Published: October 22, 2008 02:10 pm         

Sooners take down Kansas

Norman — (AP) — Sam Bradford passed for an Oklahoma record 468 yards and had three touchdowns passes to help the No. 4 Sooners bounce back from their first loss by beating No. 16 Kansas 45-31 on Saturday.

The Sooners (6-1, 2-1 Big 12) started pulling away in the third quarter to keep themselves right in the thick of the national championship chase after losing their No. 1 ranking to Texas in last week's Red River Rivalry loss.

DeMarco Murray scored his second touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run in the third quarter, and Bradford found third-string tight end Kolby Smith for a 2-yard touchdown pass as Oklahoma stretched its lead to 45-24 with 12:02 to play.

Despite losing top receiver Manuel Johnson to a first-quarter arm injury, Bradford cleared the Oklahoma record of 429 yards set by Josh Heupel in 1999 against Louisville.

Todd Reesing was able to keep the Jayhawks (5-2, 2-1) in the game by dodging pressure to make plays, but the Sooners eventually got to him. Once Kansas got within 31-24, Oklahoma sacked him on three of the next four drives in forcing four straight punts.

Before that, it was all about offense. The teams combined for more than 1,000 yards through three quarters as Oklahoma got its ground game back going against the nation's 11th-best run defense but couldn't slow down the Jayhawks with a mixed-up lineup following middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds' season-ending knee injury.

Nic Harris moved from safety back to linebacker to fill in, while Quinton Carter made his first career start at safety.

The changes looked shaky at first, as Reesing and Dezmon Briscoe hooked up nine times for 193 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Cornerback Brian Jackson fell down after jamming Briscoe at the line on his 69-yard TD catch, but Briscoe had little trouble even when his defenders were standing.

Oklahoma kept up as Juaquin Iglesias broke school records with 10 receptions for 178 yards in the first half. Bradford threw his first scoring pass to Matt Clapp from 12 yards out, and Murray and Chris Brown each ran for scores as the Sooners built up a 21-10 lead. After being held to less than 50 yards in two of their last three games, Oklahoma piled up 206 yards rushing in a 674-yard overall performance.

Briscoe scored 25 seconds later on his long catch, and the Jayhawks had another answer when Jake Sharp went untouched on a 17-yard TD run up the middle to respond to Bradford's 6-yard scoring pass to Jermaine Gresham early in the third quarter.

Then, Oklahoma's defense came alive to prevent a repeat performance of Texas' Colt McCoy successful scramble drills a week earlier.

Jeremy Beal got the first hand on Reesing, knocking the ball free to force a long third down on the Jayhawks' ensuing possession, and two of the next three drives ended after Gerald McCoy and Auston English sacked Reesing on third-down plays.

That allowed Bradford and the offense to create some breathing room. Bradford ended up completing 36 of his career-high 53 attempts without an interception.

Reesing broke the school records for completions and total offense in a career that both had been set by Frank Seuer. He was 24-for-41 for 342 yards with two touchdown and his first two-interception game since the Jayhawks' loss to Missouri in the regular-season finale last year. Briscoe finished with 12 catches for 269 yards, breaking the school record of 221 yards receiving set by Quintin Smith against Louisville in 1989.

He had a 47-yard reception on Kansas' final drive that was originally ruled a touchdown, and then came back to catch a 17-yard TD pass.

Oklahoma won its 21st straight home game, matching the second-longest streak in school history — a run that occurred during Barry Switzer's back-to-back national championship seasons in 1974 and 1975. The only longer streak was a 25-game span that was part of Oklahoma's NCAA-record 47-game win streak under Bud Wilkinson in the 1950s.

     

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