PHOTO/University of Oklahoma
Even though UCLA was giving away tickets to Saturday night's game with Oklahoma, Sooner fans still seemed to outnumber Bruin fans in the famed Rose Bowl Stadium. They certainly had more to cheer about as Jalen Hurts and the Sooner offense overwhelmed UCLA and even the OU defense shined in a 48-14 win.
It was the Sooners 21st straight win in a true road game, tying Alabama for the second longest streak in the modern era (after world war two). The Sooners actually own the record, 25 straight road game wins, during Bud Wilkinson's campaigns of of 1953-58.
OU is now 3-0 and would seem to be rolling but head coach Lincoln Riley remains cautious with his optimism.
"Still not anywhere where it needs to be, but it's steps," Riley said. "It's baby steps, but it's steps in the right direction. We've still got to keep taking those and be mature enough as a team to be able to handle that because we do some good things, but we're still so far away from where we can be... I thought we grew some here this week. Our mentality, playing all three sides of the ball, I think we continue to get better."
Jalen Hurts had another big game at quarterback with 439 total yards and four touchdowns, three passing and one running. "Still could be better," he said, "but we've taken positive steps. We trust our preparation, but sometimes you'll never know what you'll get when the game comes."
Riley also talked about the thousands of OU fans who made up at least half the crowd and probably more.
"Wow. How many fans came out here to California to watch us play?" Riley said. "It meant a lot to our team. Our guys noticed it. They helped to create a really nice atmosphere in there for us. It was loud, which is something to say when you're that far from home. It's another example of how we're different."
The Sooners have a bye this coming Saturday and will next play Texas Tech in Norman on September 28th.
You can hear Lincoln Riley's post game interview in the box below.