NORMAN —
A team wants to be playing its best at the end. Whether Oklahoma’s achieving that is debatable. It’s defense is struggling.
On the other hand, look at the Sooners have done offensively in the last four games.
Brennan Clay’s 18-yard touchdown run to secure a 51-48 over Oklahoma State last Saturday was the Sooners’ 24th in the last four games. During that span, they’ve racked up 136 first downs.
“Offensively, we’re on the rise and we’re executing really well right now,” center Gabe Ikard said. “We’re a little banged up up front, but guys are sliding in there and performing really well. We’re putting up a lot of points on the board.”
They’ve amassed 178 over the last four games in wins over Iowa State, Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma State.
What caused the Sooners’ offense to take off over the last four games? Several factors have been involved.
It helps that OU’s last four opponents haven’t been defensive juggernauts. OSU is No. 72 in total defense at 409.9 yards per game; Iowa State No. 97 (444.83); West Virginia No. 117 (487.36); Baylor No. 119 (509.73). No one is going to compare any of those teams to the Steel Curtain.
But it also coincides with OU’s offense taking flight over the last four games. Since the loss to top-ranked Notre Dame on Oct. 27, the only thing that’s stopped the Sooners has been themselves. They’ve only punted 11 times in the last four games.
The Sooner receivers have synched in with OU quarterback Landry Jones. He has thrown for at least 400 yards in three of the four games and for at least 500 in the last two. The only game he didn’t was against Baylor. The Sooners rushed for 183 yards that night and four touchdowns.
Getting time to throw hasn’t been a problem either. Jones has been sacked just twice the last four games.
“You lose a game and then people think you can’t coach, you can’t throw, you can’t block, you can’t catch, you can’t do all this stuff on offense,” quarterback Landry Jones said. “We just went back to the drawing board and went back to work, and all of that stuff paid off for us. I don’t know if we drastically changed anything. We might have tweaked some stuff here or there on what we were doing, but I think just the hard work and the determination that we’ve put into this offense has really started to pay off for us.”
You could argue this is the best OU’s offense has looked since it set NCAA records in 2008.
The 12th-ranked Sooners (9-2, 7-1 Big 12) will need it to be hitting on all cylinders when they face TCU (7-4, 4-4) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Amon Carter Stadium.
OU’s special teams have played well, but a leaky defense isn’t the reason the Sooners still have a chance to win its eighth Big 12 title since 2000.
The difference between the Horned Frogs and the last four opponents is TCU can actually play some defense. For OU’s offense, it will be facing its toughest test since Notre Dame.
“I think we have a lot of momentum behind us,” fullback Trey Millard said. “We’ve had a lot of good plays — a lot of big plays — when we’ve needed them. We need to keep the momentum going. It’s easy to make plays when you’ve got everything going right for you.”
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Have offense, will travel to TCU
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Workman's blasts cranks UCO's engine; Bronchos cruise to 5-2 win
Nicole Workman’s solo home run gave Central Oklahoma a lead it would never relinquish and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos went on to topple Winona State 5-2 in the first game of the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional Friday night at the Edmond North High School Softball Complex.
Workman blasted her 14th homer of the season to lead off the second inning, with UCO adding three runs in the third and one more in the fifth to take a commanding 5-0 lead before the Warriors created some anxious moments in their final at bat.
WSU scored two runs and had runners on second and third on with just one out in the top of the seventh, but Kalynn Shrock got the final two batters to close out her fourth straight complete-game outing of the postseason and put the Bronchos in control of the best-of-three series. -
Richters rip competition at KickingBird
The KickingBird 2-man scramble was won by Jeff and Josh Richter, finishing with a 57.9 on May 11.
Jeff Jester and Kevin Wright wrapped up second-place honors with a 59.9 and Rick Morales and Ronnie Roberts placed third (60.1).
In the second flight, the top score was 60.4 by Jerry Bernhardt and Ted Carter. Picking up silver was the tandem of Jerry Fuller and Ramona Jacobi (61.2) and the third-place squad was Dyke Hoppe and Mark VanSickle at 62.0.
