Lizards vs LandThieves - Q3

Lizards ball at their 27, trailing 28-3. The Sooners spend too much effort trying to strip the ball, and Turner rushes for a first down on 2nd and 10. The Fox cameraman can’t figure out who has the ball. They apparently don’t have an alternate camera to show you what happened. I think Dalton ran for a yard. TCU runs a pick and trips themselves up, and it’s time to punt.

LandThieves ball at their own 16, leading 28-3. TV timeout. At the start of the night, I thought the Sooners would win, and probably end up ranked second if Georgia beat Bama. I figured a Dawg victory over Bama, which followed a road W over Arizona State, would vault Georgia back over the Sooners. Barring an epic recovery, that’s not happening. But it wouldn’t surprise me if Alabama picked up some votes. Back to the game. A pass to Johnson yields a first down, followed by a 2 yarder. Bradford rolls into a blitz, and it’s punting time again.

Lizards ball at their 45, trailing 28-3. Aside from Sanders slipping late in the first half, TCU has shut down the Sooners since they scored to take a 21-3 lead. Dalton slips throwing the ball. On 2nd and 10, Jimmy Young catches it, breaks a tackle, is out in the open, and trips over the 35 yard line. TCU ball at the Sooner 30, 1st and 10. Dalton actually gains yardage on the zone read, and its 1st and 10 on the 19. After a 6 yard run and a false start, Brian Jackson nearly picks off a Dalton effort into the right corner of the end zone. Dalton keeps it and TCU has 4th and 4 at the Sooners 13. A weakside blitz forces Dalton to throw a desperation pass, and it’s Sooner ball.

LandThieves ball at their own 13, leading 28-3. The Sooners still can’t run, but they finally convert a 3rd down. First one of those in awhile. 3rd and 3 for the Sooners, and a slip screen is a perfect counter to the all out Frog blitz. Manuel Johnson goes the distance for 63 yards, and the score’s 35-3 Sooners. Johnson has 203 yards and 3 TDs so far this evening. He’s been the only offensive weapon the Frogs haven’t contained.

Lizards are held on the return and only get to the 20.A completion for 13 gets TCU to the 33. The Frogs pick up another first down and now they’re near midfield. After two negative plays, Moore (who?) gets up and blocks Dalton’s pass. Punting time for the Lizards. Downed at the 13.

Sooners ball at the 13, leading 35-3. Two miserable attempts at running, courtesy of the quick Frog D, leads to a pass interference call that gets a first down at the 23. An odd 3rd and 11 running call gets 1 yard, and it’s punting time again. TCU is giving a clinic on how to stop the Sooner run game. The highly touted Sooner o-line just can’t open any holes against the Frogs, who are clearly selling out to stop the run. End of the 3rd quarter. Sooners 35, Frogs 3.