Brigham Young Cougars at Oklahoma Sooners
Easily the game of the opening weekend that features the best two quarterbacks will be Saturday night’s BYU-Oklahoma matchup at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
You know all about OU’s Sam Bradford, who threw for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns last season in winning the Heisman Trophy and leading the Sooners to the national title game.
However, Bradford will be working behind an offensive line that lost four starters, and star tight end Jermaine Gresham won’t be able to go with a knee injury. The Sooners still have possibly the best duo of backs in the country in Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray, who each ran for more than 1,000 yards in 2008. Murray is the team’s big-play threat, and his absence (due to injury) was felt by the Sooners in the title game against Florida last year.
Meanwhile, BYU QB Max Hall isn’t far behind Bradford in terms of numbers. He threw 35 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and for 3,957 yards in 2008 to help BYU go 10-3 (although he did struggle big time in the final two games – both losses). He has a very good running back of his own in Harvey Unga and a terrific tight end in Dennis Pitta, who is a 6-foot-5, 247-pound matchup nightmare.
“To win a big game like this one I think definitely could help us get into that top tier of programs,” Hall said. “I don’t think we’re quite there yet, but this will obviously help our chances to be known as one of the best in the country.”
The Cougars, however, have an inexperienced and banged-up offensive line (they also have just one returning starter) heading into the game, meaning the dominant OU defensive line led by Gerald McCoy could dominate. The Sooners return nine defensive starters overall from last year.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has only lost one opener in his career with the Sooners. BYU is 1-6 against ranked teams under coach Bronco Mendenhall and hasn’t beaten a ranked non-conference foe since 1996, losing all 12 tries.
These teams have met only once, coming in a 1994 bowl game, won by BYU.
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