Instant Analysis: Sooners Belldoze Hurricane

Oklahoma defeated Tulsa 51-20 Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Norman.  The Golden Hurricane falls to 1-2 on the season with the loss.  Here's how it looked from the TU perspective:

What went well:

Despite the lopsided final score, plenty went well for Tulsa on Saturday.  First of all, Trey Watts got to show off just how good he is with a tremendous performance.  More on Watts below.  In addition, Jordan James hauled in six balls for 100 yards and looked every bit the part of a No. 1 receiver.  TU's offensive line also played well, giving Cody Green time to pass all day.  And finally, first-year kicker Carl Salazar drilled both of his attempts, making him 5/5 in his last two games.  It may not help beat Oklahoma, but the Hurricane needs a consistent Salazar moving forward.

What went wrong:

The young Golden Hurricane defense was gashed.  OU scored 51 points, collected 607 yards of offense and Blake Bell tossed for a cool 413 in his first career start.  Oklahoma's quick receivers like Sterling Shepard, Jaz Reynolds and Jalen Saunders found one hole after another in the TU defense. Fortunately for Tulsa, there won't be any more opponents on the schedule with that type of offensive talent, but there's no doubt Saturday was a setback for a young, developing TU defense. 

Player of the game:

Watts accounted for 125 yards of total offense, returned a punt 77 yards and just looked like he was on a different level out there.  Watts is a tremendous talent and made a bigtime impression on the Sooner faithful Saturday. 

It was over when:

Trailing 17-7 in the second quarter, the Hurricane was driving in need of points, but Green's pass was intercepted by Gabe Lynn deep in OU territory and returned all the way to the TU 33 yard line.  That was the decisive blow. 

What's next:

TU has no time to pout.  The Hurricane is off next Saturday but hosts Iowa State on Thursday, Sept. 26.  It will be TU's third matchup with the Cyclones in the past two seasons.