Dominant Defense Carries Oklahoma to Big 12 Title

The Sooners shut Nebraska out in the second half to advance to the Fiesta Bowl.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:05 pm

By: News On 6

Dominant Defense Carries Oklahoma to Big 12 Title

Originally Published: Dec 4, 2010 11:0 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Oklahoma Sooners overcame a sluggish start with great second-half defense to beat Nebraska 23-20 Saturday and win the Big 12 Championship.

Nebraska (10-3, 6-3) scored the game's first 17 points and carried a 20-17 lead into halftime, but the OU defense took over from there. The Sooners (11-2, 7-2) allowed just 80 total yards in the second half and held the Cornhuskers scoreless.

The only points of the second half came on two short field goals by OU’s Jimmy Stevens. He also missed a third short field goal.

Nebraska held the ball in the waning minutes with a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime, but the OU defense stepped up again.

First, true freshman Tony Jefferson blitzed and recorded an important sack to give Nebraska bad field position and eventually resulting in a fourth down. With the game on the line, cornerback Demontre Hurst perfectly read a pass and broke it up to clinch the win.

"I was just anticipating, I knew where they were going to go and I tried to make a good play," Hurst said. "I made a good play ... and we're Big 12 champions."

The Sooners held talented quarterback Taylor Martinez to only 143 yards passing, sacked him seven times and forced a total of four turnovers. One of those turnovers came on an interception in the end zone, and another set up an OU score late in the first half to tie the game at 17. Travis Lewis recorded the interception as well as two fumble recoveries.

"We wanted it. We wanted this bad," Lewis said. "This has been a long season. We have been tested in so many ways. We have been with out backs against the wall. We came out here and the defense totally dominated."

Landry Jones finished with 342 passing yards and one touchdown on 23-of-41 passing. Kenny Stills led the team with 83 receiving yards, which included the Sooners’ biggest play of the day, a 49-yard touchdown for OU’s first score of the day.

The Sooners’ managed to win despite converted only one of 16 third-down conversions and scoring only one touchdown inside the red zone. In five trips inside the 20-yard line, OU only scored a total of 16 points.

Saturday’s contest marked the final Big 12 Championship game and the last time Nebraska will play a game in the conference. The Cornhuskers will move to the Big Ten next season.

The Sooners have now won four of the last five conference titles, and are guaranteed a spot in the Fiesta Bowl on January 1, 2011. OU's last two trips to the Fiesta Bowl resulted in losses to Boise State in 2006 and West Virginia in 2007.

"This is my third Big 12 Championship and this means the most," Lewis said. "All we went through, all of the controversy. To win this game in the fashion that we did is huge."

Oklahoma will face an at-large team in the Fiesta Bowl, and its opponent will most likely be Connecticut. UConn beat South Florida 19-16 Saturday to clinch the Big East title, earning an automatic BCS bowl berth despite being unranked.

The OU Athletics Ticket Office will be open Sunday, December 5 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to assist season ticket holders in Fiesta Bowl orders as long as availability exists.

Contact the OU Athletics Ticket Office by phone at (405) 325-2424 or by going online.