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Gameday Instant Analysis: OU has questions; TU has answers
Published: 9/23/2012 2:10 AM
Last Modified: 9/23/2012 2:10 AM

A sleepy afternoon of college football turned into a pretty exciting Saturday night.

And even better, after weeks of wondering just exactly how good Oklahoma and Tulsa are, we finally got a better idea.

The Sooners have lots of questions. The Golden Hurricane came up with a few answers.

On to what we learned Saturday night:

1. Stop me if you've heard this before: Oklahoma lacks playmakers on offense

John Hoover wrote for Sunday's paper that the Sooners lack toughness on their offensive and defensive lines. That may be true, but Oklahoma definitely lacks playmakers on offense.

OU's offense has looked suspiciously pedestrian since Ryan Broyles was lost to injury late last season.

Quarterback Landry Jones is the best player on this offense, but he's too wildly inconsistent to carry the Sooners.

What's left? A stable of nice running backs without a superstar and a couple of promising freshmen receivers (Sterling Shepard and Trey Metoyer) who may be a year away from stardom.

Oh, and a back-up quarterback who will become even more popular with fans disgruntled over Saturday's performance.

The Sooners seem to be improved on defense, and there's nothing to say they won't get better on offense. But they must just to stay in the Big 12 championship discussion.

Otherwise, this team could easily lose a couple more times.

2. Could Saturday be a turning point for TU football?
It's been a nice start to the college coaching career of Bill Blankenship, but what has been lacking is a signature win.

The Thursday nighter last year at Central Florida was pretty big, but otherwise Blankenship's first season featured mostly the expected.

Might Saturday's come-from-behind win against Fresno State be the game we've been waiting for? It certainly has that potential.

Despite giving up two interception returns for touchdowns to a team coming off a rout of Colorado, Tulsa held its composure and rallied for a much-needed victory.

It's a little early to look ahead, but Saturday's win could springboard Tulsa to a special season.

The remaining teams on the Golden Hurricane's schedule are a combined 8-21. A game at Arkansas, in the top 10 two weeks ago, looks imminently winnable.

It's all out there for Tulsa -- as long as Saturday is a turning point.

Transfer quarterback Cody Green has been less than sharp (a generous assessment of his performance Saturday) against top-tier competition.

But if he gets it together, the sky's the limit. And Saturday will be seen as the start line.

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The Editor's Desk

Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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