Cake walk

Oklahoma defense, running backs make Hybl's job easy

NORMAN, Okla. -- As jobs go, it doesn’t get much cushier than the one Oklahoma’s Nate Hybl had on Saturday.

Sure, getting the gig involved the most arduous screening process this side of The Bachelor, but now that it’s his, the responsibilities he had against No. 13 Colorado were, in a nutshell:

1) Take over field position inside the opponent’s 30-yard line, because your team’s defense can’t tie its shoes without forcing a turnover.

2) Hand the ball to running backs Quentin Griffin and Kejuan Jones as much as humanly possible, until they get to a combined 210 yards.

3) Finally, after getting within striking distance of the end zone due primarily to the defense, throw three beautiful touchdown passes to one of your many talented receivers.

Having taken care of all three, Hybl and the second-ranked Sooners disposed of the Buffaloes fairly easily, 27-11, to improve to 8-0. Afterward, you’d never know the quarterback was a mere 10-of-23 for 105 yards and two interceptions.

“I thought through four quarters, Nate Hybl managed the offense very well,” said OU head coach Bob Stoops. “Those three plays [the touchdowns] were as big as any we had all game from anyone on our team, because they put 21 points on the board.”

“The last two weeks, they’re not your typical days, we had to be a little more conservative,” said Hybl, referring to cold, rainy weather in Norman, Okla., both Saturday and two weeks earlier against Iowa State. “I’m just as happy to give the ball to Kejuan and Quentin as I am to throw it.”

With Oklahoma on top of the BCS standings heading into the season's final month, and with the number of unbeatens trimmed in half with Notre Dame, N.C. State, Georgia and Virginia Tech all losing, talk of the Fiesta Bowl is, understandably, rampant in Norman. Stoops briefly interrupted his postgame news conference to greet one of the attendees, Fiesta Bowl executive director John Junker.

But while the Sooners continue to ride their dominant defense and much-improved run game, one can’t help but look at Hybl and wonder one thing: Can this guy really lead a team to the national title?

Certainly, the fifth-year senior and former Quincy Carter backup at Georgia isn’t even the coaches’ ideal choice to run their offense. After getting benched for the younger Jason White midway through last season only to replace him following White’s ACL tear, Hybl reclaimed the job this season only when White went down again.

With offensive assistant Kevin Wilson arriving from Northwestern last winter and installing a more versatile run package, the mobile White fit logically into his system. After both White and backup Brent Rawls went down, he had to do away with many of the option and sprint components involving the QB.

Upon reentering the lineup the second week of the season against Alabama, Hybl engineered impressive passing days against the Tide, UTEP and Missouri, the latter a 20-of-32, 303-yard day.

But the past three games, against highly ranked Texas, Iowa State and Colorado, have seen him go a more modest 36-of-76 (47.4 percent) for a total of 405 yards, six TDs and six INTs. They’re the kind of numbers that would get Florida State’s Chris Rix benched or Texas’ Chris Simms crucified, but as long as the Sooners keep winning, they remain a minor topic of conversation.

“I’m not going to go down that road and start nitpicking with the media,” said Stoops. “We just beat the No. 13 team in the country, the defending Big 12 champions. You won’t go through four quarters and everything will be perfect.”

Oklahoma football during Stoops’ four years has developed a clear identity to be sure: defense. It was on display again Saturday, with remarkable athletes like Brandon Everage, Teddy Lehman and Lance Mitchell making plays all over the field, Andre Woolfolk blocking two field goals and the Sooners holding Colorado RB Chris Brown to 103 yards, 60 below his nation-leading average.

On offense, however, it’s a little fuzzier, and it has been ever since former coordinator Mike Leach took his pass-crazy system to Texas Tech and Heisman runner-up QB Josh Heupel graduated. Lately, the Sooners have been taking on the look of an old-school power running team, but Wilson insists their goal is to remain balanced.

“If you’re a tremendous basketball player, you’ve got to be complete, you’ve got to play with both your left hand and your right hand,” he said. “Our strength is still our receivers and Nate throwing the ball, and that’s where we might play our best game, because we haven’t clicked yet.”

The rest of the Sooners’ schedule is not as rough as it has been, but it’s not exactly a cake walk, either. Next week brings a trip to struggling Texas A&M, followed by lowly Baylor, then Leach’s Red Raiders, before a grudge match with rival Oklahoma State -- the team that crushed their title hopes last season -- and a possible rematch with the Buffaloes at the Big 12 championship.

Sooner or later, an occasion will arise when Hybl needs to win the game with his arm.

Will he be up to the challenge?

“Teams have won Super Bowls with quarterbacks like [him],” said tight end Trent Smith, Hybl’s roommate and close friend. “One day it’s going to come down to Nate making a play to win it, and he’ll come through. Mark my word.”

Stewart Mandel covers college football for CNNSI.com.

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