Sooners surge vs, K-State, but what's next?
Vindication by Bob Stoops.
An "I told you so" kind of game from the defense designed by Mike Stoops.
A smooth and efficient offense and a vintage Sooner defense.
Saturday. Oklahoma beat Kansas State 55-0 in a score that looked like a 1980s result from Manhattan, Kan., and all of the above statements are works of non-fiction.
Yet, after such a dominating performance, a giant exhale, after a lay-down of a showing in Dallas a week ago against Texas, there's still one, major, head-shaking kind of question that lingers.
What the heck kind of team are the 2015 Sooners?
Good enough to embarrass Kansas State but flimsy as paper mache against a Texas team dangerously close to caving in on itself.
By all accounts, no one can give a definitive answer or handle on what OU is, but we got an idea of what it could be after Baker Mayfield threw for 336 yards and five touchdowns and the defense held Kansas State to seven first downs and just 110 yards of offense.
"We found something this week in practice," offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said after the game Saturday. "The guys did a great job of taking it to the field.. There's no Eureka moments. We made some major, major progress this week."
Progress as promised from Riley, whose team has been under construction for most of the season – sluggish against Akron, most of the game at Tennessee and again last week against Texas – but this is sort of what we thought would happen when Riley and his "Air Raid" offense came to town after last season. Mayfield was decisive and accurate (20-of-27 with no interceptions).
A rushing game so bad it had everyone not wearing Crimson colored glasses guessing and rubbing the bridge of their nose, went for 232 yards against a Kansas State team that came a field goal away from beating Oklahoma State and a last-second play away from beating TCU.
So, what is this OU team all about? 5-1 on the season and a mystery with secret sauce drizzled all over it.
Good enough on defense to limit Tennessee for three quarters, but bad enough not to see a Texas rushing game which was easier to read than Google Maps.
"I feel great about the way our kids bounced back," Mike Stoops said after the game."I thought our staff did a great job to be able to execute. We did this game. To bounce back shows you how resilient they are."
Plenty of questions lay ahead for the Sooners with the season now taking on another twist. Two weeks ago, Oklahoma was on the rise, then it was cover your eyes. Now, after its most-complete victory since beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, optimism, positiveness and gusto surround the team as much as it did after the win in SEC country.
Yet, why did the Stoops Bros. have such a hard time getting this team ready to play a 1-4 Texas team and could the same affliction hit before any, all or some of remaining games against undefeated teams Baylor, TCU or Oklahoma State?
Hard to imagine Oklahoma wouldn't be thoroughly motivated to compete now that it has, once again, so much to get excited about. But then again, it's hard to accept it happened as recently as last week.
Plenty of opportunity is ahead for Oklahoma.
Plenty of questions, too.
Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK
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