COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A swarming Oklahoma defense made life difficult on Chase Daniel and No. 23 Missouri, leading to a rare road win for the Sooners.
Forget Rhett
Most people wrote off Oklahoma when NCAA violations forced quarterback Rhett Bomar to leave school right before the season started. Well, the Sooners have since lost Heisman candidate Adrian Peterson to a collarbone injury, yet Bob Stoops' bunch keeps on ticking. How? Some would give the credit to replacement quarterback Paul Thompson. Thompson was solid again on Saturday, going 11 for 19 while throwing 2 TDs without an interception. Here is how Thompson and Bomar stack up statistically over the past two seasons.
Thompson (2006) Bomar (2005)
Comp. Pct. 61 54
Pass YPG 196 168
TD-INT 13-5 10-10
Paul Thompson threw two touchdown passes, Allen Patrick rushed for 162 yards and No. 19 Oklahoma scored all of its points off Missouri's mistakes in a 26-10 victory Saturday.
"Opportunistic, I guess," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "I don't know that this should be a surprise because we've been playing this way for several weeks now."
The Sooners (6-2, 3-1 Big 12) won for the first time this season away from Norman, Okla., and snapped Missouri's eight-game home winning streak. After a 6-0 start, the Tigers (7-2, 3-2) have lost two of three.
The game was highly anticipated by Tigers fans buoyed by a 7-1 start, the team's best since 1969. But after falling behind 3-0, the Sooners dominated in beating the Tigers for the fourth straight time and 16th in the last 17 meetings.
"They are good enough that you can't make the mistakes that we made today," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "Obviously, that's very disappointing. Critical penalties, critical kicking plays, critical turnovers -- huge momentum plays."
Two interceptions, a fumble, a blocked punt and a roughing the kicker penalty set up every score for Oklahoma.
Thompson was 11-for-19 for 127 yards, and also ran for a score. Patrick, in his second game starting for the injured Adrian Peterson, finished with 36 carries. He rushed for 110 yards on 35 carries in a 24-3 win over Colorado last week.
Missouri came in averaging 33.1 points, but struggled against the Sooners' 11th-ranked defense. Chase Daniel was 23-for-44 for 284 yards and three interceptions. He also ran 20 times for 75 yards and a score. Other than Daniel, Missouri gained 1 yard rushing on seven carries.
Stoops said the Oklahoma defense did a good job of containing Daniel, who came into the game with 19 touchdown passes and a 66.8 percent completion rate.
"Guys pursued him, chased him, never let him set his feet," Stoops said.
Missouri got off to a promising start.
Leading 3-0, the Tigers missed a chance for a sure 66-yard touchdown when tight end Chase Coffman, uncovered down the right sideline, let a pass slip off his fingertips.
"I just wasn't concentrating enough," Coffman said.
On the next play, linebacker Zach Latimer intercepted Daniel's tipped pass, giving Oklahoma the ball at the Missouri 33. That set up Thompson's 3-yard TD run on an option play to make it 7-3.
Oklahoma got the ball back when Tony Temple fumbled and Lendy Holmes recovered at the Oklahoma 42. The drive ended with Thompson's 18-yard scoring pass to Joe Jon Finley on the first play of the second quarter.
After Daniel's fumble resulted in a 21-yard loss, the Tigers were forced to punt from the 12. Oklahoma's Jason Carter blocked Adam Crossett's kick and Crossett recovered in the end zone for a safety.
Missouri took advantage of an Oklahoma turnover to cut the margin to 16-10 early in the third quarter. Patrick fumbled and Missouri recovered at its own 34. Daniel was 4-for-4 passing on the drive and ran the other four plays for 30 yards, including a 13-yard score on a quarterback draw.
Oklahoma was forced to punt on its next possession and the Tigers would have had the ball at midfield. But Missouri's William Moore was called for roughing the kicker. Given new life at their 35, the Sooners drove to the Missouri 15, where Thompson connected with Quentin Chaney for a touchdown.
The Tigers reached the Oklahoma 1 on their next drive. But on fourth-and-goal, Daniel's fade pass to Coffman was thrown too high.
Daniel's second interception, by Marcus Walker with 6:19 to play, set up a 30-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley.
the sale of sports telecasts is illegal and not condoned