KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Sooner Schooner is about to turn east toward Miami — perhaps carrying a sign that salutes a Heisman Trophy winner.
Getting another near-flawless performance from sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford, Oklahoma needed only two quarters in the Big 12 title game Saturday night to put away Missouri and earn a spot in the Jan. 8 BCS championship with a 62-21 victory.
The Sooners (12-1) led 38-7 at halftime, prompting many of the Missouri fans among the crowd of 71,004 in Arrowhead Stadium to head for their vehicles, presumably tucking those faux Tiger tails inside the trunk.
Entering the game ranked No. 2 in the BCS, Oklahoma probably didn’t need any style points. But just to make sure, the Sooners became the first major-college team to reach 60 points in five straight games since Tulsa in 1919. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops sent his first-team defense back on the field late in the fourth quarter.
“All that has been said about us during the week . . . we’re going to play to the end,” Stoops said, not offering any apologies.
The chatter about whether Oklahoma deserved to be in the conference title game only spurred the Sooners. Before both teams began pregame warm-ups, a small plane flew around the stadium with a trailing banner that read: “Enjoy the bowl,” referring to Oklahoma having lost to the Longhorns in Dallas during the regular season but leapfrogging their rivals last week in the BCS standings.
That BCS ranking became a tiebreaker, sending the Sooners to the conference title game as the Big 12 South representative. If Oklahoma had been distracted by the week-long chatter, the Sooners didn’t show it. They had 31 straight points after Missouri had pulled to within 10-7.
“It played a big part to get us motivated,” Bradford said after the game. “We proved to everybody in the country that we belonged in this game.”
Bradford never seems to lose his focus. Scheduled to undergo surgery today on his left (non-throwing) hand to repair torn ligaments, Bradford did not allow the extra wrapping to affect him. He never bobbled a snap and did not commit a turnover. The Oklahoma City native finished with 34-for-49 for 384 yards and two touchdowns.
After the surgery, Bradford will head to New York this week as a Heisman Trophy finalist.
“No one throws it better than Sam,” Stoops said. “He has incredible accuracy.”
Steely-eyed concentration, too. With 8:59 left in the second quarter, somebody from the stands tossed an orange toward Bradford. As the fruit rolled past Bradford’s feet, he took the snap from the shotgun formation, maintained his concentration and hit senior wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias for the second of his two touchdowns. That made it 24-7, and the Sooners could have called in a bulk order for tropical shirts and suntan lotion.
South Beach, here they come.
“The guys were just awesome tonight,” Stoops said.
Oklahoma earned its sixth league championship — and third straight — in the 13-year history of the conference. No other team has more than two Big 12 titles.
The Sooners rolled up 627 yards without starting running back DeMarco Murray, who bruised his left knee while returning the game’s opening kickoff 30 yards. Murray, who rushed for 1,002 yards during the regular season, never returned to the field.
But Chris Brown (122 yards rushing) and Mossis Madu (114) did just fine. Both scored three touchdowns.
“They’re one of the greatest football teams I’ve ever seen,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said, “and I’ve been doing this a long time.”
A 16-point underdog, Missouri (9-4) got 255 yards passing and three touchdowns from senior quarterback Chase Daniel. But Daniel threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. And Oklahoma’s cat-quick defense stuffed Missouri’s running game before it got started. The Tigers netted just 60 yards on 28 carries.
“I had too many turnovers. You can’t do that against a team like that,” Daniel said.
Missouri 0 7 7 7 — 21
Oklahoma 10 28 3 21 — 62
First quarter: Okl — FG Stevens 20, 10:55. Okl — C.Brown 4 run (Stevens kick), 2:03. Second quarter: Mo — Maclin 27 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick), 13:09. Okl — Iglesias 10 pass from Bradford (Stevens kick), 11:00. Okl — Iglesias 7 pass from Bradford (Stevens kick), 8:59. Okl — Madu 12 run (Stevens kick), 2:33. Okl — C.Brown 6 run (Stevens kick), :53. Third quarter: Okl — FG Stevens 30, 9:00. Mo — Saunders 9 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick), 3:59. Fourth quarter: Okl — Madu 1 run (Stevens kick), 14:40. Mo — Coffman 8 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick), 11:07. Okl — C.Brown 6 run (Stevens kick), 7:26. Okl — Madu 37 run (Stevens kick), 3:33. A — 71,004. Mo Okl
First downs 20 39
Rushes-yards 28-60 43-243
Passing 294 384
Comp-att-int 28-44-2 34-49-0
Return yards 0 47
Punts-avg. 3-34.7 1-26.0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-48 6-72
Time of possession 29:49 30:11
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Missouri, Washington 10-29, Daniel 10-13, D.Moore 4-11, Patton 1-3, Maclin 1-2, Ji.Jackson 2-2. Oklahoma, C.Brown 27-122, Madu 15-114, Bradford 1-7.
PASSING — Missouri, Daniel 27-43-2-255, Patton 1-1-0-39. Oklahoma, Bradford 34-49-0-384.
RECEIVING — Missouri, Saunders 8-72, Maclin 7-46, Coffman 4-48, D.Alexander 3-53, Washington 3-37, Perry 2-32, Jones 1-6. Oklahoma. Iglesias 9-125, Gresham 8-82, Broyles 6-85, Chaney 3-39, C.Brown 3-14, Madu 2-9, Clapp 1-11, Eldridge 1-11, M.Johnson 1-8.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
Big 12 title game
Star of the game
Sam Bradford: The Oklahoma sophomore quarterback put on a performance worthy of a Heisman Trophy. With his left, non-throwing hand wrapped and scheduled for surgery today, Bradford threw 49 times for a Big 12 championship game record of 384 yards — without an interception.
Key play
Missouri took possession at the Oklahoma 47 with 10:52 left in the second quarter following a 25-yard punt return by Jeremy Maclin. But on the next play, a hit by Sooners strong safety Nic Harris on quarterback Chase Daniel popped the ball loose, and Oklahoma recovered. OU scored in six plays to make it 24-7.
Oklahoma vs. Florida
It won’t be official until tonight, but The Post takes a quick look at an expected Sooners-Gators BCS championship game Jan. 8 in Miami.
How they match up
It’s a classic between one of the highest-scoring offenses in history against one of the top defenses in the nation. Florida’s speedy “D” must get to quarterback Sam Bradford.
Oklahoma pluses and minuses
Bradford has not been stopped all year, and the Sooners may have the nation’s best 1-2 running punch in 1,000-yard rushers DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown. Oklahoma’s defense, however, is ranked only 66th.
Florida pluses and minuses
Gators may have the best leader in college sports in Tim Tebow and are probably the fastest team in football. They should also have their fastest player, Percy Harvin, back from a sprained ankle. Minuses? The interior of the defensive line is banged up. That’s about it.
Bottom line
If good defenses stop good offenses, Bradford and the Sooners may meet their match.
John Henderson, The Denver Post
