NORMAN, Okla. “”mdash; The wind wasn’t whipping down the
plains in Oklahoma “”mdash; Antonio Perkins and the Oklahoma Sooners
were doing the whipping in their record-setting 59-24 victory over
UCLA in front of a record-setting 83,317 people at Oklahoma
Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Perkins, a junior cornerback, set two NCAA records Saturday as
he had an unprecedented 277 punt-return yards for a record three
touchdowns on punt returns.
“It wasn’t all me; my guys gave me some excellent
blocking,” Perkins said. “Whenever I caught it, it
seemed like nobody was around.”
Early on, the Bruins hung with the Sooners, and a hush fell over
Owens Field when UCLA sophomore linebacker Spencer Havner picked
off a Jason White pass and returned it 72 yards to give the Bruins
great field position, trailing 7-3. When UCLA took a 10-7 lead off
of an 11-yard Manuel White touchdown run, it was the first time the
Sooners had trailed since last year’s loss to Oklahoma State
“”mdash; a span of five games. This seemed to kick the Sooners into
high gear.
“UCLA has some good players,” Oklahoma head coach
Bob Stoops said. “But we fortunately were able to beat them
because some of our guys stepped up and had the big plays. UCLA is
a good-looking group; their coaches will have them ready by the end
of the year.”
The turning point in the game came early on with UCLA trailing
14-10. With 10:14 remaining in the second quarter, Perkins returned
a Chris Kluwe punt for a 74-yard touchdown. Then six minutes later,
Perkins returned his second punt for a touchdown “”mdash; this time
for 84 yards. The Sooners then led 28-10, and the Bruins’ two
punt coverage lapses resulted in 14 points for Oklahoma.
“When we were trying to crawl back into the game, special
teams play was a factor in not getting us back into it,” UCLA
head coach Karl Dorrell said. “We have prided ourselves on
our special teams, and obviously there is some work that needs to
be done.”
UCLA came out in the second half and forced the Sooners to go
three and out on their first possession. However, UCLA quickly
faltered, giving the ball up on a Manuel White fumble, which gave
Oklahoma the ball on the UCLA 30 yard line. Oklahoma capitalized on
the mistake as White connected with junior wide receiver Brandon
Jones for a 22-yard touchdown strike, to put the Sooners up 35-10
with 11:10 remaining in the third quarter.
“Oklahoma is a very good team,” Dorrell said.
“Good things happened for us on both sides of the ball, but
they are probably very deserving of their (No. 1) ranking. I am not
getting it done yet “”mdash; we are 1-2. It comes down to whether
you win or lose.”
While UCLA’s rushing defense limited the Sooner to 129
rushing yards, White was able to exploit UCLA’s cushioned
pass coverage as he threw for 243 and two touchdowns on 17 for 25
passing.
UCLA’s offense remedied one problem that had plagued it in
its first two games of the season “”mdash; dropped passes. However,
Olson’s short slant passes didn’t amount to much, as he
went 18 of 34, for 144 yards. Another bright spot for UCLA was the
Bruins’ success in the running the ball against one of the
nation’s top defenses. White carried the ball well, rushing
for 67 yards and a touchdown. He also caught two passes.
“We definitely showed that we can move the ball,”
White said. “We were able to work together, but then our game
plan went out of sync.”
NFL scouts from the Indianapolis Colts and the Kansas City
Chiefs were on hand to scout Bruins like Matt Ware, and Rodney
Leslie “”mdash; and while the UCLA defense did play well, it gave up
354 yards to an underrated Sooner offense led by a poised senior
quarterback.
Down 42-17 and reeling from a quick Oklahoma touchdown that came
off a UCLA interception, Maurice Drew made good on the hype
surrounding him. Drew returned the Sooners’ kickoff for a
91-yard touchdown, that made the score 42-24 with seven seconds
remaining in the third quarter. Drew finished with two touchdowns
and 41 yards.
“I found a hole and I hit it,” Drew said. “All
the blocks where there, so it was my job to take it to the
house.”
But that was as close as the Bruins got, with Oklahoma scoring
two touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth quarter.
Against a tough Oklahoma team, the Bruins suffered some
injuries. UCLA’s tight ends took a beating as sophomore
Marcedes Lewis hurt his shoulder while senior Blane Kezirian hurt
his ankle, but both injuries didn’t appear to be serious. Asi
Faoa left the game with a severe ankle sprain.