No. 1 OU Welcomes Mizzou to Owen Field

NORMAN, Okla. -- No. 1 Oklahoma opens Big 12 Conference play against Missouri in the league opener for both teams. The Sooners are coming off a 23-13 victory at then-No. 5 Florida State, while the Tigers ride into the game following a 69-0 triumph over Western Illinois.

The game on Saturday will kick at 7:11 p.m. CT and will be televised by the FX Network. View Sooner Gameday Central for complete information.

THE SERIES

Oklahoma leads, 66-24-5, including a 31-8-5 mark in Norman. Mizzou's last win on Owen Field came in 1966, 10-7. Since then, OU has won 17 straight meetings in Norman.

The Sooners had reeled off seven straight over the Tigers before a 36-27 loss at Columbia last season. OU went into the game ranked No. 3 in the AP poll (No. 1 BCS), while Missouri was No. 18.

Oklahoma and Missouri played their last three games away from Norman. Last year's game was in Columbia and the other two had been in Big 12 Championship games in Kansas City (2008) and San Antonio (2007). The last time these two teams met in Norman was during the 2007 season when the No. 5 Sooners downed the No. 11 Tigers, 41-31.

THE COACHES

Oklahoma: Bob Stoops (Iowa `83) is 131-31 in his 13th season. He is 85-19 vs. the Big 12 including a 7-1 record in the Big 12 title game, 46-12 vs. non-conference opponents, 73-2 at home, 36-16 on the road and 22-13 on neutral fields. He is 7-1 vs. Missouri.

Missouri: Gary Pinkel (Kent State `73) is 79-50 in 11 seasons at Missouri. He is 1-6 vs. Oklahoma.

Sooner Gameday Central | Sooner Scouting Report | Sooner Football Notebook | Boomer Bytes

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

THE PROGRAM

Oklahoma's all-time record stands at 812-304-53 in 117 seasons. Since WWII, OU leads the nation with 573 victories.

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

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 | Sooner Superlatives

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: MISSOURI

Missouri is 2-1 after home victories over Miami-Ohio (17-6) and FCS Western Illinois (69-0). Sandwiched between those two, the Tigers dropped a road decision at Arizona State (37-30, OT).

TIES WITH MISSOURI

Oklahoma fullback Trey Millard is a native of Columbia, Mo. He attended Rock Bridge HS. His mother, Joy, a 28-year employee at Missouri, is the head of the university's conference department.

Other Missourians on OU's roster include OG Tyler Evans (Strafford) and OT Donald Stephenson (Blue Springs).

The three Oklahomans at MU are Kentrell Brothers (Guthrie), Randy Ponder (Edmond) and Xavier Smith (Edmond).

LAST YEAR'S GAME IN COLUMBIA
Missouri knocked off Oklahoma in Columbia, 36-27. The Sooners were carrying the No. 1 BCS ranking at the time.

The Tigers returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, then reeled off 16 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter.

OU, which had committed just five turnovers through its first six games of the season, had two in the red zone alone and missed a 30-yard field goal.

Landry Jones was 32-of-50 for 303 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Ryan Broyles was limited by injury, but caught eight passes for 110 yards.

OU'S MOST RECENT GAME
OU won at No. 5 Florida State last Saturday in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a game at Doak Campbell Stadium, 84,392 ...

The Sooners never trailed in the game, but did have to break a 13-13 tie with 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

The go-ahead score came on a 37-yard pass from Landry Jones to Kenny Stills with 7:00 remaining. Jimmy Stevens then tacked on a 31-yard field goal.

Javon Harris had two interceptions, including one that he returned 69 yards. Both of his picks set up field goals.

OU's defense forced three turnovers and logged six sacks. FSU gained just 27 rushing yards on 26 attempts.

LB Travis Lewis, in his first game back from a foot injury, tied for the team lead in tackles with Tony Jefferson and Tom Wort. All three had eight.

During the game, Landry Jones became OU's leader in career passing yards. He was 18-of-27 for 199 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He now has 8,490 yards to move ahead of Sam Bradford.

