Tulsa World: OU cruises to 57-2 win after lightning delay at halftime

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OU cruises to 57-2 win after lightning delay at halftime

OU running back DeMarco Murray flips 180 degrees as he scores on a jump over the line of scrimmage against Chattanooga. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World

By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 8/30/2008 7:53 PM
Last Modified: 9/2/2008 2:28 PM

NORMAN — Was it the countless bolts of lightning and endless curtains of rain that shorted out Oklahoma’s new $4.5 million video scoreboard at halftime?

Or was it the Sooners’ new no-huddle offense?

Against overmatched Tennessee-Chattanooga, No. 4-ranked OU debuted its new fast-paced scheme before a crowd of 84,715 on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, and the Sooners lit up the scoreboard for a 57-2 victory.

OU led 50-0 at halftime.

WATCH VIDEO from MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World on Vimeo.

It was then that a vicious thunderstorm descended on Norman, dropping threatening lightning bolts and monsoon-like rains for nearly an hour. A particularly nasty strike hit near the stadium, temporarily shutting down the stadium lights and the brand new

high-definition SoonerVision video board.

The start of the second half was delayed 72 minutes in addition to the usual 20-minute halftime.

Thousands of Sooner fans were dampened but undeterred and returned for the second half, glad to see their team open coach Bob Stoops’ 10th season by harkening back to a phrase former coach Barry Switzer coined during his tenure: “hang half-a-hundred.”

This they did in just two quarters.

The Sooners, playing their first opponent from the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision — formerly Division I-AA — since Stoops’ 1999 OU debut (a 49-0 win over Indiana State), didn’t run Switzer’s wishbone, but were just as dominant operating their brand new version of the contemporary no-huddle offense.

The Sooners experimented with a no-huddle in the spring and kept it mostly under wraps during a training camp that media and fans were prohibited from viewing. But offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, who ran a version of the no-huddle as offensive coordinator at Northwestern, didn’t call for one huddle, and the Sooners were unstoppable in the first half, scoring touchdowns on their first seven possessions before backup quarterback Joey Halzle was intercepted late in the first half.

OU finished with 487 total yards and its highest point total since last year’s 62-point outburst at Tulsa. Oklahoma scored 79 against North Texas in last year’s season-opener.

OU’s defense was just as good as its offense, holding Chattanooga to just one first down and 37 yards total offense.

The Sooners amassed 347 yards and 19 first downs (on 46 plays) in the first half, while the Moccasins managed just 10 yards and one first down (on 30 plays).

Quarterback Sam Bradford was 17-of-22 for 183 yards with two touchdowns before giving way to Halzle. Halzle replaced Bradford in the first half, but Bradford played three series in the second half following the weather delay.

Running back DeMarco Murray, returning from a significant knee injury late last season, gained 124 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and also played three series in the second half. Running back Chris Brown ran for 63 yards and three touchdowns.

Wideouts Manuel Johnson (nine catches, 120 yards) and Juaquin Iglesias (five catches, 73 yards) scored touchdowns, and Iglesias had a 69-yard kickoff return after an OU safety, the result of a punt snap through the end zone.

The Sooners returned the safety with a similar bad snap in the third quarter that went through the end zone and put the Mocs on the scoreboard.

By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

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