Oklahoma Jumps to the Top

The Oklahoma Sooners (4-0) are now the number one team according to the AP rankings as of September 28 since the formerly ranked number 1 team USC Trojans lost at unranked Oregon State in an upset of 21-27. The Sooners just crushed the TCU Horned Frogs, previously the ranked number 24 team, in a blowout of 35-10. There were several ranked teams who lost their games over the weekend. 5 of these ranked teams lost at home: Georgia, Florida, Wake Forest, Clemson, and East Carolina. With a lot of ranked teams losing lately, should Oklahoma be worried that that they could be the next ranked team to suffer an unexpected loss and drop in the polls? The Sooners starting quarterback Sam Bradford expresses no concern about their ranking. Bradford says, "At this point, being No. 1 means absolutely nothing." He is more focused on getting prepared for the next game.

Oklahoma's defense has been key in its many victories this season. The defense has set the tone for the opponents. Just last weekend, the opposing kick returner broke past the defenders and was tackled at Oklahoma's 15 yard line. Now the Sooners defense had to prevent the number 24 TCU Horned Frogs from gaining these 15 yards and a touchdown. The Sooners came out strong and even pushed TCU backwards for -4 on the next 3 plays and forced them to kick a field goal. With a strong defense like Oklahoma, the offense can go out and play their game without thinking that we need to score to stay in the game. The pressure came off the quarterback to score on every single drive and he was able to relax and have an impressive game. The Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford went 411 yards through the air on only 19 completions with 4 touchdowns and not a single interception. Ever since NFL star Adrian Peterson left the Sooners to play for the Minnesota Vikings, Oklahoma has never had a strong running game. As long as Bradford had a solid passing game, the running game will open itself up and running backs will be able to gain pretty good yardage when the defenses are trying to prevent the passing game. Expect the Oklahoma running game to get stronger as the season goes on and more people realize the threat of their throwing game. If the Sooners offensive and defensive teams continue to play strong in the upcoming games, Oklahoma will be a hard team to stop.