No. 1 Sooners Open 2011 With Tulsa

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma (No. 1 ESPN/Coaches, No. 1 Associated Press) opens the 2011 season at home against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Saturday, Sept. 3. The game kicks at 7 p.m. Central (TV: FX).

This is the 117th season of football for OU, which played its first game 12 years before the territory of Oklahoma achieved statehood. The Sooners are opening at home for the 11th time in Bob Stoops' 13 seasons at OU.

View helpful information for fans attending the game plus full broadcast options for fans following the Sooners from across the country and around the world at Sooner Gameday Central.

THE SERIES

Oklahoma leads, 16-7-1 and has won the last five meetings between the two, including the most recent, a 45-0 decision at Norman in 2009. Tulsa's last victory in the series took place in 1996, 31-24, in Norman.

This marks the fifth time that Oklahoma has played its season opener against TU, the second time in Bob Stoops' tenure (37-0 at Tulsa in 2002).

THE COACHES

Oklahoma: Bob Stoops (Iowa `83) is 129-31 in his 13th season. He is 83-19 vs. the Big 12, 46-13 vs. the Big 12 South, 38-6 vs. the Big 12 North, 7-1 in the Big 12 title game, 45-12 vs. non-conference opponents, 72-2 at home, 35-16 on the road and 22-13 on neutral fields. He is 5-0 vs. Tulsa.

Tulsa: Bill Blankenship (Tulsa `79) in his first season as head coach at Tulsa.

Boomer Bytes
OU, Opponent & Big 12 Game Notes | OU Depth Chart | 2011 OU Football Guide

THE PROGRAM

Oklahoma's all-time record stands at 811-304-53 in 116 seasons. Since WWII, OU leads the nation with 572 victories.

The Sooners have captured seven national championships (2000, 1985, 1975, 1974, 1956, 1955, 1950).

OU has 44 bowl appearances (No. 7 nationally) with 26 bowl victories (No. 4 nationally).

OU has 43 conference championships, including seven Big 12 titles overall (no other school has more than three).

OU has 152 All-Americans and five Heisman winners. Sooners have also won the Bednarik (1), Butkus (4), Camp (4), Lombardi (3), Maxwell (2), Nagurski (2), O'Brien (3), Outland (5), Tatupu (1), Thorpe (3) and Unitas (1) Awards.

OU leads the nation with 32 seasons in which the program has won 10 or more games.

Oklahoma Football History & Tradition

THE OPPONENT

Tulsa is under first-year head coach Bill Blankenship, a high school coaching legend in Oklahoma. He replaced Todd Graham, who is now the head coach at Pittsburgh. Blankenship spent the four previous seasons as an assistant coach at TU. As a prep coach in Oklahoma, he was 205-68. A bulk of that record was posted in 14 years at Tulsa Union, where he was 154-26 with three 6A titles.

Tulsa's non-conference schedule is formidable to say the least. The Golden Hurricane will play Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Boise State. Those three teams were a combined 35-5 last season.

TIES WITH TULSA

Tulsa punter Cole Way is the brother of Oklahoma punter Tress Way. Cole is a freshman, Tress a junior.

TU RB Trey Watts is the son of JC Watts, who was a quarterback on the Sooner roster from 1976-81.

TU offensive line coach Denver Johnson was on the Sooner staff in the same capacity in 1996.

Brent Guy, Tulsa's defensive coordinator, was the head coach at Utah State in 2007 when the Aggies played in Norman. OU won that game, 54-3.

Golden Hurricane GJ Kinne transferred from Texas, but never played against Oklahoma while with the Longhorns. He redshirted in his only season there, 2007. The Sooners won that game, 28-21.

FOR OPENERS

OU is 88-22-6 in season openers, including a 45-9-5 mark at home.

Bob Stoops is 10-2 in openers at Oklahoma. He is 9-1 in openers played in Norman.

In last year's opener, Oklahoma staved off a pesky Utah State squad, 31-24.

