Closer Look

Aggressive Sooners' defense takes toll on Seneca Wallace

Seneca Wallace did not complete his second pass until after halftime against OU. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

By Tim Griffin, Special to CNNSI.com

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma players had seen too many Seneca Wallace highlights over the past several days.

The Sooners were intent on keeping Wallace from restaging any miracle improvisational feats or scrambling acts on their home turf. They took it personally when they saw him skipping through Big 12 defenses earlier this year.

“We knew we had to stop him,” Oklahoma defensive back Brandon Everage said. “We didn’t want any SportsCenter highlights on us.”

A confusing array of coverages and blitzes forced Wallace into the worst day of his collegiate career in the Sooners’ resounding 49-3 thumping. After struggling in the mist Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, Wallace’s Heisman hopes were falling faster than a sinking dot-com stock.

Wallace was limited to a career-low four completions in 23 attempts with three interceptions. Oklahoma’s defense broke up 11 of his passes with strong press coverage that manhandled his receivers from the line of scrimmage.

It meant a frustrating day for Wallace, who had hoped to use a big game against the Sooners as a Heisman springboard for the rest of the season. But after Saturday’s struggles, he’ll be lucky to have any mention for the next few weeks.

“I don’t give a hoot about the Heisman,” said Wallace, who came into the game leading the Big 12 in pass efficiency. “Who cares? We just have to look to our next game.”

Wallace misfired on 11 of his first 12 passes and passed for only one first down until the final two minutes of the game.

“You just didn’t know what to do when things weren’t going right,” Wallace said. “It was tough to bounce back and try to get into a rhythm. There weren’t many adjustments we could do.”

Oklahoma picked up where it left off after last week’s victory against Texas, playing its most complete game of the year. The Sooners pounded the Cyclones at the point of attack, rolling up 199 rushing yards and controlling the ball for more than 42 minutes, along with the superior defensive effort.

“We just may be hitting our stride right now,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “I hope that’s the case. I know we have a lot of confidence right now.”

Quarterback Nate Hybl said the two most recent games should prove something to those who doubt the worthiness of his team.

“People will make their own judgment, but we’ve made some profound statements,” Hybl said. “I don’t want to get too big for our britches, but we are extremely confident right now. To play like we have the last two weeks shows some people we are legit.”

Hybl bounced back from a struggling four-interception performance against Texas to pass for 168 yards and a touchdown without any turnovers.

“People are going to have to admit, swallow hard and admit, that Nate Hybl is a pretty good quarterback,” Oklahoma tight end Trent Smith said. “I’ve known it all along and what he’s capable of doing. He’s a tough sucker.”

Saturday’s win marked the fifth time in the past three years that Stoops’ teams have posted back-to-back wins against Top 10 teams.

“After the Texas game, people wanted to know if we are ready to play,” Stoops said. “We needed to be ready, and it’s obvious we were.”

Oklahoma set the tone after stopping Iowa State on the game’s first possession only 62 seconds into the game. Derrick Strait charged through to block Tony Yelk’s punt. Iowa State blocking back Anthony Forrest whiffed on a chance to kick the ball out of the end zone, and OU’s Terrance Sims recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.

“It was a horrible way to start the game, especially on the road in this environment,” Iowa State coach Dan McCarney said. “We’ve got to do a better job of coaching him. There’s a split-second of time there, and he didn’t make a good decision.”

Things went downhill fast for the Cyclones, who were hoping to beat the highest ranked team in history. Oklahoma proceeded to score four touchdowns on its next six possessions to cruise to a 35-0 halftime lead.

“It felt like we were on the bad end of four hours of football,” McCarney said about his team's first-half struggles. “It seemed like it would never end, and we were never in synch. We couldn’t get first downs, and we couldn’t get off the field defensively.”

Oklahoma churned out a 225-4 edge in yardage in the first half, limiting the Cyclones to only two first downs before intermission.

“Heck, I was disappointed they even had four yards,” Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said.

The Sooners’ defensive strategy called for blitzing various defensive backs with the intent of constant pressure on Wallace.

“We matched up with them differently than the way a lot of people have played them,” Mike Stoops said. “We gave them different coverages. We made some blitzes and were able to cover receivers differently.”

The different looks worked. Iowa State and Wallace never got into any kind of offensive rhythm against the constant Oklahoma pressure. The Cyclones failed to produce a first down on 11 of their 15 possessions in the game.

“Never in a million years did we envision we would come here and not score some points,” said McCarney, whose offense was averaging 432.4 yards and 39.9 points before Saturday’s debacle. “We knew it would be hard to get first downs and score points, but they totally dominated our offense from beginning to end.

“I thought their defense was about as good as I’ve seen in a long time.”

 

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