Sooners Look For Longer Stay In Top 25

Oct. 26, 1999

By ANDY LEFKOWITZ
AP MegaSports Writer

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma hopes its second stay in the polls this season is longer than its first.

The 24th-ranked Sooners (4-2, 2-1 Big 12), who spent just one week in the Top 25 earlier this season, brings Josh Heupel and their new-found air attack into Boulder to take on Colorado on Saturday.

Oklahoma was ranked No. 25 after getting off to a 3-0 start, but fell out of the poll following a 34-30 loss to Notre Dame on Oct. 2.

Heupel, a junior college transfer, is starting to rewrite Sooners single-season passing records.

He has already thrown for 2,041 yards this season, 55 shy of tying the single season mark set by Cale Gundy in 1993.

Thanks to Heupel, Oklahoma pulled off one of the most surprising upsets of the season a week ago. After wasting big leads in its last two games, both losses, Heupel accounted for six touchdowns in the Sooners' 51-6 rout of then-No. 13 Texas A&M.

"We have just in the last couple weeks just evolved in everything we're doing," said Sooners coach Bob Stoops, whose team had the previous week off. "We're improving and getting our players to understand more of what we're trying to get done."

Should Oklahoma win and Texas Tech lose to Missouri, the Sooners would move into sole possession of second place in the Big 12's South Division.

Colorado (4-3, 3-1) started its first season under Gary Barnett ranked 15th in the country, but have been inconsistent this season, alternating wins and losses in its last five games.

The Buffaloes' Zac Colvin found Daniel Graham for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in the first half and held on for a 16-12 road victory over Iowa State last Saturday.

Colorado has been strong at home this season, scoring 97 points in conference wins over Kansas and Missouri, but Barnett is not about to take Oklahoma for granted.

"The best advice is to put your head down, play as hard as you can, and when the whistle blows, look up and see what the score is. That's sort of the approach we'll take," Barnett said.

The Buffaloes are just 15-34-2 all-time against the Sooners.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Look For Longer Stay In Top 25

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