LOOKING BACK AT 2010
OU posted a 12-2 mark, (6-2 in the Big 12 Conference). The Sooners won the Big 12 title with a 23-20 triumph over Nebraska then routed Big East champion Connecticut, 48-20, in the 40th Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

A Season of Landmarks
During the 2010 season, Oklahoma picked up its 800th victory and also set a school record for consecutive sellouts. The 800th win came in the opener over Utah State and made the OU program one of only seven nationally to reach that milestone. The sellout streak record fell against Florida State and now stands at 74. The previous mark of 69 was set from 1971-84.

All-American Total Jumps to 152
Oklahoma added two All-Americans in WR Ryan Broyles and FS Quinton Carter, both of whom were consensus picks. The Sooner program has averaged 1.3 All-Americans per year since its inception in 1895. Fifteen Oklahoma players earned recognition on the All-Big 12 Conference team picked by the league's coaches. Jeremy Beal was the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year, Tony Jefferson the co-Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Sooners Played Another Difficult Schedule
Oklahoma played the No. 12 most difficult schedule according to the won/loss records of its opponents. The foes were a combined 92-62. Ten were ranked during the season and nine played in bowls

Sounding Like a Broken Record
Oklahoma broke 19 school records during the 2010 season.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2011
The 12 opponents on the 2011 Oklahoma schedule combined for a record of 89-64 in 2010, eight finished over .500, four won at least 10 games and eight played in bowl games.

With a 10-team conference, Oklahoma will play each of its league peers in the same season for the first time since 1995, the final year of the Big Eight Conference.

MARQUEE GAMES ON HORIZON
Future schedules include Notre Dame (2012), at Notre Dame (2013), Tennessee (2014), at Tennessee (2015), Ohio State (2016), at Ohio State (2017) and LSU in 2018 and 2019. Under Bob Stoops, Oklahoma has already played Florida State (and is again in 2011), Cincinnati (twice), Louisville, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Alabama (twice), UCLA (twice), Oregon (twice), Washington (twice), South Florida, BYU and Miami (Fla.) (twice) in regular season contests. Seven of those already completed games were played on the road and another was contested on a neutral field.

REMEMBERING AUSTIN BOX
Oklahoma LB Austin Box passed away in the off -season. The Enid native would have been a senior on this time and was expected to be an integral part of the team. To honor his memory, Sooner players are wearing a decal of their fallen teammate on their helmets this season. In addition to the decal, a designated defensive player will wear Box's No. 12 in each game. Landry Jones wears that number on the OU offense.

HOME WINNING STREAK AT 36
OU has won a school record 36 consecutive home games. The streak, the longest current string in the nation, began Sept. 1, 2005, with a 31-15 victory over Tulsa.

This is the 13th-longest streak in NCAA history (seven of top 12 were before 1920). It ranks No. 6 since WWII and is the longest since Florida State's 37 from 1992-2001. Miami holds the NCAA record at 58 (1985-94).

During the streak, the OU has out-scored foes by 1,085 points, 1,607 to 522, an average of 44.6 to 14.5.

OU scored 50+ points 12 times during the streak, 60+ five times. The low scoring total was 24 points, twice.

OU posted five shutouts, held eight foes to single digits.

OU had its 52nd perfect home slate in `10, fifth in a row.

Although not compiled exclusively during this streak, OU has won its last 14 home games vs. ranked foes.

DURING THE STREAK
Individual Bests
Most passing yards: Sam Bradford vs. KU 2008, 468y
Most rushing yards: Allen Patrick vs. OSU 2007, 29-202
Most receiving yards: R. Broyles vs. CU 2010, 208
Most receptions: Ryan Broyles vs. Iowa St. 2010 15
Most tackles in a game Curtis Lofton vs. Missouri, 2007 18
Most interceptions: Lendy Holmes vs. KU 2008, 2-11
Most sacks: Jeremy Beal vs. Tulsa 2009, 3-15

Team Bests
Most points: 79 vs. North Texas, 2007
Most rushing yards: 343 vs. Utah State, 2007
Most receiving yards: 468 vs. Kansas, 2008
Most total yards: 674 vs. Kansas, 2008

