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OU football: Home vs. away
For OU, the difference is night and day this year

OU's Ryan Broyles (left) and Trent Ratterree celebrate a touchdown in a home game against Idaho State. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World

 
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 11/21/2009  2:26 AM
Last Modified: 11/21/2009  3:32 PM
LUBBOCK, Texas — The numbers show that how Oklahoma plays is a direct result of where Oklahoma plays.

But maybe just as important is who Oklahoma plays.

Through 10 games this season — five at Owen Field and five not — the Sooners are a different team outside the Norman city limits.

  • At home, OU scores 50 points a game. Away from home, the Sooners score less than 17.


  • At home, OU has committed five turnovers. Away from home, the Sooners have given away 15.


  • At home, OU converts 55 percent of its third-down plays. Away from home, the Sooners convert just 28 percent.


  • At home, OU averages 555 yards of total offense. Away from home, the Sooners average just 315.


Similar discrepancies — though not quite as extreme — exist for OU's laurelled defense.

"Opponent probably makes a difference," suggested coach Bob Stoops.

Probably. Oklahoma's five opponents away from home have a combined winning percentage of .640. All five have been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 this season. The Sooners' five opponents at Owen Field have combined to win just 38.5 percent of their games. None have appeared in the Top 25.

The Sooners (6-4 overall, 4-2 Big 12 Conference) hit the road again on Saturday, paying another visit to Texas Tech (6-4, 3-3). OU's last two trips to Lubbock were train wrecks — a 23-21 loss in 2005 after some slippery officiating, and a 34-27 loss in 2007 after Sam Bradford's fluke concussion. The '05 outcome interrupted a late-season winning streak. The '07 result kept the Sooners out of the national title picture.

No one on OU's roster has experienced victory in Lubbock, but the Sooners' eyes are on the present.

"We still haven't shown we can go on the road and play with composure like we can at home," said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. "And we can't move our stadium there, either."

The tough road test trend continues. Tech has been ranked this season. Once. But Oklahoma players are more concerned with straightening out their own problems than deciphering Tech.

"I don't know if that's a psychological thing or a discipline thing or what," said defensive tackle Adrian Taylor. "Whatever it is, we need to find it and take it with us on the road, because we're gonna need it in Lubbock."

The Red Raiders, as usual, lead the Big 12 in passing offense (391 yards per game). But in what could be a classic matchup, the Sooners lead the Big 12 in pass defense (178 yards per game).

Then again, Saturday's 11:30 a.m. contest probably won't come down to such matchups. If history is any indicator, this game will be decided by whether an inexperienced Sooner offense can finally put things together on the road, or whether they have another epic collapse.

In neutral site games against BYU and Texas, and in road contests at Miami, Kansas and Nebraska, the Sooners' ability to focus and execute was impacted by hostile crowds and unfamiliar surroundings. That sounds unlikely for a Stoops-coached team, but it's a fact.

"A lot of people can say they kind of take it out of their head or whatever," said center Ben Habern, "but when you're going in to score, or you're backed up you can definitely hear it."

When quarterback Landry Jones made his college football debut coming off the bench against BYU, he just wasn't ready. Who, in their first game, is? He even said he heard the sparse BYU gathering. But in his last road trip, his sixth start, in the din of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium — and against one of the game's best defenses — Jones threw five interceptions.

"I don't really hear it too much any more," Jones said. "When I first went out there, I kind of heard the crowd a little bit more than I do now, but now I just tune it out."

Although he didn't start two of his five road appearances (and split time as the starter in practice leading up to another), Jones is clearly more comfortable at Owen Field. His passer rating is almost twice as good at home, 175.30 to 99.41. He's thrown 18 TDs at home and just four away. And his interceptions are doubled when he's outside of Norman, eight to four. He's thrown for at least 286 yards in all four home games, and hasn't exceeded 252 in five road games.

Strangely, the penalties that have stunted the Sooner offense all season are not appreciably different at home or away. But when the Sooners had a first-and-45 at home against Kansas State, they overcame it and scored a touchdown. When they had a first-and-10 in the red zone against BYU, Miami, Texas, Kansas and Nebraska, the field goal unit was needed far too frequently.

Texas Tech fans — still seething over Oklahoma's 65-21 win last year in Norman, a game that ruined their team's No. 2 ranking and perfect season — are eager to welcome the Sooners, high-tech throwback uniforms and all.

"It's one last chance to see if we've matured through the year," Wilson said. "Or (see) if we're the same cast of characters."



LANDRY JONES AT HOME

(4 starts, 175.30 rating)

OpponentComp. AttPctYdsTDInt
Idaho State1832.56328631
Tulsa2537.67633662
Baylor00.000000
Kansas State2637.70329440
Texas A&M2439.61539251
Totals93145 .6411,308184


JONES ON THE ROAD

(3 starts, 99.41 rating)

OpponentComp. AttPctYdsTDInt
BYU612.5005100
Miami1830.60018810
Texas2443.55825012
Kansas2638.68425221
Nebraska2658.44824505
Totals100181.55298648


SOONER HOME OPPONENTS

Team Record

Idaho State* 1-10
Tulsa 4-6
Baylor 4-6
Kansas State 6-5
Texas A&M 5-5
Total 20-32 (.385)

Remaining:
OSU 9-2 * FCS/I-AA opponent

SOONER ROAD OPPONENTS

Team Record

BYU 8-2
Miami 7-3
Texas 10-0
Kansas 5-5
Nebraska 7-3
Total 37-13 (.640)

