Big Crowd Watches Red Down White, 24-3

NORMAN, Okla. -- Paul Thompson threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jejuan Rankins, to lead the Red to a 24-3 victory over the White in Oklahoma's annual Red/White game before a crowd of 31,000 on Saturday.

The game marked the official ending to the Sooners' 15-practice spring session.

OU head coach Bob Stoops said the afternoon went well and largely as planned.

“I was real pleased with the way things went,” he said. “Nobody got hurt and I liked what I saw on both sides of the ball. I think it was pretty obvious to everyone that we kept things fairly simple, not wanting to show too much, but I'm real happy with the way it turned out.”

Photo Galleries | 2004 Spring Football Central

QB Tommy Grady Audio
WR Brandon Jones Audio
OT Jammal Brown Audio
QB Paul Thompson Audio
DT Dusty Dvoracek Audio

Spring Game: First Half Video
  Spring Game: Second Half Video
  QB Paul Thompson Video
  Head Coach Bob Stoops Video

The White team drew first blood with a 31-yard field goal by Trey DiCarlo with 7:48 remaining in the second period. The play came at the end of an 11-play, 66-yard march that was highlighted by an 18-yard pass from Tommy Grady to Tristen Ross. The Red offense, composed primarily of first-team players, responded on its next possession.

Thompson directed his squad on a five-play, 70-yard drive. The junior, who was 3-of-3 on the drive for 56 yards, connected with Jejuan Rankins on a 27-yard pass play for the touchdown with 6:07 left in the half. Rankins caught the ball at the 15, bobbled it momentarily, then out-ran the defense to the end zone.

DiCarlo made the extra point and the Red team had a 7-3 lead it would never relinquish.

The Red managed to squeeze in one more score before the half. The 54-yard drive culminated with a 12-yard fade route from Thompson to Rankins in the corner of the end zone. The play came with just 31 seconds left before intermission.

DiCarlo made the point after kick and the Red held a 14-3 lead at intermission.

Rankins led all receivers with five catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns.

The White squad opened the second half with an 11-play drive that lasted four minutes, 58 seconds, but yielded no points. It took the Red team just five plays to strike on its first possession of the second frame.

Thompson hit Brandon Jones on a 65-yard bomb to the White 15. The drive stalled at the eight, but DiCarlo made a 25-yard field goal with 4:13 remaining in the third quarter to up the count to 17-3.

The scoring was capped with 4:25 left in the game when Tashard Choice crashed over from one-yard out. DiCarlo's kick made the final 24-3.

Like Thompson, Grady, a redshirt freshman, was impressive. He completed 18-of-27 passes for 180 yards. Neither quarterback threw an interception.

“I thought they both threw some great balls,” Stoops said. “This has been a good spring for both of those guys and they both played well today. We got them the experience today and this spring that they needed and both progressed very well.”

Neither team rushed the ball particularly well. The Red team's Donta Hickson got 13 carries for a game-high 57 yards.

The Red defense, which surrendered just 192 yards, was led by cornerback Darien Williams. The redshirt freshman had seven tackles, one for a five-yard loss and one pass broken up.

Linebackers Lance Mitchell and Clint Ingram led the White team. Both had seven tackles.

Heisman Trophy winner Jason White was one of a handful of players who did not play in the game. Other veteran players saw limited action.

“For the most part, this is for the guys who haven't played a lot,” said Stoops. “Jason tried to talk us into letting him play a couple weeks ago. His toe is healed, but knowing him, he would have tried to get in there and go all out. There is no need in that. We got some of the younger guys a good amount of reps in a game situation and that's what we needed to do.”

SCORING

First quarter
No scoring

Second quarter
7:48 0-3 White--DiCarlo 31-yard field goal (11 plays, 66 yards)
6:07 7-3 Red -- Rankins 27-yard pass from Thompson (DiCarlo kick) (5 plays, 70 yards)
:31 14-3 Red -- Rankins 12-yard pass from Thompson (DiCarlo kick) (9 plays, 54 yards)

Third quarter
4:30 17-3 Red--DiCarlo 25-yard field goal (5 plays, 80 yards)

Fouth quarter
4:25 24-3 Red--Choice 1-yard run (DiCarlo kick) (14 plays, 88 yards)

Statistics	Red	White
First Downs	12	8
Rushing	25-75	23-12
Passing	21-3-0	18-27-0
Passing Yards	311	180
Penalties	2-20	1-5
Fumbles/Lost	0-0	0-0

Rushing
Red: Hickson 13-57, Choice 6-17, K. Jones 4-(-3), Thompson 2-4.

White: Tennial 8-13, Gutierrez 7-4, Wolfe 3-7, Grady 4-(-7), team 1-(-5).

Passing
Red: Thompson 21-30-0, 311 yards, 2 TD.

White: Grady 18-27-0, 180 yards.

Receiving
Red: Rankins 5-88, B. Jones 2-82, Moses 3-45, Clayton 4-31, Peoples 2-27, K. Jones 1-25, Finley 1-5, Roberts 1-3, ford 1-3, Townsend 1-2.

White: Ross 5-69, Robinson 3-43, Finley 1-14, Ford 1-13, Greene 1-11, Wolfe 2-8, Gutierrez 2-7, Tennial 1-3.

Tackles
Red: D. Williams 7, Pleasant 6, Chambers 5, Dennison 4, Dampeer 4, Pendleton 3, Baker 3, Onyenegecha 2, Coleman 2, Shelby 1, Poteat 1, Stephens 1, Cade 1, Thibodeaux 1, Helvey 1, Nixon 1, Birdine 1, J. Williams 1.

White: Mitchell 7, Ingram 7, Carter 6, Latimer 4, Allen 4, Bassey 3, Dvoracek 3, Poteat 3, Jackson 2, Pendleton 2, Coleman 2, Shelby 1, Cade 1, Birdine 1, McGruder 1.

Tackles for Loss
Red: Chambers 1-1, Baker 1-2, Dennison 1-5, D. Williams 1-5, Pendleton 1-1, J. Williams 1-1.

Sacks
Red: Pendleton 1-7, Pleasant 1-6, Dampeer 1-9.

White: Ingram 1-2.

Passes Broken Up
Red: D. Williams 1, Nixon 1.

White: Carter 1, Bassey 1, Allen 1.

Punting
Red: Ferguson 2-38.0.

White: Freeby: 3-55.3.

Field Goals
DiCarlo 22 (missed), 31 (good), 25 (good) .