OU Individual Records Set During Streak
Total Offense: 482, Sam Bradford vs. Kansas, 2008
Passing Yards: 468, S. Bradford vs. Kansas, 2008
Receiving Yards: 208, R. Broyles vs. CU, 2010
TD Passes: 6, Landry Jones vs. Tulsa, 2009
TD Receptions: 4 (tied), J. Gresham vs. Texas A&M, 2007
Field Goals: 4 (tied), Jimmy Stevens vs. Baylor, 2009
Punting Average: 58.83, Tress Way vs. Okla St., 2009
50-yd Punts: 5, Tress Way Tress Way vs. Okla St., 2009

RECORD ATTENDANCE
Oklahoma has drawn 5,801,708 fans for Bob Stoops' 74 home games (started in 1999) and all have been sold out.

The Sooners are 72-2 on Owen Field under Stoops.

The current string of sellouts is the second longest in school history.

The top 10 seasons for attendance at Oklahoma came on Stoops' watch.

The largest OU home crowd was 85,646, for the 2008 Texas Tech game.

Oklahoma has exceeded its listed seating capacity of 82,112 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in 54 consecutive home games.

Oklahoma has played before sellout crowds in 128 of the 160 games (home, away, neutral) since Stoops became the head coach. During that time, a total of 10,879,604 (average of 67,998) have watched the Sooners.

Oklahoma Attendance Records

About the Sooner Offense

Under Bob Stoops, OU has produced career leaders in passing, receiving and all-purpose yards, four top 10 career rushers and season leaders in rushing, passing and receiving yards.

Stoops-led Sooner teams have set 46 offensive school records. Those offenses have 161 touchdowns of 25 or more yards and 321 scoring drives of two minutes or less.

Oklahoma has scored in every game since Nov. 7, 1998. That's a string of 176 games, which is the fifth-longest active string and the 19th-longest of all-time.

The Sooners have rushed for 200 yards 45 times under Stoops.

Oklahoma is the highest-scoring program in college football history. In 1,167 games, the Sooners have scored 31,345 points. Michigan is next at 30,311 points in 1,244 games.

CHANGES ON OFFENSIVE STAFF
Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell were promoted to co-offensive coordinators after Kevin Wilson accepted the head coaching position at Indiana. Heupel, who also coaches QBs, calls the plays, a role he fulfilled for the first time at the Fiesta Bowl. OU also has added Bruce Kittle to the staff as the tight ends and tackles coach. Cale Gundy, the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, now also has the fullbacks.

THE RECORD BOOK
Broyles Ryan Broyles, a consensus All-American and one of three finalists for the 2010 Biletnikoff Award, has set Oklahoma's records for receptions in a game, season and career; yards in a game, season and career and touchdowns receptions in a season (tied) and career.

In 2010, he had 131 receptions, the eighth-best one-season total in NCAA history. His 1,622 yards rank No. 20. He led the nation with 9.4 catches per game and was No. 3 in both total yards and yards per game. His TD catches total of 14 tied for No. 4.

Broyles is the career leader among the NCAA's active players in receptions (266), touchdown receptions (35), receiving yards (3,429) and punt return yards (998).

With 35 career TD receptions, he enters the 2011 season at No. 18 on the all-time NCAA list. He's No. 22 in receptions at 266.

He's No. 3 in Big 12 career receptions, just 37 away from No. 1. He's also No. 3 in yards with 3,429, 985 away from No. 1. His TD total of 35 in No. 4, seven from No. 1.

Has 100+ yards receiving in 12 of the last 15 games and a TD grab in 11 of the last 16.

His string of consecutive games with at least one receptions stands at 39.

KEEPING UP WITH JONES
QB Landry Jones won the 2010 Sammy Baugh Award as college football's top passer ...

In 2010 Big 12 games only, he led the conference in passing yards, threw at least nine more TD passes than any other QB and had the highest completion percentage and fewest interceptions among those with at least 300 attempts.

Named the Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP after his 13th career (one shy of OU mark) 300-yard performance (429) in 24 starts. He owns the school record with four, 400- yard passing games.

Ranked No. 1 in the nation with 405 completions, a school record, No. 2 in total passing yards (4,718, tops among BCS quarterbacks), No. 3 in total offense (327.9 yards per game), No. 12 in points responsible (16.71) and No. 2 in touchdown passes (38).

