Finally! Football season is here!
OK, now breathe deeply and settle in. We get to look back over a few things from this weekend to prepare for even more games on the slate for this week, starting Thursday night again.
Oklahoma vs. Everyone Else
The state schools on all levels went 3-4 on this opening weekend. There were no intra-state games, so how did Oklahoma do against the rest of the country?
Vs. Colorado 0-1
Vs. Kansas 1-1
Vs. Kentucky 0-1
Vs. Louisiana 1-0
Vs. Mississippi 1-0
Vs. Texas 0-1
The Division II schedule gets underway this week. In 2012, Oklahoma schools did not fare well against Arkansas and Missouri. That could change this season.
Outstanding performances
Kyle Kuban was 18 of 37 passing for 306 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in Bacone’s overtime win at McPherson. He connected with David Chapman in the extra period’s first play for a 25-yard score, which proved to be the game-winner.
Chapman hauled in six receptions for 180 yards and two touchdown passes from Kuban on the day.
Oklahoma State had two players with more than 100 yards on the ground. It was probably expected that Jeremy Smith to have 102 rushing yards. Not sure how many thought that J.W. Walsh would pick up 125 yards on 13 carries. That’s a clip of 9.5 yards per carry.
Another team that did not pick up the passing yardage expected was Oklahoma. But redshirt freshman Trevor Knight had two touchdown passes to go with his 13 carries for 103 yards.
Jordan Barnes was listed second on the depth chart at tailback going into OBU’s game Saturday, but received the bulk of the work carrying the ball 14 times for 79 yards.
Air traffic shut down
Adjustments for Oklahoma and Oklahoma State had to be made on Saturday to pick up wins, and that’s exactly what good teams do: they make adjustments to fit the need. But it still comes as a surprise as to the limited number of passing yards the two teams gained. OU and OSU combined for 270 yards through the air. When was the last time that combined number was so low and it was accompanied by two wins?