Buoyant Bradford, Stimulated Sooners Throttle Baylor, 33-7

The annual beat down of the Baylor Bears by the Oklahoma Sooners—OU now stands 19-0 against the Waco, TX brethren—is usually an amiable schmoozefest.

Then came the return of injured Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford.

And now Sooner Nation really can't stop talking.

From, "Awwww.  Isn't he something to tough it out?"

To, "Yes! Now we're ready for Texas next week!"

And all the way to, "What if?  What if the BYU pile drive hadn't happened?  We'd be 5-0 and in the BCS title talk."

The conversations of talkative Sooner fans are running the length of Bradford's 389 passing yards after the Heisman-winning signal caller guided No. 19 Oklahoma to a 33-7 win yesterday in the Big 12 opener.

"It's extremely gratifying just to get back out on the field," the clearly effervescent Bradford said after the game.  "Just to be out there with the guys.  Just the simple things like handoffs.  Everything out there, it's just exciting to be back."

Bradford completed 27 of 49 passes—the second most thrown in his aerial career.  A well-balanced offense handled 99 snaps, piled up 586 total yards, didn't turn the ball over, and secured 34 first downs.  Sooner players and coaches were down on themselves for red zone deficiencies. 

However, that self-criticism didn't change the fact Bradford connected with nine receivers.  Among them were tight ends Brody Eldridge and Trent Ratterree and newcomers Dejuan Miller and Jaz Reynolds. 

The Sooners (3-2, 1-0) dropped anywhere from six to 10 throws, depending on how one measures the degree of difficulty.  Some were pinpointed darts from Bradford, showing his natural ability. Some were off target, showing his understandable rust and lack of game experience with several young receivers.  

"I think we're going to get better as an offense every week," Bradford said.  "I still feel our receivers made some great plays.  I love the energy they played with.  They were flying around, made a lot of downfield blocks and sprung some runs for us.  I'm sure we're going to eliminate some of those drops going down the road."

Defensively, Oklahoma was facing Baylor's third string quarterback, Nick Florence.  The true freshman was 22 of 41 for 220 yards.  Oklahoma nuzzled the Bear rushing attack.  Baylor netted only six yards on the ground.

Sooner Nation couldn't help but wonder how Bradford's shoulder felt after such stress.  After all, the Red River Rivalry against hated foe Texas is now less than a week away.

"It's felt a lot better this week compared to last week," Bradford said.

"It feels good."

Spoken to the Sooner schmoozers out there.

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