Oklahoma 42, Texas Tech 30: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Cody Thomas got a chance to show off his wheels in a win at Texas Tech. (Image courtesy: dallasnews.com)

OU got a nice win against a pretty bad Texas Tech team. At halftime, it appeared the Sooners might be facing their first two-game losing streak in Big 12 play under Bob Stoops.

The Great

Samaje Perine

The freshman running back had a great game. He passed 1,000 yards rushing for the season, the first OU running back to do so since DeMarco Murray in 2010 and the first OU freshman to do it since Adrian Peterson. Huge road games in Lubbock and Morgantown now book end Perine's season.

Against the Red Raiders, he showed insane power, nifty cutbacks and a surprising dose
of speed on his long touchdown run. OU needed a star Saturday, and Perine showed up.

The Good

Cody Thomas’ second half

Especially his QB run game. With Perine gashing the Red Raiders, there was room for big plays in the QB run game. Thomas delivered to the tune of more than 100 yards rushing, and he looked very good rushing the ball.

With the OU passing game grounded without a healthy Sterling Shepard, the QB run option provided a second weapon to complement the OU RBs.

Blocking

The offensive line in the second half paved the way for more than 300 yards rushing. That’s performing, no matter who the opponent is. Aaron Ripkowski, Blake Bell and the wide receivers also had their best blocking games in a while.

The Bad

Secondary breakdowns

There were two long Texas Tech passing touchdowns. If not for a clear holding penalty, it would have been three long TDs on blown coverages.

At times, the defense showed it could slow down Tech and made the Raiders pretty much one-dimensional. But the poor play by the secondary has to warrant some kind of response in the offseason or during bowl prep.

The Ugly

Game plan

OU’s first half game plan featured 17 passes and 3 interceptions from Thomas, one of which killed a drive in Tech's red zone. It just didn’t seem like OU offensive coordinator Josh Heupel committed to the running attack until the second half. Why it took that long to attack a terrible Texas Tech run defense is going to provide even more message board and Twitter fodder for the "fire Heupel" faction.

-Atlantasooner