Morales was closest to the pin on No. 6 and Jeff Richter landed a dart on hole 14. -
Eagles' season finished; Lopez earns national honor
Southeastern, Fla. eliminated Oklahoma Christian 4-0 om the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series in Mason, Ohio today to advance to the tournament semifinals, while OC closes at 26-26.
OC would have advanced to the semifinals with a win, but completed a terrific turnaround from an 8-34 season in 2012. The Eagles made only the second national-tournament appearance in the program's history, with the other coming in 1972, when OC finished third in the NAIA World Series. -
Multiple baseball camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Schools baseball coaches Kyle Roberts (Edmond Memorial), Jeff Shafer (Edmond Santa Fe) and Karl King (Edmond North) will instruct the Edmond All-Star Baseball Camps starting May 28 at Edmond North High School.
A pair of all-skills camps will take place for kids ages 5 and older from May 28-31 and June 3-6. Times are the same, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
On June 7, a pitcher/catcher camp will be offered for ages 8 and older with the identical time frame. Cost is $35 for the pitcher/catcher camp and $125 for the all-skills camp.
For further inquiries, contact Karl King at 863-3570. -
Arthur Hills eating up Bronchos
Central Oklahoma’s struggles continued at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. Friday.
The Bronchos made 10 double bogeys and two triple bogeys en route to a season-high 329 score on the rugged 6,228-yard, par-72 Arthur Hills Legends Course at LPGA International, leaving UCO in 10th place with a three-round total of 975.
Nova Southeastern has an 881 total heading into Saturday’s final round, giving the four-time defending champion Sharks a one-shot lead over second-place Lynn. -
Bronchos will make 12th appearance in national golf championship Monday
No. 18-ranked Central Oklahoma will make its 12th appearance in the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in Hershey, Pa. next week.
The 54-hole stroke play portion of the tournament runs Monday-Wednesday at the 7,061-yard, par-71 Hershey Country Club East Course, with the top-eight teams from the 20-team field advancing to match play. -
Online registration for 2013 UCO Endeavor Games now open
Registration is now open online for athletes and volunteers for the 2013 University of Central Oklahoma Endeavor Games, June 6-9, the nation’s largest multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities.
Athletes of all ages or sporting experience are invited to register for the event. Community members are also encouraged to register to volunteer with more than 300 volunteer opportunities available.
Similar to the summer Paralympic Games, athletes may register for multiple adaptive sports, which include cycling, indoor archery, outdoor archery, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, shooting, table tennis, track and field, wheelchair basketball, and, for the first time at the UCO Endeavor Games, paratriathlon. The paratriathlon will be limited to athletes over the age of 16 with previous paratriathlon experience. -
Deer Creek drops Carl Albert again for state title
They did it again.
The Deer Creek girls soccer team knocked off rival Carl Albert in the Class 5A state soccer title game for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Antlers, led by freshman Lauren Haivala’s two goals, topped the Titans 2-1 May 10 at Noble High School.
On May 7, Deer Creek blanked Tulsa Edison 2-zip in the semifinals for a chance to play for its fourth state championship in girls soccer. -
UCO to host US women's sitting volleyball team's exhibition matches against Russia
The University of Central Oklahoma will host five exhibition matches of the U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team versus the Russian National Women Sitting Volleyball Team beginning tonight at 10. Matches continue on Saturday at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. and a single match on Sunday at 9 a.m.
This will be the first time the Paralympic silver medaling Team USA has faced Russia since 2011. According to Head Coach Bill Hamiter, these matches will serve as preparation for the Sitting Volleyball World Championships in 2014.
Team USA will be available after each match to meet with fans and sign autographs.
All exhibition matches are free and open to the public. -
Impact-making Graves inks with OBU
When a basketball team goes 80-3 over the years a player was there, that athlete has made a profound impact on that particular program.
Not only did she/he leave a legacy athletically to have that type of success in Class 6A, but left a mark in a leadership capacity as well.
Cameerah Graves, Edmond Santa Fe’s standout guard who led 6A in assists her senior season with 129, signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma Baptist University last week. - More Sports Headlines
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