On that count, Saturday night’s answer was big plays and almost all of them belonged to Bradford and Johnson.

So OU can hum like a machine or quick-strike a tough foe down. And, just in case Johnson hadn’t run wild after each of his five receptions, there was the defense making big plays of its own to keep the Horned Frogs from hopping.

Linebackers Ryan Reynolds, Kennan Clayton and Travis Lewis each had eight tackles and combined on three for losses. Lendy Holmes led with six solos and two fumble recoveries and Adrian Taylor, getting more snaps in DeMarcus Granger’s absence, finished with four tackles, one for a loss of 8.

Center Jon Cooper was stopped on his way out and wouldn’t quite go for the metaphysical response when asked if this team’s shaping up into something “special,” but he did notice something.

“We hadn’t faced much adversity yet and we faced some today. Especially as an offense; the defense really bailed us out. They played spectacularly,” he said. “As an offense, hopefully we can come out and have a great week of practice and kind of learn from what happened.”

In the end, he was just like Bradford: 35-10 over the nation’s 24th-ranked and most defensively stingy team still wasn’t enough; or it was only good enough as a vehicle to go get better.

“They are a great team,” TCU quarterback Andy Dalton said.

And with absolutely none of the arrogance a declaration like this might convey, while seemingly everybody (but Alabama) has proven more than mortal, they keep getting better.