No. 5-Oklahoma was too much for visiting Missouri State as the Sooners rolled to a 48-0 victory over the Bears in the head coaching debut for Bobby Petrino.
“I’m proud of the way our team stuck together through this entire process since we got started in August,” said Petrino. “They had a lot of different things thrown at them from games being changed, not knowing if we were going to play, guys being at practice, guys being out of practice. So I was proud of them and the way they prepared for this. It will definitely help us in the future. No doubt about it.”
The Sooners scored on each of their first seven possessions to lead 31-0 after the first quarter and 41-0 at the midway point. OU quarterback Spencer Rattler completed 14-of-17 passes in the first 30 minutes for four touchdowns and 291 yards and did not play in the second half.
In his MSU debut, quarterback Jaden Johnson finished 9-of-19 through the air for 72 yards. His favorite target was Lorenzo Thomas who caught four passes for 46 yards, including a key 20-yarder.
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley confirmed after the No. 5 Sooners’ opening victory over Missouri State that the game Saturday night had been jeopardy of being postponed or canceled because of the Sooners’ COVID-19 cases. The Springfield News-Leader reported that Missouri State President Clif Smart told the school’s board of governors that the game had been in doubt.
”It hung in the balance for a little bit, but we were able to do it,” Riley said after the 48-0 victory. ”Thankfully, we were able to.”
The Bears will return to the road in two weeks when they travel to Conway, Ark., to battle UCA at 7 p.m on Sept. 26. Central Arkansas (1-1) is at Arkansas State next week.
