DOWNGRADED: Oklahoma Makes Miami Look Like Tropical Storms

When two of college football's most storied programs meet on a field for the first time in almost 20 years, most would expect the game to be a close, hard-fought contest with lots of scoring and loads of defense.

But on Saturday when Miami visited Oklahoma, it was a hard fought, high-scoring game, but the score was anything but close.

The Sooners routed the Hurricanes in their most lopsided loss nearly a decade, and when the dust finally settled in Norman, Oklahoma had officially made their case for a title while the Hurricanes proved they have not quite yet returned to the ranks of college football's elite.
The most destructive force to hit Miami since Hurricane Andrew, new coach Randy Shannon must have felt as if he had been through a similar storm after watching his squad give up 51 points.

QB Sam Bradford led Oklahoma's high powered offense, which averages over 60 points per game, by throwing a touchdown every four passes, finishing with five—three to WR Malcolm Kelly—and 205 yards.

On the other side of the field, the only thing Miami proved is that the QB controversy from last season is still not resolved. Neither Kyle Wright nor Kirby Freeman could muster any sort of drives against the Sooners and just when it seemed nothing else could go wrong, Reggie Smith returned a Hurricane fumble 68 yards for the score to make it 21-3 in the first half.
The Sooners never looked back.

While both teams dominated the 80s, Miami was the only team to beat the Sooners three times that decade. It took twenty years, but Oklahoma got sweet payback on Saturday. After such a convincing victory, the Sooners left the stadium set for a very promising season, while Miami left the stadium looking for answers.

—C. Nierman