Sooners Survive Another Nailbiter against Air Force

Air Force scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, but OU managed to run out the clock.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:57 am

By: News On 6

Sooners Survive Another Nailbiter against Air Force

Originally Published: Sep 18, 2010 5:58 PM CDT

- Dean's Blog: Saturday Night Breakdown of OU's Escape of Air Force

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma – The Oklahoma Sooners survived their second scare of the young season Saturday, holding off a late flurry to beat Air Force 27-24.

After the Sooners (3-0) scored on three consecutive second-half possessions to take a 27-10 lead, the game seemed to be in hand. But the Falcons (2-1) would not go quietly.

Despite time running out, Air Force continued to run the ball and broke several long plays. Jared Tew capped one drive with a 5-yard touchdown run and Kyle Halderman followed with a 15-yard score to give Air Force 14 unanswered points to draw within three points.

The Falcons chose not to attempt an onside kick after the second touchdown with slightly more than three minutes remaining in the game. The Sooners responded by gaining two first downs to successfully run out the clock and seal the win.

The second of those first downs came after Air Force called its final timeout, and OU elected to pass on third down. An incompletion would have stopped the clock and given the Falcons time to tie the game, but Landry Jones connected with true freshman Kenny Stills for the final conversion to ice the game.

“We got a couple first downs there and at 3rd-and-4, Kenny made a great play on it to pick up the first down,” Jones said. “That really sealed it for us.”

The kicking game turned out to be a key for OU. Jimmy Stevens took over the placekicking duties for Patrick O’Hara, who missed the game with a muscle strain.

Stevens made both of his field goal attempts, including a 41-yarder that put OU up 20-10. Air Force kicker Erik Soderberg missed a field goal on the final play of the first quarter, and that turned out to be the difference in the game.

“Jimmy was awesome and I’m happy for him,” head coach Bob Stoops said. “Jimmy does work hard at it and he tries and he’s hard on himself. I was really pleased, of course, to see Jimmy. He was the first guy to get the game ball.”

The Sooners had problems stopping Air Force’s unique option attack and allowed three different players to break runs of longer than 30 yards. The Falcons finished with 350 rushing yards, the most the Sooners have surrendered since Bob Stoops took over as head coach 12 years ago.

“It was a close game, but there was no sense of panic,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “The guys stuck in there together as a team when they needed to an complemented each other. That’s the biggest thing, finding a way to win.”

OU quarterback Landry Jones also struggled with consistency and accuracy. He finished the game with 250 passing yards on 25-of-41 passing.

“I thought [Jones] was inconsistent,” Stoops said. “There were times he played really well, and I’m sure there were some throws, like in most cases, you would like to have back. But I’m not going to ride the roller coaster there. He’s going to do well and continue to improve and learn from it and keep gaining experience.”

His favorite target was once again Ryan Broyles, who had 10 catches for 116 yards. Broyles has had more than 100 receiving yards in each of OU’s three games this season.

The offense relied on running back DeMarco Murray for much of the day. Murray finished with 110 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, the second time this season he has had more than 100 yards. He also added five catches for 38 yards and another score.

“I thought DeMarco was impressive in the second half,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. “His body language was different; he was a different back. I appreciate him and complimented him. That was good running in the second half.”

Saturday’s game marked the second time OU has played an unranked team, and the Sooners had problems both times. They squeaked past Utah State 31-24 in the first game of the year.

“We are a little more tested than we were a year ago,” Wilson said. “We are a little tougher. I do think we are lucky to have been tested and had to play some tough ball, but we have to be better.”

The Sooners will now have to move on to their first road game of the year on Sept. 25 against Cincinnati before beginning conference play with the annual Red River Rivalry against Texas the following week.