Stills caught seven passes for 125 yards and one TD.

Jimmy Stevens made all three of his field goal attempts. They came from 21, 29 and 31 yards.

Recap: Oklahoma 23, Florida State 13

MARQUEE GAMES AWAIT
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, OU has already played Florida State (twice), 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 were played on the road and one on a neutral field. The Sooners are 14-5 in those games.

Oklahoma Future Schedules

SOONERS IN BIG 12 OPENERS

Oklahoma opens Big 12 play against Missouri this week. OU is 9-6 in Big 12 beginners, 9-3 under Bob Stoops.

Oklahoma's most frequent opening day opponents have been Kansas and Texas at three openers each.

OKLAHOMA'S BIG 12 DOMINANCE

Oklahoma's all-time Big 12 regular season record is 86-34, 93-35 if counting title games. Stoops is 78-18 in the regular season, 85-19 counting all. Before he arrived, OU's Big 12 mark against the league was 8-16.

With seven championships, the Sooners have won half of the 14 Big 12 titles, including three of the last four. No other program has more than three:

- Oklahoma (7): 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010
- Texas (3): 1996, 2005, 2009
- Nebraska (2): 1997, 1999
- Colorado (1): 2001
- Kansas State (1): 2003

STOOPS 100 GAMES ABOVE .500
For the first time in his coaching career, Bob Stoops is 100 games over .500 with a record of 131-31.

At the same point, 162 games into their Sooner tenures, Barry Switzer was 133-25-4 and Bud Wilkinson was 132-26-4. The great Bennie Owen, for whom the stadium's field is named, was 110-39-13.

Stoops' teams are 9-1 in their last 10 vs. ranked foes.

OU Head Coaching History

OKLAHOMA NO. 1 FOR 101ST WEEK
OU is rated No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for the 101st week in its history. That leads the nation. Notre Dame is next at 95 followed by Ohio State at 94 and USC at 90. The poll began in 1936 and Notre Dame was No. 1 as early as 1938. OU didn't reach that spot until 1950. The Sooners have cracked the top 25 in 65 of the poll's 75 years, and the last 13 in a row, and have been No. 1 in 19 different seasons, including five under Bob Stoops.

OU All-Time in the AP Poll

THE SOONERS AT NO. 1
Oklahoma has amassed a record of 73-8 when playing as the nation's top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll, and that includes a 29-3 standard on the road. The Sooners have won their last six road games as the AP's top-ranked team.

Oklahoma's first game at No. 1 took place on Nov. 20, 1950, when the Sooners downed No. 16 Nebraska in Norman, 41-7.

OU is 19-1 as a No. 1 playing in the month of September.

HOME WINNING STREAK AT 37
OU has won a school record 37 consecutive home games, the longest current streak in the nation. It began Sept. 1, 2005, with a 31-15 victory over Tulsa.

It's the 13th-longest streak in NCAA history. It ranks No. 5 since WWII and is the longest since Florida State's 37 from 1992-2001. Notre Dame is next at 40 from 1907-1981. Miami holds the NCAA record of 58 (1985-94).

During the streak, OU has out-scored foes by 1,118 points, 1,654 to 536, an average of 44.7 to 14.5.

A Closer Look at Oklahoma's Home Dominance

RECORD-SETTING ATTENDANCE
Oklahoma has drawn 6,112,018 fans for Bob Stoops' 75 home games (started in 1999) and all have been sold out.

The Sooners are 73-2 on Owen Field under Stoops.

The current string of sellouts is the longest in school history, eclipsing a mark of 69 from 1971-84.

The top 10 seasons for attendance at Oklahoma during Stoops' tenure as head coach.

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

The 85,620 on hand for the Tulsa game represented the largest season-opening crowd ever at Oklahoma.

OU exceeded its seating capacity of 82,112 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in 55 straight home games.

Oklahoma has played before sellout crowds in 127 of the 162 games (75 home, 28 away, 15 neutral) since Stoops became the head coach. During that time, a total of 11,640,556 (average of 71,855) have watched the Sooners.