His 4,718 yards rank No. 2 for a season at OU. Sam Bradford had 4,720 in 2008.

Had a school-record tying 468 passing yards at Oklahoma State.

Went 30-of-34 (.882) vs. Iowa State, one completion behind the NCAA record for percentage in a game.

Jones is one of the six different quarterbacks who have accounted for OU's seven Big 12 titles.

RETURN OF THE FULLBACK
Last season, then-true freshman Trey Millard had 24 rushes for 74 yards and three touchdowns along with 16 receptions for 135 yards and another TD. The total number of rushes and rushing yards were the most by an OU fullback since Seth Littrell had 24 attempts for 78 yards in 2000. It was the highest receptions and receiving yards total since J.D. Runnels had 20 for 205 in 2005. The four touchdowns scored by Millard represented the most by a Sooner fullback since Littrell had eight in `99.

THE FROSH CAUGHT ON
Last season, three freshmen (all true) caught touchdown passes in the same season. Those three were Trey Franks, Trey Millard and Kenny Stills, all of whom line up this year as sophomores, of course.

About the Sooner Defense

OU has forced at least one turnover in 142 of Stoops' 160 games and has at least one interception in 104 of the last 139 with multiple picks in 64 of the last 1110 outings.

Oklahoma has 13 shutouts under its current head coach. Opponents failed to score more than seven points in 34 games and scored less than 14 in 62 games.

TOP TACKLER OUT
Weakside LB Travis Lewis has led Oklahoma in tackles in each of his first three seasons and has become only the sixth player in school history to lead the team in three consecutive years. The last to do it was Rocky Calmus, the Butkus Award winner in his senior campaign, from 1999-01.

After suffering a broken bone in the big toe of his left foot in the first contact drill of August camp, he is expected to miss at least eight weeks. Lewis enters this season with 362 career tackles, the third-best total among active players nationally.

The San Antonio native had 108 stops last season.

With 362 tackles (the second-highest total by a Bob Stoops player at OU), Lewis has cracked the career top 10 tackle list at OU. The record is held by the late Daryl Hunt at 530. Lewis, now at No. 8, trails No. 7 Rick Bryan by three.

As a freshman in 2007, Lewis had 144 tackles to break Brian Bosworth's OU freshman record of 133.

Lewis has double-digit tackle totals in 15 of his 41 career games.

He registered his eighth career interception against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game. That equals the most by a linebacker in Sooner history. He has 156 career return yards on those picks, an average of 19.5 per return. Lewis had three takeaways in that game against the Cornhuskers including a pair of fumble recoveries.

STRETCH RUN WAS IMPRESSIVE
Oklahoma ended the 2010 season with a five-game winning streak. The opponents in that stretch were Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Connecticut. Three of those teams were ranked at the time of their game with OU. All but one of those games took place at a road or neutral site. The defensive unit certainly played a leading role in that late-season run.

Four of the five opponents failed to reach their average for total yards per game and all four were at least 100 yards off that average.

All five failed to reach their scoring average for the season.

LOTS OF HANDS IN TAKEAWAY JAR
Oklahoma had 32 takeaways in 2010 ... by 17 different players. The 13 fumble recoveries were by nine different players while the 19 interceptions were by eight different Sooners.

Jamell Fleming led the team with five interceptions, which he returned for 59 yards and one touchdown. The TD came in the Fiesta Bowl victory. He now will try to become the first Sooner to lead the team in picks in two straight years since Brodney Pool did it in 2003-04.

Fleming also topped the 2010 team in pass deflections with 14. That was the most by a Sooner since Roy Williams broke up 22 aerials in 2001, the same year he became the first player ever to win the Nagurski (best defensive player) and Thorpe (best defensive back) Awards in the same season.

Due to the injury to Travis Lewis, Fleming now rates as OU's top returning tackler, too, at least from last season's team. He was No. 5 on that squad, but Lewis, who led the team, is out, while Jonathan Nelson, Quinton Carter and Jeremy Beal, two through four, respectively, all exhausted their eligibility. Fleming had 71 stops last season.

