Oklahoma Football: Was the Sooners Performance Worthy of No.1 Ranking?

The Oklahoma Sooners have wrapped up their season opener with a convincing 47-14 victory over in-state rival Tulsa from Conference USA.

The question before us is this: Do the Sooners deserve their status as the top-ranked FBS squad in the land?

OU displayed a wide variety of offensive weapons starting with the sensational running of walk-on back Dominique Whaley. Whaley shredded the Golden Hurricane defense on his way to 131 yards rushing on a team-high 19 carries and four touchdowns.

The lethal dual of pass-catch combo quarterback Landry Jones and wide receiver Ryan Broyles hooked up numerous times, including Jones' only touchdown pass of the night.

While Jones may not have helped his Heisman candidacy by only tossing a single scoring pass, he led an efficient Sooner offense that capitalized and exploited every weakness that could be found in the Tulsa defense.

The Sooner defense played well despite a few mental breakdowns in coverage. For the most part they contained a Tulsa offense that ranked as one of the top units in the country in 2010. Hurricane quarterback G.J. Kinne had few opportunities to get comfortable in the pocket and was harassed by the Sooner pass rash for most of the game.

Oklahoma dominated the game early, leading 30-7 at the half, and liberally substituted players throughout the fourth quarter.

While game films are doubtless to reveal more mistakes than were readily apparent during the game, there was very little to complain about for Sooner fans. While fans are always hoping for a home shutout, they need to remember that Tulsa won 10 games last year, including a victory over Notre Dame in South Bend.

Oklahoma clearly has a deep and talented team with numerous playmakers that probably could have won by a larger margin had they not taken their foot off the pedal in the fourth quarter. Bob Stoops has a roster full of players who are big, strong, fast and physical.

All in all, the Sooners played as well as could be expected against a game but overmatched opponent and did everything necessary to justify their place on top of most preseason polls.

OU showed much improvement in both rushing offense and defense, dominating both lines of scrimmage. The secondary and linebackers were flying all over the field and creating havoc for the high-flying Tulsa offense.

The running backs are stacked with at least four runners who could start for most teams and the receiving corps proved it could be the deepest unit in the country.

TU finished with 400 yards of total offense but a large part of that came during garbage time at the end of the game.

The Sooners also played a relatively clean game, committing only two penalties and a single turnover while causing three turnovers for Tulsa.

That being said, there is no doubt that coach Stoops and his staff will have plenty to say to the players during their upcoming bye week about the improvements the team must make if they hope to prevail on the road in Tallahassee against a top-10 Florida State Seminoles squad on September 17th.