Tulsa World: OU Football Notebook

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OU Football Notebook

By GUERIN EMIG, World sports writer
Published: 9/26/2008 2:05 AM
Last Modified: 9/26/2008 3:06 AM

Inside the 20: The best statistical proof of Oklahoma's blazing start offensively might not be the Sooners' 54.7-point average. Rather, consider that OU has scored all 18 times it has moved inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Seventeen of those scores have been touchdowns, with Jimmy Stevens' 36-yarder against Cincinnati representing OU's lone field goal.

To put the Sooners' red zone efficiency into perspective, the only other NCAA Bowl Subdivision teams that are also perfect inside the 20 are Northwestern, Troy, Syracuse, Toledo, North Texas, Hawaii and Pittsburgh. They are a combined 74-of-74, but 23 have been field goals.

Inside the 20, part II: It will be interesting to see if OU can keep up that efficiency Saturday night. TCU has only allowed five drives inside its 20-yard line this season, with three ending in scores.

In fact, the Horned Frogs have surrendered just 23 touchdowns in 62 opponent trips inside the red zone over their last 25 games. Seven of those drives ended in turnovers.

In their 17-10 loss to TCU three years ago, the Sooners came away with one touchdown in three trips inside the 20. Quarterback Paul Thompson fumbled on the Horned Frog 4 midway through the first quarter and overthrew Travis Wilson on third-and-goal from the 4 in the third quarter. That preceded Garrett Hartley's field goal.

Take it seriously: More proof that Saturday night's game is going to come down to OU's offense versus TCU's defense — the Frogs are third in the nation

with 13 takeaways.

Free safety Steven Coleman came up with an interception in each of TCU's first three games. Defensive end Jerry Hughes recovered a fumble in all three games.

Three years ago in Norman, the Frogs intercepted Thompson once and yanked away three OU fumbles.

This year's Sooner team seems much more responsible. OU has given away three turnovers in three games on interceptions thrown by Sam Bradford (two) and Joey Halzle (one). The Sooners haven't lost any of their three fumbles.

Nothing fancy: TCU bagged its upset of OU in '05 despite rushing for just 58 yards and totaling a reasonable 284. By GUERIN EMIG, World sports writer

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