Tulsa World: State's three slaughters set bar high

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State's three slaughters set bar high

By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Published: 9/1/2008 2:05 AM
Last Modified: 9/1/2008 3:32 AM

Before lastweekend, the question was "are you ready for some football?"

After the weekend, the question is "are you ready to get spoiled?"

The first Saturday of college football season was historic for this state and it provided hints that fans here could soon be spoiled by success.

Tulsa, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State swept their openers. The cumulative margin of victory was 104 points.

Only once since the Great Depression have the Cowboys, Sooners and Golden Hurricane teamed up to win season openers by a more lopsided margin.

In 1973, OSU, TU and OU were 122 points better than their opposition on opening weekend. Fans wore smiles because of scores and wore bad plaid and white belts because, well, that's what fashionistas wore in the 1970s.

Bad plaid and white belts eventually faded from view. So did the glow of that opening weekend in '73.

OU went 10-0-1. But TU and OSU proved to be average that season. They combined to go 11-9-2.

So, 35 years later, the issue is whether a shining start will once again be fool's gold.

There's no way to know now, especially since the level of competition Saturday was more suspect than faces on post office walls.

OSU won at Washington State, picked last in the Pac-10. TU was dominant in the second half of a victory over Alabama-Birmingham, which was 117th in preseason Sagarin ratings.

OU blistered lower-division opponent Tennessee-Chattanooga, which was paid $475,000 to be a tackling dummy.

But the first-Saturday-of-the-season sweep set the stage for an unprecedented feat. Never have OSU, TU and OU gotten off to 5-0 starts in the same season. It could happen in 2008.

Tulsa plays next at North Texas (scorched by Kansas State in an opener) and can climb to 5-0 by beating UNT and taking care of business at home against New Mexico, Central Arkansas and Rice. Game No. 6 is at SMU, a place TU has never won as a WAC or C-USA member.

Oklahoma likely won't be an underdog in any regular season game and can get to 5-0 by hurdling Cincinnati, Washington, TCU and Baylor. Texas is opponent No. 6.

Oklahoma State can reach 5-0 by sweeping home games against Houston, Missouri State, Troy and Texas A&M, which lost a home opener to Arkansas State.

A road trip to Missouri is game No. 6.

Of course, broaching the possibility of statewide 5-0 starts is putting the schooner before the horse.

"You just look at the scores across the country and you have got to be ready to play every week," OSU coach Mike Gundy said, noting that the Cowboys' next opponent, Houston, blew past Southern 55-3 in a season opener.

"We still have to play and prepare well and take care of our business. I still say with the spread offenses and the 40-second clock and the way people can throw the ball now, you've got to be ready to play every weekend."

And then there's this: OSU and TU took nice steps by winning season openers on the road, which is an accomplishment no matter who is wearing dark jerseys. But, said Gundy, "It's hard for us to say we're good enough to look much beyond the next opponent."

The outlook for all three state teams is better today than it was Friday because first-game evidence suggests favorable answers to nagging questions.

Can Tulsa win with a new quarterback and a jury-is-out defense?

David Johnson helped direct the Hurricane to 601 yards in his first start. He ranks second nationally in pass efficiency. TU's defense pitched a second-half shutout.

Will OSU's defense ever improve?

The Cowboys allowed Washington State 59 snaps and 3.3 yards per play. The Cougars converted only 2-of-13 third downs. Gundy said the Cowboys' defensive depth is better. So was the tackling.

Are the back seven players on OU's defense championship-caliber and can backup quarterback Joey Halzle win games if Sam Bradford goes down?

Tune in later when the level of competition improves, but the Sooners lead the nation in total defense and Halzle completed 14-of-16 passes against Chattanooga.

Maybe all three schools won't reach the 5-0 threshhold, but, in the mean time, how's that for openers? By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer

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