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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1997)
|ma vs. Nebraska I . > • SandySummers/DI^F 9M&B0H HARRISON, who had one punt return for 17 yards, Is tackled by Oklahoma's Rodney Rldeau. Football Game Review &&£ "7 First downs 27 11 l gir^ Rushing attempts 61 50 NGkraika Rushing yards 409 85 nmn Passing attempts 12 9 Tin. ™*Yd, Avg TD No. Name Yd. Avg TO ^2“ L l mMzmmem mrnmmm sm & 35 Total plays 73 59 45 J.Makovicka 101 10.1 3 28 J.T. Thatcher 26 2.9 0 Total vards aha 3.0 ®” Avg. yards per play 7.6 2.6 RiCiMWI BOCOMai Fumbles 2 7 No. Name No Yds Long TO No. Name No Yd. Long TD Interceptions 0 0 L Brown 1 26 26 0 18 M.Littlek 1 11 11 0 Punt returns/yards 3-77 0-0 Pftftht PlSSiM Time of possession 29:49 30:11 No. Name Att Cmp Int Yd* TD No. Name Att Cmp Int Yds TD 3m-down conversion 8 of 14 3 of 13 4th-down conversion 2 of 3 1 of 1 1 F. London 2 1 0 36 0 12 J. Fuente 3 0 0 0 0 5-36 0-0 Michael Warren/DN ABOVE: TONY ORTIZ sacks Oklahoma quarterback Eric Moore for a 9-yard loss in the second quarter. The Husker defense limited the Sooners to 154 total yards. Sandy Summers/DN LEFT: SCOTT FROST is tackled by Oklahoma right cornerback Corey T. Ivy. Frost finished the game rushing for 66 yards on eight carries and had one touchdown. First-half miscues prove costly for OU By Sam McKewon Staff Reporter The first commandment in upsetting a top-ranked team in col lege football: Thou shall not turn over the ball. Oklahoma sinned time and time again in the first half Saturday, fum bling the ball away on four of its first five drives, helping No. 1 Nebraska to 34 first-half points en route to a 69-7 Husker victory, the worst defeat in Sooner history. “You can’t cause yourself to make mistakes and turnovers and expect to have any chance,” said OU Coach John Blake, who dropped to 6-14 in his brief career. “We hurt ourselves.” Oklahoma and Nebraska both ran 20 plays in the first quarter, but the Sooners faced a 20-0 deficit going into the second quarter because of the miscues. Oklahoma s fumbling problems started on the Sooners third offen sive play when OU quarterback Justin Fuente fumbled after a sack by Grant Wistrom. NU senior line backer Octavious McFarlin returned the ball 43 yards to the OU 8, setting up Kris Brown’s 24-yard field goal. Two drives later, Sooner sopho more Brandon Daniels fumbled on his own 23, setting up another Brown field goal. Daniels fumbled again on the ensuing drive, resulting in an NU touchdown from freshman I-back Correll Buckhalter. OU committed its final - and fatal - turnover early in the second quarter, when Wistrom forced his third fumble on a sack of junior quarterback Eric Moore at the OU 40-yard line. Wistrom also recov ered the ball. NU scored a touchdown on the next play, a 40-yard pass from senior Scott Frost to freshman wingback Bobby Newcombe, giving the Huskers a 27-0 cushion. Blake said the Sooners had seri ous problems holding onto the foot ball, especially Daniels, who had three fumbles. “Brandon needs to learn how to 66 There s a difference between how you daffy thdZ ball in high school and how you carry in college. John Blake Oklahoma football coach hold onto the football right,” he said. “There’s a difference between how you carry the ball in high school and how you carry in college.” Oklahoma struggled offensively the rest of the day. Playing without its top three running backs, includ ing All-America candidate De’Mond Parker, OU managed only seven points and 154 total yards. Many of the Sooner troubles came at tne nanas wistrom, wno was a menace in the Sooner back field the entire game. “I feel like he’s the leader of the defense,” Moore said. “I really think he’s the best player that we’ve faced this year.” Oklahoma fared as bad' on defense. After holding NU to 147 rushing yards in the first half, the flood gates opened in the second, as OU allowed 184 rushing yards in the third quarter alone. Nebraska had 409 rushing yards and 552 total yards for the game. Blake said NU offense is simple and effective. “What they do on offense is pret ty basic, and it works,” he said. “They hurt us up the middle a lot in the second half.” One of the few bright spots for Oklahoma was freshman tailback Seth Littrell. Littrell had 88 yards on 21 carries, the best rushing perfor mance against the Nebraska defense this season. He also scored OU’s only touchdown, a two-yard run after a 40-yard Moore pass to tight end Stephen Alexander.