Oklahoma Sets Attendance Records at Memorial Stadium

REMEMBERING AUSTIN BOX
Oklahoma LB Austin Box passed away in the off-season. The Enid native would have been a senior on this team. To honor his memory, the Sooners keep his locker intact, leave a space for him during stretching drills and wear a helmet decal (see below). In addition, a designated defensive player wears Box's No. 12 in each game. Tom Wort wore it vs. Tulsa, Frank Alexander vs. Florida State. That assignment is made each Friday. Landry Jones wears No. 12 on offense.

OFFENSE NOTES

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 162 touchdowns of 25 or more yards and 323 scoring drives of two minutes or less.

Oklahoma has scored in every game since Nov. 7, 1998. That's a string of 178 games, which is the fifth-longest active string and the 19th-longest of all-time.

OU rushed for 200 yards 46 times under Stoops.

Oklahoma is the highest scoring college program in history. In 1,215 games, the Sooners have scored 31,368 points. Michigan is next at 30,386 points in 1,246 games.

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

Already this season, Jones has moved from No. 3 to No. 1 on the school's career passing yards list (see chart at left). He jumped over a pair of Heisman winners to claim the spot. Jones became the leader during the Sooners' win at Florida State.

He has tied (with Bradford, Josh Heupel) the OU record with 14 career 300-yard passing games. With four, 400-yard games, he already owns that school mark.

STILLS BACK WITH A BANG
WR Kenny Stills missed the opener against Tulsa (coaches' decision), but was back in style for the game at Florida State. He tied Ryan Broyles for the team lead in catches with seven, and topped the squad in yards with career-high 125. His acrobatic catch with 7:00 remaining broke a 13-13 tie and gave OU a lead it did not relinquish.

Stills is now just 89 yards of 1,000 receiving yards for his career.

PLAY-CALLING BALANCED
Through two games, Oklahoma has 85 rushing attempts (51%) and 81 passing attempts (49%). A huge change from last season? Not really. Last year's Sooners ran the ball on 48% of their snaps and passed on 52%, so while it's a slight swing of the pendulum, it's not an all-out change. The `09 totals were very close to `10.

The last Oklahoma team that ran more than it threw was the 2008 squad that produced Heisman winner Sam Bradford, won the Big 12 crown and earned a spot in the BCS Championship game opposite Florida. That team ran 589 times out of 1,106 total plays (53%).

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.

Through two games this season, he already has 21 catches for 213 yards. That average of 10.5 catches per game is running ahead from his NCAA-leading average 9.4 last season.

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 (287), touchdown receptions (36), receiving yards (3,642) and punt return yards (1,005).

With 36 career TD receptions, he is No. 16 on the all-time NCAA list, No. 15 in receptions.

Broyles is No. 3 in Big 12 career receptions, just 16 away from No. 1. He's also No. 2 in yards with 3,642, 772 away from No. 1. His TD total of 36 is No. 2, six from No. 1.

Has 100+ yards receiving in 13 of the last 17 games and a TD grab in 12 of the last 18.

Has at least one reception in 41 straight games.

ONE WHALEY OF A RUNNING BACK
Oklahoma's leading rusher is walk-on junior Dominique Whaley, a transfer from Langston (Okla.) University.

In the opener against Tulsa, he rushed 18 times for 131 yards and four touchdowns. He fell just one TD shy of tying the NCAA mark for most in a debut game. That record is held by former Sooner DeMarco Murray at five.

At Florida State, he led OU with 21 tries for 71 yards. He gained all 29 yards in the Sooners' final scoring drive of the night to set up a 31-yard field goal that gave the team a 10-point advantage.

Whaley attended Lawton (Okla.) MacArthur High School, but as an Army "brat" lived in several places, including Germany, before that time.

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

DEFENSE NOTES

OU has forced at least one turnover in 144 of Stoops' 162 games and has at least one interception in 106 of the last 141 with multiple picks in 65 of the last 113 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 63 games.

