Tulsa World: OU a different team in '08

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OU a different team in '08

OU’s (from left) Jeremy Beal, DeMarcus Granger and Travis Lewis celebrate after a fumble recoveryduring the first half of Saturday’s game. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World

By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 9/15/2008 2:06 AM
Last Modified: 9/15/2008 3:36 AM

Oklahoma finally arrived at the destination it has sought since the end of the 2004 season.

Now all it has to do is stay there for 12 more Saturdays.

OU moved up to No. 2 in the college football polls on Sunday, fresh off a 55-14 victory at Washington. The Sooners were ranked third last week, but No. 2 Georgia dropped a spot after escaping South Carolina 14-7. USC, energized by its dominating performance against Ohio State, strengthened its grip on the top spot.

It's OU's first time back in the top two since going into the 2004-05 Orange Bowl ranked No. 2. There, they were trampled by the Trojans, 55-19.

The Associated Press now crowns its own champion. The USA Today coaches poll is one of three components in the Bowl Championship Series standings, which determine what two teams — No. 1 versus No. 2 — play in the BCS national championship game on Jan. 8. The initial BCS standings won't be released until October, and OU and USC have some 76 quarters of football to play before then.

All of this amounts to a hill of Washington apples if the Sooners do what they did last year and waste a red-hot start by unexpectedly tripping somewhere on the schedule. Oklahoma likely will be favored in games against TCU (3-0), Baylor (2-1), Texas (2-0), Kansas State (2-0), Kansas (2-1), Texas A&M (1-1), Texas Tech (3-0) or Oklahoma State (3-0), but with a shot at the title on the line last year, the Sooners stumbled twice against inferior teams.

That was last year, though, and an OU team that couldn't find momentum in road games. This year's edition proved Saturday that it could. Critics say Washington's talent level is further down than everyone thought, but the Huskies nearly took BYU to overtime, and BYU hammered UCLA, which shocked Tennessee.

So where does that leave OU? Road games this season in Waco, Manhattan, College Station and Stillwater don't look nearly as daunting OK, maybe Stillwater does, given OU's recent history there as they did before the Sooners rattled Seattle.

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

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Dad, Up North (9/15/2008 7:58:03 AM)

Well, let's see what happens. We still have a lot of football to go.

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