Remaining:
Texas Tech 6-4

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

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COMMENTS 
      Add your comment Show: Most Recent Comment First

23 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you.  -- Web Editor Jason Collington
 

 
Some reader comments for this story were copied from "COMING SATURDAY: OU a different team on the road," which was published on 11/20/2009.
Report Comment
THE REF, Broken Arrow (11/20/2009 1:22:38 PM)
boomer!
Report Comment
forkandknife, Tulsa (11/20/2009 1:36:00 PM)
BOO-mer is more like it!
Report Comment
Arbythree, Tulsa (11/20/2009 1:41:12 PM)
SOONER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Comment
twoidhd, (11/20/2009 2:03:36 PM)
OU 5-5 tomorrow night.
Report Comment
soonerguy, Tulsa (11/20/2009 2:12:43 PM)
How exactly are you planning on erasing one of their wins?
Report Comment
GoPokes!!!, (11/20/2009 2:40:00 PM)
The pic says it all.. Quit whining Medium Game Bob and sooner fans
Report Comment
Have that, America (11/20/2009 2:56:27 PM)
Tech is going to make OU look bad...really bad.
Report Comment
MaintenanceMan, Tulsa (11/20/2009 3:09:35 PM)
Nah. We will win this one and then we will embarrass the Pokes back to our stadium in stillwater. BOOMER!!
Report Comment
get to the CHOPPA! , Broken Arrow (11/20/2009 3:49:09 PM)
Go Pokes!!! Don't Call OU's coach medium game Bob until your Cowboys win something. Come on bro, thats weak.
Report Comment
DavidM F, Somewhere (11/20/2009 4:34:48 PM)
Look, the excuse booklet is being displayed in the paper...
Report Comment
donkey, (11/20/2009 7:45:56 PM)
Hey maintenance man....you must be smoking loco week...the victory will be sweet for OSU since it will be at the University of O's stadium...
Report Comment
soonerman37, Broken Arrow (11/20/2009 8:33:43 PM)
Why don't the OSU fans who can't count go back to the OSU homepage. We are 6-4 right now. When we finish this season, we will be 9-4.
Report Comment
soonerman37, Broken Arrow (11/20/2009 8:35:40 PM)
OH...and to the OSU fans on here...nice win against a bad Colorado team...at home. I guess it is hard to win with a backup QB. Got lucky again!
Report Comment
The Masked Assassin, Parts Unknown (11/20/2009 9:05:17 PM)
How many times do they need to point out the home/road stats? Have that, with his wisdom. Nice squeaker last night, by the way. #12. :) :) :) :)
Report Comment
JenksOK, (11/20/2009 9:58:03 PM)
This is nothing new. OU has been a homer team for a number of years. I'm surprised no one has written about it "sooner."
Report Comment
FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/20/2009 11:32:10 PM)
When your use to being at the top when on the road some teams play tight. This season is a good come down for OU. They'll be hungry again next year. And losing Bradford didn't help much either. GO SOONERS!!!
Report Comment
JenksOK, (11/21/2009 4:11:48 AM)
I wish I could say that they'll be hungry again next year. I think hunger and fire starts with coaching, and I don't think you're gonna get any more of that with the Bob Stoops crew. But we know what we're gonna get..we've seen it on a consistent basis. Not that they won't give us 8 or 10 wins a year, but that's it. There won't be any more BCS championships.
Report Comment
livinglarge, (11/21/2009 6:36:09 AM)
BOOMER
Report Comment
Jules09A, Sapulpa (11/21/2009 2:02:18 PM)
Good call Soonerman, good call. I guess Tech is the one who got lucky today.
Report Comment
kcc12, (11/21/2009 2:30:32 PM)
Has Big Blame Bob already packed for South Bend. This team has competely given up. I almost feel sorry for them...nah!! Karma's is b"!&th!!
Report Comment
marlin, (11/21/2009 2:51:06 PM)
soonerman37.....looking more like 6-6, without a bowl. TT has destroyed OU in the 2nd half.
Report Comment
Jules09A, Sapulpa (11/21/2009 3:26:47 PM)
Bob Stoops is one of these guys who recruits well enough to get a program out of the dump, but can't coach for anything. I think OU will keep Stoops around for another year, but in the end he'll end up just like Mangino at Kansas.
Report Comment
MTS, (11/22/2009 12:08:20 AM)
True that Jules. But don't count on the Tulsa World sports writers to give Stoops any heat in this rag of a newspaper. Any remotely critical statements that might compromise their all access field and practice passes is off limits for these ninnies. Blame it on anything but the coaches -- like, say, home versus away games. Tell an intern to go to espn-dot-com, gather some home and away stats, create a few fancy charts in Excel and call it top quality sports journalism.

Wow, so what y'all are saying is that the Sooners play better at home than away. File this one next to "Drivers' Use of Headlights Increases After 6:00 PM," or "Mercury Rises in June and Drops Again in November." In other words, yeah, and so what?

This is another typically lame dodge from saying what every Sooner fan already knows: Stoops and Company are hacks. The coaching flops have been evident for three years now, and the only thing that has sustained this program is recruiting. But looking ahead, what kinda quality recruit is gonna be more excited by an offer from Stoops than one from Mack Brown?

Writers, pull your heads out and at least show some bee bees, if not some real cojones. Stoops is the problem, at home and on the road.
 

 
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