Berry Tramel

Tulsa World Sports Columnist

A football team with the expectations of OU should dominate Temple, and that’s exactly what the Sooners did. Still, you’ve got to grade on the curve, so it’s not a glittering report card for the Sooners.

Running game: B. In 36 true running plays, the Sooners averaged 5.7 yards. Much better than what OU did against Illinois State. Quarterback John Mateer’s 51-yard touchdown run off a zone-read option padded the stats, but freshman tailback Troy Blaylock looked great in gaining 100 yards on 14 carries. OU converted six of eight short-yardage downs and passed on just one of those. One of the failures was a false-start penalty on flanker Zion Kearney; the other was when Mateer was stuffed on 3rd-and-1.

Takeaways: C. Three games, still no takeaway

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