Sooners and Cornhuskers square off in Big 12 tussle

Published online on Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

Big 12 rivals will collide in Lincoln this weekend as the Nebraska Cornhuskers play host to the 20th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma has won its last two outings to move to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Considering the fact that the Sooners entered this campaign with national title aspirations, the three losses are obviously disappointing. Last weekend, Bob Stoops' troops played extremely well offensively in a 42-30 decision over Kansas State.

Like Oklahoma, Nebraska has won five of its eight games thus far and needs one more victory to earn bowl eligibility. The Huskers halted a two-game losing skid with a 20-10 victory over Baylor last weekend. Considering that they suffered a one-point loss to Virginia Tech and a two-point setback to Iowa State, the record could certainly be better at this point.

In regard to the all-time series between Oklahoma and Nebraska, the Sooners own a 44-37-3 advantage.

The Oklahoma offense was supposed to be led by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford this season, but the standout quarterback hurt his shoulder in the opener and recently reaggravated the injury. He is now out for the season, and it is likely that Bradford has played his final game for the Sooners. As a result, Landry Jones is running the team under center, and the fact that the redshirt freshman has completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 1,657 yards with 17 touchdowns and six interceptions suggests that he is more than capable of filling the void.

Jones has plenty of talent around him. Ryan Broyles has made 44 catches for 591 yards and 10 touchdowns. As for the ground attack, Chris Brown is tops with 510 yards and five scores, while DeMarco Murray has contributed 465 yards and five touchdowns. All of those players combine to help the Sooners average 33.1 ppg and 423.9 total ypg.

Opponents are scoring only 12.6 ppg against Oklahoma this season, and the Sooners are yielding a mere 277.2 total ypg. Clearly, the defense has been one of the nation's truly elite groups despite the three losses suffered to date. Stopping the run has clearly been an area of strength for Oklahoma, as the club is yielding a mere 2.6 yards per carry and 80 yards per contest. In eight outings, the Sooners have surrendered only four rushing touchdowns. While they have given up seven passing scores, 13 interceptions and 27 sacks have been registered.

Travis Lewis leads Oklahoma with 71 total tackles. Brian Jackson has four interceptions to his credit, and Jeremy Beal has recorded 13.5 TFLs, including 8.5 sacks.

Against Kansas State last week, Murray scored three touchdowns for Oklahoma, while Broyles reached the end zone twice. The Sooners rolled up 458 total yards, including 294 yards from Jones on 26-of-37 efficiency. He tossed four touchdowns with no interceptions and appears to be in complete control of the offense despite his inexperience.

"Really excited about what Landry Jones did today again with a host of receivers that really stepped up," said Stoops after the contest.

Kansas State did score on a kickoff return last week, so the Oklahoma defense didn't play as poorly as the 30 points allowed suggest. Still, the performance was far from dominant, as the Sooners yielded 364 yards and 20 first downs.

"In the second half, they worked us a little bit but we came up with those stops in the fourth with the last couple of drives when we really had to," said Stoops.

The Nebraska offense has struggled in recent weeks, including in last weekend's 20-10 victory over Baylor. Afterall, one of the two touchdowns scored by the Huskers came on a return of a blocked punt, and the other was the culmination of a 46-yard drive. Otherwise, the team got a pair of field goals. Nebraska managed a mere 11 first downs in the contest and 273 total yards. Two turnovers were committed, and only 3.8 yards per carry was generated on the ground. Cody Green was adequate at best under center, and none of the skill position players posted standout stats.