Sooners win, seek defensive improvement

NORMAN, Okla. - For the fourth game in a row, Oklahoma's defense was a point of concern by its own players' admission.

And the Sooners still beat Nebraska, 62-28.

OU defenders allowed 418 yards to the Cornhuskers, including 224 in the first half.

They also allowed four long touchdown drives to the visitors.

But the effort - particularly a flurry of turnovers in the opening minutes - was more than enough to propel the Sooners to 8-1 overall, including 4-1 in the Big 12 Conference.

It also brought back a little confidence to a unit that had allowed no fewer than 31 points in its last three contests.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said his team's defense was better "by a long shot" than it had been during a three-game stretch when it allowed a combined 101 points leading up to Saturday.

But he said a couple of Nebraska's big plays were the result of the Sooners being in the wrong spot.

"Nebraska's scored a lot of points on everybody," Stoops said. "You got to give them credit."

OU continued its recent trend of forcing turnovers, collecting three in five plays from scrimmage to open the game and four overall.

None were bigger than when sophomore Dominique Franks anticipated a screen pass and ran it back 18 yards for a score on the Huskers' first play of their opening drive.

Franks said he recognized the formation right away, adding that he had specifically scouted it beforehand.

It turned into a dream play for the defensive back.

"I said, 'If they throw this in the game, I'm picking it (and) I did," Franks said. "I got a chance and I just made a play."

On NU's next possession, quarterback Joe Ganz completed a nine-yard pass to tight end Dreu Young. But junior linebacker Keenan Clayton forced the ball loose and defensive end Auston English recovered.

Oklahoma connected on a 48-yard touchdown pass two plays later to take a 21-0 lead with more than 10 minutes left - in the first quarter.

OU sophomore defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said it was the kind of message the No. 4 team in the nation wanted to send.

"We want to get that done, set the tone, let them know we were here and whose house they came in," McCoy said. "I think we got that done."

Still, after the three turnovers to open the contest, the Sooners allowed two touchdowns in the second quarter and one score in each of the final two frames.

McCoy said to consider the defense a work in progress despite the blowout victory.

"I'm a perfectionist, and we gave up too many yards," McCoy said. "We gave up 400-plus. They scored 28, and 28 is too many points. I'm not saying Nebraska's not a good team, but I think we can do better."

Still, the Huskers' final drive came against OU backups, and a 67-yard pass that led to the first Nebraska score was product of a blown coverage assignment.

Stoops said the most satisfying aspect of the defensive effort was that it came in some of the Sooners' more basic schemes. It's a good omen, he said, and progress the team needs with conference games against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State looming.

"We're just playing sound when we made those plays," Stoops said. "We weren't gambling; we were just in good, solid fundamental defense and came up with some nice plays."

Clayton said the unit was determined not to let the Huskers consume large chunks of clock as they had done earlier in the season.

"We came out and we looked each other in the face as a defense and we were like, 'When we turn the tape on, you don't want to be that guy that's not hustling and getting your assignment done,'" Clayton said.

"The first few drives it felt like we played great."

Evanbland@dailynebraskan.com