After USC, Florida and Georgia all suffered losses last week, Oklahoma found itself atop the national rankings for a record 96th time in the program’s history — moving ahead of Notre Dame (95), Ohio State (93) and USC (90).

This week’s game at Baylor, however, was the first time the Sooners have been No. 1 since 2003. But coach Bob Stoops’ team was more than up to the challenge during their Big 12 opener.

The Sooners jumped out to a 28–0 lead on their way to a 49–17 vicory over the Bears. Oklahoma now leads the Baylor series 18–0 all-time, including an 8–0 record down the road in Waco.

“I loved the way we started off,” said Stoops, during a postgame press conference.

“The guys were really solid, really focused and they played really well. We played well in all parts of the game.”

OU quarterback Sam Bradford led the way, completing 23-of-31 passes for 372 yards, two scoring strikes and one interception. This year, Bradford has thrown for 1,665 yards, 18 touchdowns and only three interceptions, leading the Sooners to a 5–0 start. With the two-touchdown game, Bradford moves into second place on the all-time Oklahoma passing touchdown list, ahead of current Sooners quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel, with 54 career scoring strikes.

Meanwhile, running back DeMarco Murray carried the load with 26 carries for 96 yards and two punches into the end zone. Mossis Madu added 15 carries for 57 yards and a one-yard touchdown run. Chris Brown also got in on the action, carrying the ball 12 times for 45 yards and one trip across the goal line.

Oklahoma outgained Baylor 594-to-269 total yards, edging the Bears through the air (377-to-75) and on the ground (217-to-194), while owning time-of-possession (33:47-to-26:13) during yet another blowout victory.

“Sam (Bradford) was exceptional throwing the ball. He was very accurate,” said Stoops. “Our running backs were solid; 200 yards on the ground between the three of them was exceptional. Defensively, I thought our coverage was outstanding.”

The new No. 1 team in the country has now outscored opponents 103–3 in the first quarter — with a 27–0 advantage against UT Chattanooga, a 14–0 start vs. Cincinnati, a 13–0 headstart at Washington, a 21–3 battle against TCU and this week’s early 28–0 spot at Baylor.

This week, the Sooners needed just 70 seconds to score, with Bradford finding receiver Manuel Johnson for a 53-yard touchdown pass with 13:50 remaining in the first quarter — OU’s fastest score of the season.

Next week, the Red River Shootout and a match-up with the Texas Longhorns during the State Fair at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas await the mighty Sooners. In order to add to its total of seven national championships (2000, 1985, 1975, 1974, 1956, 1955, 1950), OU will have to defeat UT to stay on track in the tumultuous BCS title hunt.
 
Average Joes

Purdue coach Joe Tiller has announced his intentions to retire following the 2008 season, while his friend and Big Ten foe, Penn State’s Joe Paterno, had made no such plans prior to the kickoff of the last scheduled Tiller-Paterno showdown.

The 81-year-old Paterno started the game from the press box — the first time JoePa has not been on the sideline to begin a game this season — after injuring himself kicking a football in late August. But JoePa did limp onto the field to bid farewell to Tiller following a 20–6 Penn State win at Purdue.

Nittany Lions running back Evan Royster had 18 carries for 141 yards and one touchdown on the ground, while hauling in four receptions for 53 yards in the passing game. But it was the PSU defense that shutdown the high-octane Boilermakers offense, limiting Purdue to just 241 total yards and 83 rush yards.

“We played hard. We played tough. Mistakes were made, but they can be corrected,” said Paterno. “We’re a good, solid football team.”

On the losing sideline, Tiller suffered his fourth straight loss to Paterno and his 10th in the last 12 games against Penn State. Quarterback Curtis Painter struggled to complete just 13-of-22 passes for 112 yards, zero scores and one interception before being replaced by junior Joey Elliot, who completed 3-of-5 passes for 46 yards.

In a close contest, Boilers kicker Chris Summers missed both field goal attempts as well as a point after attempt in the fourth quarter. With only a 14-point final margin, Purdue could not afford to leave points on the field against a ferocious Nittany Lions defense.

“You just can’t come out of the red zone with no points. Otherwise, it acts as a back-breaker to the team. It would have been a different ball game with those field goals converted,” said Tiller.

“Bottom line is, we need to get better for next week.”