Oklahoma Football: Grading the Sooners Win over the Longhorns

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The Red River Rivalry is now in the record books and many Longhorn fans had their state fair experience ruined by another Sooner stampede in Dallas.

The 55-17 victory gives Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops three of the top five margins of victory for any coach in this historic rivalry game, to go along with a 2003 victory of 65-13 and the 2000 national championship squad's 63-14 stomping.

It also gives OU the top eight spots in the history of Red River blowouts.

The Sooners did little wrong during the game and made a loud statement to the poll voters that the most complete team in the country may reside in Norman, Oklahoma.

Let's take a look at the game and grade the performance of the team in Crimson and Cream.

Quarterback Landry Jones

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Sooner signal-caller Landry Jones played perhaps his best road game of his record setting career.

He completed 62 percent of his passes for 367 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

He checked into the right play at the right time again and again as Oklahoma converted on over 50 percent of their third down conversion attempts. 

The strike to Jaz Reynolds down to the Longhorn 5-yard line on 3rd-and-25 in the second quarter was a thing of beauty.

Grade: A+

Running Backs

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The Sooners only attempted 19 rushes during the game in large part because Texas was stacking the box and allowing Oklahoma to throw the ball against single coverage.

Their 86 net yards at a 4.5 yards per carry average were enough to make the Longhorns respect the run and open up the play-action passing game.

Dominique Whaley picked up 64 of those yards, outrunning two defensive backs on his way to a cross-country touchdown romp in the third quarter. It sucked out every ounce of life that remained for the Texas team and fans.

The backs picked up the Longhorn blitz package and also caught seven of Jones' passes for 59 yards.

Grade: A

Receivers

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The receiving trio of Ryan Broyles, Kenny Stills and Jaz Reynolds repeatedly burned the Longhorns secondary for big chunks of yardage and the three touchdown passes.

Broyles made a sliding catch on a third down in the front corner of the end zone while Stills made his five catches count with two touchdowns. Reynolds kept the final touchdown drive of the first half alive with a catch-and-run on a middle drag screen to pick up another first down.

The tight ends also contributed with three catches for 30 yards.

Yards after the catch was also good and there was only one or two dropped passes between them.

Grade: A+

Offensive Line

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The offensive line played well, especially considering the blitz package the Longhorns threw at the Sooners offense. They surrendered only a single sack and kept the pass rush away from the pocket for the most part.

The lack of a rushing game was more of a case of taking what the opponent's defense gives you than anything else.

The big-eaters up front gave Landry Jones plenty of time to survey the coverage and pick apart the Longhorns secondary.

Grade: A+

Defensive Line

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The Oklahoma defensive line played perhaps the best game they have ever played in a Red River Rivalry game.

They collected a program-record eight sacks on the Texas' quarterbacks and frequently forced them to run from the pocket like a Frenchman from a shower.

They also deflected numerous passes and forced three fumbles, two of which they recovered. One was returned 19 yards by David King for a touchdown to start the second half and give the Sooners a 41-10 lead.

Ends Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis continue to wreak havoc in the Longhorns backfield, while the defensive tackle rotation stuffed the run game.

Grade: A+

Linebackers

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Defensive captain and team leader Travis Lewis wore the No. 12 jersey of late teamate Austin Box for the game and spearheaded a team effort that left no doubt about the outcome of the game before halftime.

He and fellow linebacker Tom Wort flew around the field leveling everything in burnt orange foolhardy enough to dare to try to move the ball downfield for the Longhorns.

Backup linebacker Jaydan Bird even got in the game in the second half and contributed six tackles, as the Sooner defense held Texas to only 38 net yards rushing on 45 attempts.

Corey Nelson also contributed with a couple of tackles and a pass breakup.

Grade: A+

Defensive Backs

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The Sooners secondary forced three turnovers to put the exclamation on this Bevo beatdown. They disrupted both the passing and running game while limiting the Longhorns from developing any kind of offensive rhythm.

Cornerbacks Demontre Hurst and Jamell Fleming each had monster games. Hurst had seven tackles and one pick-six that covered 55 yards, while Jamell Fleming led the team with 13 tackles and took a fumble to the house 56 yards out after stripping it from a UT receiver.

Defensive back Tony Jefferson had four tackles, a sack and another interception.

Safeties Aaron Colvin and Javon Harris were also very active, with Colvin recording eight tackles—one for a loss—and Harris collecting four stops.

Grade: A+

Special Teams

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Special teams were the booger in the puddin' for the Sooners in this game.

While the punting, extra point and field goal units all played well, the kickoff coverage team reverted to its ugly ways as it allowed the Longhorns returners to take two back to the house.

While one was called back due to a penalty on the return team, this unit has been an area of major concern for the team all the way back to 2008.

All Sooner fans are aware of the way this coverage team has let down the squad and contributed to heart-breaking defeats the past few seasons.

When Coach Stoops refused to fill his staff vacancy with a dedicated special teams coach during the offseason, fans questioned the wisdom of his decision. This display of ineptitude did not make their trepidation go away.

Grade: F

Coaching and Intangibles

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Head Coach Bob Stoops and the rest of the Sooners coaching staff did a masterful job of game planning for the contest and had the team fired up and ready to go from the opening kickoff.

Co-offensive coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell called the right plays to maximize on what the Texas defense was giving them. When it was clear that Texas' game plan was to take away the run, they took advantage by dialing up play-action passes and double moves with pump fakes to exploit the Longhorns secondary.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables usually had the correct defense called to befuddle the young Texas quarterbacks and mixed in his blitz package at the most opportune times to keep the Longhorns offense on their heels.

The atmosphere of the game was electric and stayed that way throughout the game, at least on the Sooners side.

The orange section was close to empty within the first few minutes of the third quarter.

Grade: A+