Published November 27, 2005 12:57 am - So much for the recent trend of close Bedlam contests. Saturday at Owen Field, the Sooners secured a 7-4 regular season by dismantling Oklahoma State 42-14.
Sooners have their way
Defense, Peterson too much for Pokes
By John Shinn
The Norman Transcript
Oklahoma waited the entire regular season for a dominant performance. Saturday, in their regular-season finale against Bedlam rival Oklahoma State, the Sooners got it.
OU’s defense dominated from the start and running back Adrian Peterson rushed for 237 yards in a 42-14 rout of Oklahoma State at Owen Field.
“We wanted to finish strong,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “We came out and really played well.”
How well?
Oklahoma State only had 139 yards of total offense and four first downs. Much of it came on a falling-down 56-yard pass-and-run completion in the second quarter. Take it away and the Cowboys averaged 1.43 yards per play.
“Basically, they outplayed us in every segment of the game,” Oklahoma State offensive tackle Charlie Johnson said. “Not only up front but offensively they pounded us, defensively they shut us down, and they shut down special teams.”
The Sooners, who finished the regular season 7-4 and 6-2 in the Big 12, rolled up a season-high 560 yards with a season-high 354 coming on the ground.
Rhett Bomar completed 13-of-21 passes for 206 yards with three going for touchdowns.
“I felt comfortable out there from the very start,” Bomar said. “The line was giving me great protection. I wasn't getting hit at all. That makes my job a lot easier when I just have to drop back and scan the field to find second and third receivers.”
He wasn’t sacked and the Cowboys were not even credited with a quarterback hurry.
Bomar connected on six of his first eight attempts and paced the Sooners to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Allen Patrick ripped a 27-yard touchdown run on the Sooners’ first possession and Bomar added a 12-yard touchdown toss to Juaquin Iglesias and a 26-yarder to tight end Bubba Moses to start the romp.
Oklahoma State, which finished the season 4-7 and 1-7 in the conference, spun its offensive tires throughout the first half.
In the first quarter, 12 plays yielded 12 yards.
But Alex Pena, who threw for 126 yards and completed 10-of-27 attempts, scrambled out of the pocket and hit Luke Frazier for a 56-yard completion to the OU 4. Four plays later, Julius Crosslin scored on 1-yard plunge to make it 21-7.