FRANK TALK
Senior DE Frank Alexander was dominant in the opener. He knocked down two passes and intercepted another, the first of his career, which he returned 27 yards. Alexander also had six tackles, one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. He is now three tackles shy of 100 for his career.

LEWIS BACK FROM INJURY
When LB Travis Lewis went out with a broken bone in a toe on his left foot during preseason drills, it was forecasted that he might not return for eight weeks. He beat that estimate by three when he returned for the Florida State game. Then he responded by tying for the team lead in tackles with eight, while also tipping the pass that resulted in OU's final interception of the game.

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. No player has had the lead in four seasons.

Lewis has 370 career tackles, the third-best total among active players nationally.

The San Antonio native had 108 stops last season.

With 370 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. 7, trails No. 6 Tyrell Peters by 10.

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.
"Hammer" Equals Career High
DE Ronnell Lewis equaled his career high for tackles when he made eight against Tulsa in the opener, then he came back with seven at Florida State. With 1.5 sacks through those two games, he now has nearly as many career sacks (6.0) as starts (7).

PAPER OR PLASTIC?
Oklahoma has nine sacks on the season, led by Frank Alexander's two ...

Ten players have been credited with at least half a sack this season. Of the six at Florida State, three were credited as half sacks to six different players.

The Sooners had a season-high six at Florida State. They have 16 over their last three games away from Norman (seven vs. Nebraska in 2010 Big 12 Championship game, three vs. UConn in Fiesta Bowl, six at FSU game.)

HARRIS NABS BIG 12 HONOR
Safety Javon Harris was named the Big 12 Conference's Defensive Player of the Week for his sterling effort at Florida State. He picked off two passes, including one that he returned 69 yards. Both of his picks set up OU field goals, including the final points of the game, which gave the Sooners a 10-point advantage with 2:01 remaining. The sophomore also added three tackles, all unassisted.

HURST TAKES OVER LONGEST STREAK
When Travis Lewis was out due to a broken bone in his left foot, CB Demontre Hurst took over with the longest string of starts on defense. He has 16. Lewis had 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.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

Oklahoma's special teams under Bob Stoops ...

There have been 27 special teams touchdowns, including 21 in the last 79 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 kickoffs and 16 punts for touchdowns.

The Sooners have blocked 24 kicks.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS
Information on returns during the Stoops era ...

Kickoff Returns --94 returns of 25 yards or more with eight touchdowns.

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

Interception Returns -- 85 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. 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 foes 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. In the 2011 opener, things were better with an average of just 19.6 yards on eight returns.

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 (91), more average returns per game (2.3) and more total punt return yards (1,005) than any other active players in NCAA FBS play.

He ranks No. 6 among active NCAA punt returners with an average of 11.04 yards per return.

Broyles had no returns against Tulsa despite eight Golden Hurricane punts. It continued a trend of kicking away from the Sooner standout. He has had two or fewer returns in eight of the last 16 games.

WAY GOOD AT PUNTER
In 2010, P Tress Way 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 43 punts of 50+ yards in his career. Jeff Ferguson (1998-01), set that OU record with 52

He is No. 5 among active NCAA punters with a career average of 44.68. It should be noted that Way has maintained that average on more kicks than any of the three players ahead of him. He has 142.

FOOT FACTS

Jimmy Stevens has made 16 of his last 17 field goals, all over the last five games.

At Oklahoma, Stevens ranks No. 6 all-time with 42 field goals made and No. 2 with 180 points after touchdown. He's No. 6 in kick scoring at 306.

Michael Hunnicutt made his first career field goal with a 27-yard effort against Tulsa.

Patrick O'Hara and Michael Hunnicutt shared the kickoff duties in the opener. Hunnicutt had three, O'Hara six. O'Hara had a slight edge in average at 66.2 to 65 and booted the lone touchback by the Sooners. O'Hara went solo on the kickoffs at Florida State and averaged 67.6 yards per kick.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 1 OU Welcomes Mizzou to Owen Field

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