners shot themselves in the foot several times in the game committing needless penalties. Against UCLA, they were flagged five times for 50 yards. Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in penalty yards. The Sooners have committed 24 in three games for a total of 249 yards. This is an area that needs to get cleaned up and fast before OU gets into conference games.

Third-quarter Oklahoma defense. As good as the OU defense was in the opening half, it had great difficulty getting off the field in the third quarter. The Sooners gave up a 75-yard UCLA scoring drive to begin the third quarter, including four third-down conversions. Faced with third-and-21 from the OU 47-yard line, UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson found wide receiver Devin Asiasi for a 20-yard pickup. The Bruins went for it on fourth down and picked up the first down, but the OU defense should never have allowed the 20-yard pickup.

The Sooner offense was on the field for just a little over three minutes the entire third quarter.