Published September 22, 2007 01:04 am - There had been one constant through Oklahoma’s first three games: Sam Bradford was the best quarterback on the field.
The redshirt freshman’s debut against North Texas was flawless. His encore against Miami was even better. Round 3 against Utah State was more of the same.
Bradford sharp again as Sooners roll
By John Shinn
The Norman Transcript
TULSA — There had been one constant through Oklahoma’s first three games: Sam Bradford was the best quarterback on the field.
The redshirt freshman’s debut against North Texas was flawless. His encore against Miami was even better. Round 3 against Utah State was more of the same.
But Bradford’s hot play was always tempered with another basic fact: The best athletes on the field were the guys he was throwing to, handing off to and standing behind at the line of scrimmage.
That was the case Friday night in No. 4 OU’s 62-21 victory over Tulsa at Chapman Stadium.
Bradford had another exquisite night. He was 16-for-22 for 244 yards with three touchdown passes. It was the fourth straight game he’s thrown for 200 yards and fourth straight with at least three touchdown passes.
But he’s been getting a lot of help.
Friday, Juaquin Iglesias caught eight passes and broke double that amount of tackles, finishing with 142 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
“Juaquin is making a lot of big plays,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “He stepped up and had a lot of plays in the end.”
He was far from alone.
The Sooners ran the ball at will. They finished with 285 rushing yards with Allen Patrick leading the way with 145 yards. The offensive line continued its run of bullying defenses.
The versatility kept Tulsa’s defense guessing all night. Bradford was never sacked and only hit the turf a handful of times.
It’s doubtful Bradford will ever experience what Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith went through Friday night. Smith was Tulsa’s offense. Anything positive that happened for the Golden Hurricane started with the fifth-year senior making a play.
Smith was the only reason Tulsa made it a game. Sacked six times and hit a dozen more, he still managed to throw for 350 yards and two touchdowns.
All of it came while rarely setting his feet against a relentless pass rush.
“He does a great job of avoiding people, jumping around and keeping himself alive,” Stoops said.