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Oklahoma downs Oklahoma State to create Big 12 South logjam

Nov 30, 2008 - 6:35 AM STILLWATER, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- Bedlam turned into mayhem, and it resulted in bedlam for the Big 12 Conference's South Division.

Second-ranked Oklahoma downed No. 12 Oklahoma State, 61-41, in The Bedlam game on Saturday to create a three-way tie in the Big 12 South.

Sam Bradford threw for 370 yards and four touchdowns for the Sooners (11-1, 7-1 Big 12 South), who have scored more than 60 points in four straight games. The redshirt sophomore completed 30-of-44 attempts and added a rushing score. Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham had nine catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

"I was incredibly proud of the way we played. Another game with 60 points, I think that's four in a row for us," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "Sam Bradford, it's just out of this world, it's just incredible the way he played. You look at our third-down conversions, forth-down conversions, no turnovers, all in all, incredible."

Zac Robinson completed 17-of-26 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns for Oklahoma State (9-3, 5-3), which was outgained 557-424. The quarterback added 99 yards rushing on 16 carries and a score.

"Give Zac Robinson some credit. He played an excellent game," Stoops said. "Just frustrated us so many times because you thought you had him sacked, and he'd break through or throw the ball and make plays or he'd run for a first down. That kind of play really threw us off some. You know, he made some plays on us, but we hung in there and made some plays."

The three-way tie means that the Big 12 South's representative in the December 6 conference championship against Missouri will be determined by the BCS standings that come out on Sunday.

Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma all took turns beating each other head-to-head, each going 1-1. The BCS standings are the first tiebreaker that can break the deadlock.

"There is plenty of reason for us to go as there are for other people," Stoops said, refusing to be dragged into the debate.

Bradford was more firm in his belief.

"We came here tonight and won on the road," the quarterback said. "It does nothing but 'up' our place, and there's no reason we shouldn't be in Kansas City. But it's out of our hands now. All we can do is hope."

The Sooners rumbled to a 21-13 lead at the half, opening the eight-point gap in the final minute when Bradford hit Gresham with a 3-yard pass.

Oklahoma State battled back when Robinson hit Dez Bryant with a 6-yard pass to close the gap to 21-19. However, the Cowboys went for a two-point conversion and it backfired when Frank Alexander picked up a fumble by Robinson and rumbled the length of the field to give Oklahoma two points.

"Obviously you'd like to not fumble the ball and give them two points," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "That's one of the mistakes. We fumbled the ball and cost us points on turnovers."

Bradford then sandwiched two touchdowns around a TD by the Cowboys. Bradford and Gresham connected on a 73-yard scoring play when the tight end collected a ball that was tipped into the air and ran to paydirt.

Bradford then scored on a fourth-down play when he picked up a fumbled snap and ran it in to give Oklahoma a 37-26 lead. On the previous play, Bradford scrambled and did a John Elway-like helicopter when hit by Oklahoma State defenders near the goal line.

"I didn't want to go out of bounds," Bradford said. "I felt like we needed a spark. I wanted to get into the end zone."

"It just shows that he's got heart," Gresham said of the leap by Bradford. "It shows that he would do anything for this team to win. From a player's point of view, it's great to see that heart in the quarterback."

The teams continued to pummel the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, as Robinson found Bryant for a 17-yard score before the pair teamed on a two-point conversion to make it 37-34.

Bradford and the Sooners then found Brody Elridge from a yard on fourth down to make it 44-34, but Perrish Cox returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to make it 44-41 as the Cowboys refused to go away.

Bradford came right back, driving the Sooners 65 yards with the final 17 coming on a pass to Juaquin Iglesias that made it 51-41 just past the midway point of the final quarter. It was Bradford's 82nd career touchdown pass, a school record.

"It was a very disappointed team in that locker room, and they're very emotional right now and justly so," Gundy said. "This football game came down to the team that made the most mistakes. We made some crucial errors and turned the ball over several times. When you play a football team that is as good as Oklahoma is right now, you can't turn the football over and expect to find ways to win."