HURST TAKES OVER LONGEST STREAK
With Travis Lewis out due to a broken bone in his left foot, CB Demontre Hurst takes over with the longest string of starts on the Sooner defense. He has 14. Lewis had amassed 41.

OU IMPROVES IN PASS-HAPPY ERA
Despite this pass-happy era of college football, only once under Bob Stoops has an Oklahoma team allowed a season completion rate of 60% or higher. The 2010 finished at just 54.6%, which was the third-lowest figure in the Big 12 Conference for the season.

Six Sooner opponents failed to complete 50 percent of their passes last season, including three of the last five foes (Texas Tech, Nebraska and Connecticut).

With 71 break-ups, the Sooners had one of their best seasons in that category. Over the previous seven seasons, the best total at Oklahoma had been 61 (twice). The school record was set in 2000 with an incredible 110. The 2009 team had just 45.

Oklahoma had a season-high 11 deflections in a home win against Colorado.

About the Sooner Special Teams

Oklahoma's special teams under Bob Stoops ...

There have been 27 special teams touchdowns, including 21 in the last 78 regular season games. Those 21 came via five different kinds of plays -- 12 punt returns, two faked field goals, two blocked punts, four kickoff returns and a faked punt. Special teams also own one safety in that span.

Oklahoma has returned eight kickoff s and 16 punts for touchdowns.

The Sooners have blocked 24 kicks. Many Happy Returns Information on returns during the Stoops era ...

Kickoff Returns --93 returns of 25 yards or more with eight touchdowns.

Punt Returns -- 61 returns of 15 or more yards with 16 touchdowns.

Interception Returns -- 83 returns of 10 or more yards with 23 touchdowns.

Fumble Returns -- six returns of 15 or more yards with eight touchdowns.

COVER TEAM A STONE WALL
Oklahoma finished the 2010 season ranked No. 2 nationally in punt return defense at 3.04 yards per return. It marked he second consecutive season that the Sooners held that position in the final rankings. Sooner opponents finished the season with 24 returns for 73 yards.

Oklahoma ranked No. 5 nationally in net punting last season at 40.5 yards. The 2009 team ranked No. 7.

For the 2010 season, OU surrendered four returns of 15 or more yards, but otherwise none exceeded six. Six opponents finished the game with negative punt return yards.

The bugaboo has been kickoff returns. The Sooners surrendered four for touchdowns last season, nine over the last three campaigns combined.

OU blocked two punts last season and both resulted in safeties (vs. Colorado and Texas A&M).

BROYLES CAN BE LETHAL PR
Ryan Broyles has more punt returns (89), more average returns per game (2.3) and more total punt return yards (998) than any other active players in NCAA FBS play.

He ranks No. 7 among active NCAA punt returners with an average of 11.21 yards per return.

The senior is tied for second among active players in punt returns for touchdowns with a total of two.

WAY GOOD AT PUNTER
P Tress Way, who will be a junior in 2011, had 19 boots of 50+ yards with 18 inside the 20 and an average of 44.0 yards on 73 kicks. His average ranked No. 20 nationally, but he had more attempts than anyone ahead of him on that list.

Way has 38 punts of 50+ yards in his career. Jeff Ferguson, who played from 1998-01, set that OU record with 52

He is No. 4 among active NCAA punters with a career average of 44.77. It should be noted that Way has maintained that average on more kicks than any of the three players ahead of him. He has 134. None of the top three have more than 109. Stevens On a Roll Jimmy Stevens, a senior in 2011, finished on a roll as Oklahoma's placekicker. He made 12 of his last 13 field goals, all over the last four games. For the season, he was 19-of-23.

At Oklahoma State, he was 4-of-4 (tied career high for FGM) and scored 17 points to tie the OU game record for points by a kicker. He scored 11 or more points in each of the last four games.

At Oklahoma, he ranks No. 7 all-time with 38 field goals made and No. 4 with 174 points after touchdown. He's No. 6 in kick scoring at 288.

Steven ranked No. 11 nationally in 2010 with 1.58 field goals made per game. His percentage of .826 was No. 10 among kickers with at least 23 field goals attempted.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors