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Bradford, Sooners topple Cincinnati

Sep 7, 2008 - 2:03 AM NORMAN, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- As a freshman, Sam Bradford led the nation in passing efficiency. In the infant stages of his sophomore campaign, the strong-armed quarterback has looked even better.

Bradford passed for a career-high 395 yards and five touchdowns as fourth-ranked Oklahoma toppled Cincinnati, 52-26, on Saturday.

"For us to come out after halftime and play the way we did says a lot about our offense," Bradford said. "We were willing to buy into what (head coach Bob Stoops) had to say at halftime, and we came out and executed."

The Sooners (2-0) led the Football Bowl Subdivision with 80 touchdowns and 592 points last year. After two games this season, it appears they could eclipse those numbers thanks to their talented gun-slinger.

"(Bradford) was fantastic at the line of scrimmage," Stoops said. "I thought the coaching staff did an excellent job at what they were giving Sam.

"Sam is such a good decision maker that you have such confidence to do whatever you want to do. The guys really executed well. I thought Sam threw the ball incredibly well and the receivers did a great job."

The Bearcats (1-1) stuck around for a while and even pulled within 28-20 when Marshwan Gilyard scampered for a 97-yard kickoff return with 9:13 left in the third quarter. However, Oklahoma put the game out of reach soon thereafter.

"In the second quarter we came out and took a couple of shots and had a few mental glitches," Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "Cincinnati has a good defense and we have a lot of respect for them.

"We had a couple of interceptions and turnovers because we missed our post routes and did not make the plays. We are trying to score as much as we can as soon as we can."

DeMarco Murray ran for an 11-yard score with five minutes left in the quarter and tight end Jermaine Gresham hauled in a 22-yard TD reception 90 seconds later to extend the advantage to 42-20. Gresham, who also scored in the first, finished with 93 yards and seven catches.

Still, the Bearcats proved to be a tougher opponent for the Sooners, who coasted to a 57-2 victory over Chattanooga last week after jumping out to a 50-point halftime lead. Bradford threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns before being replaced in the second quarter by Joey Hazle in last weekend's season opener.

While the Sooners played Cincinnati for the first time, they have made quick work of non-conference opponents at home since Stoops took over in 1999. Oklahoma is now 28-2 at Owen Field in such games.

"I think when you don't play well it's sometimes because the offense hasn't helped the defense and vice versa," Stoops said. "To me, they go hand in hand. I thought we played together really well and it did make a difference."

Cincinnati quarterback Dustin Grutza ran for a 1-yard score and connected with Dominick Goodman for a 14-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-13 in the second before kicker Brandon Yingling missed the extra point.

"I told our kids that we had some nice individual performances and we did some good things," Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said. "We didn't play consistent football against the No. 4 team in football. We were not consistent in that high level of play.

"We had flashes of it but it wasn't consistent. I talked to our football team about how important it was to play consistent football and I thought that Oklahoma did that in the second half."

Ryan Broyles, Juaquin Iglesias and Matt Clapp each caught a touchdown pass from Bradford, who completed 29-of-38 attempts and overcame his second multi-interception game of his young career.

"I think that they exerted their presence in the second half. I thought it was an impressive third quarter," Kelly said. "It was 20-13 and we had the ball in the beginning of the third quarter and they stop us and they really answer like a championship football team. They resemble a championship football team. They have that championship demeanor to them."