SEATTLE (AP) -It was perhaps the simplest touchdown Sam Bradford will ever be a part of. The Oklahoma quarterback took the snap, leaned forward slightly and extended the ball a few inches over the goal line.
“Nothing is ever easy,” the Oklahoma quarterback said.
It sure looked easy for the Sooners in a 55-14 win over Washington on Saturday.
Oklahoma’s potent no-huddle offense left the Huskies gassed and confused. The Sooners offense scored on seven straight possessions at one point and likely could have put up 70 if they so desired. What they did was enough to help them move up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 on Sunday
Oklahoma has now posted 57, 52 and 55 points in its first three contests. Eight times in Bradford’s 17 career starts the Sooners have eclipsed the 50-point mark. The longest drive during the Sooners run of seven consecutive touchdown possessions against Washington lasted only 3:51, and Oklahoma went at least 65 yards on five of the seven drives.
ensively, what was really pleasing was the balance, how physically we ran the football and Sam’s execution was fabulous,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said.
While Bradford was remarkably efficient yet again – completing 18 of 21 passes and throwing five touchdown passes – the ease at which the Sooners running game bulled through Washington’s defense was just as impressive.
The Sooners averaged nearly 6 yards per rush, often not getting touched until they were 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray both topped the 100-yard mark rushing, become the first Oklahoma duo to accomplish that feat away from Norman since Quentin Griffin and Reggie Skinner at Iowa State in 1999.
Brown finished with 107 yards on 13 carries and Murray had 100 yards on 16 attempts.
“That’s just being physical, in the run game or the pass game,” Brown said. “Fortunately we did that and came out and made a statement.”
The key element to Oklahoma’s offensive success is the pace at which the Sooners run their no-huddle offense, making all their calls at the line of scrimmage. When Washington would get caught trying to change its defensive personnel, Bradford would quickly rush through his calls and try and get the play off before the Huskies were in position.
It was noticeable a few times as the Huskies were caught shifting their alignments and not getting set before the play was snapped.
“They ran up to the ball quick and hiked it quick. On a couple of occasions we were late to adjust, we didn’t get the right checks, we were late to our spots, we aligned wrong a couple of times,” Washington safety Nate Williams said. “We just have to prepare ourselves more next time and know what to expect.”
Washington should know about facing speedy no-huddle teams. Each of their first three opponents – Oregon, BYU and Oklahoma – all run a version of the no-huddle. Oklahoma is by far the fastest.
“It adds stress and they do as good a job with it as anybody, the way they get in and out of it,” Washington defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said.
Bradford says calling the offense at the line simplifies all of his pre-snap responsibilities. OU fans certainly aren’t upset with the results, with the Sooners averaging nearly 55 points so far, and Bradford throwing 10 TDs in the last two games.
“I don’t know if you saw but those guys made great catches for me, our offensive line protected me,” Bradford said. “Our offense has just been clicking.”
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