By Bruce Campbell, Staff Writer
Enid News and Eagle
DALLAS —
The “Belldozer’’ passed the OU-Texas test Saturday in the Sooners’ 63-21 rout of the Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl.
Sophomore backup quarterback Blake Bell scored four touchdowns — just one short of Quentin Griffin’s series record — in the special short yardage formation.
All were scored in a first half where OU had raced out to a 46-8 lead and had a 407-65 advantage in total offense.
Bell was treated like a celebrity in the interview room following the game, even taking a phone call on a Yahoo.com network for national audience.
“You never think you’re going to score four touchdowns,’’ Bell said. “That’s a lot. When coach (Bob Stoops) puts me in there, I’m going to do my best to do my job. That’s what the coaches were talking about all week. If everyone does their job, we’ll be fine.’’
OU was more than fine on a day where the Sooners were over 300 yards in both rushing (343) and passing (334). The 677 yards in total offense was the most OU ever had against Texas.
“I really can’t explain it if you haven’t done it, but I think the guys did a good job of staying calm before the game and not getting too rattled up and wasting a lot of energy,’’ Bell said. “We came out on fire offensively and defensively.’’
The Belldozer wasn’t enacted until after last year’s Texas game. Bell admittedly was nervous.
“I got the pregame jitters, but just coming out into an atmosphere like that, it’s not hard to get fired up and get in the end zone like that,’’ he said. “The offensive line did a great job in getting the ball inside the 10. When I get an opportunity to get in there, I’m going to do my best to get in the end zone.’’
He said starter Landry Jones desired most of the credit for getting the ball inside the 10 and opening up opportunities for his backup. Bell scored three times on runs of one yard and once from the eight.
“Everything was going our way,’’ he said. “The offensive line, Landry, the running backs, the receivers ... everyone was on the same page. I always try to give Landry all the credit. He’s getting the ball down there.’’
Bell especially felt the chemistry Saturday.
“When I do score, I try to get everyone fired up and the mojo going,’’ Bell said. “When you punch it in, it’s always a good feeling.
“We had a few guys banged up in the line, but they were doing a great job of protecting Landry and myself. In the (Belldozer) package, Trey Millard and Rip (Aaron Ripkowski) were laying guys out. I just got to walk in sometimes.
“Coach (offensive coordinator Josh) Heupel does a great job on making checkoffs. On that last drive (of first half) we had some guys who hadn’t play that much before, but we got it in.’’
Jones praised Bell as well.
“He did a great job,’’ he said. “That package is tough to play against.’’
OU revealed a few more items in the Belldozer package Saturday. Bell, on OU’s first scoring drive, came in to run five yards on a draw play on a third-and-one. He stayed in on first down to rush for two yards.
“We were going to see if we could catch them off- guard,’’ Bell said.
Bell even got to throw the ball some after coming in the fourth quarter. He was one of two for 13 yards. Bell directed the last touchdown drive, capped by a one-yard run by Brennan Clay.
“I wanted Brennan to get that touchdown,’’ Bell said. “We were in a different formation. We did a good job to get down there.’’
Bell has scored seven touchdowns this season. He scored a freshman quarterback record 13 touchdowns last season.
AP POLL
By The Associated Press
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Oct. 13, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pv
1. Alabama (60) 6-0 1,500 1
2. Oregon 6-0 1,436 2
3. Florida 6-0 1,361 4
4. Kansas St. 6-0 1,296 6
5. Notre Dame 6-0 1,283 7
6. LSU 6-1 1,153 9
7. Ohio St. 7-0 1,071 8
8. Oregon St. 5-0 1,050 10
9. South Carolina 6-1 1,042 3
10. Oklahoma 4-1 994 13
11. Southern Cal 5-1 874 11
12. Florida St. 6-1 836 12
13. Georgia 5-1 753 14
14. Clemson 5-1 673 16
15. Mississippi St. 6-0 591 19
16. Louisville 6-0 574 18
17. West Virginia 5-1 552 5
18. Texas Tech 5-1 444 NR
19. Rutgers 6-0 405 20
20. Texas A&M 5-1 379 22
21. Cincinnati 5-0 294 21
22. Stanford 4-2 242 17
23. Michigan 4-2 177 25
24. Boise St. 5-1 133 24
25. Ohio 7-0 104 NR
Others receiving votes: Arizona St. 92, TCU 88, Louisiana Tech 38, Texas 25, NC State 11, Northwestern 6, Washington 6, Wisconsin 6, Nebraska 4, North Carolina 2, Tulsa 2, Arizona 1, Iowa St. 1, Penn St. 1.
USA TODAY POLL
The USA Today Top 25 football coaches poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Oct. 13, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Alabama (59) 6-0 1,475 1
2. Oregon 6-0 1,414 2
3. Kansas St. 6-0 1,307 5
4. Florida 6-0 1,297 6
5. Notre Dame 6-0 1,251 7
6. LSU 6-1 1,179 8
7. Oklahoma 4-1 1,021 10
8. South Carolina 6-1 1,012 3
9. Southern Cal 5-1 995 9
10. Florida St. 6-1 919 11
11. Oregon St. 5-0 839 14
12. Georgia 5-1 806 12
13. Clemson 5-1 741 13
14. Louisville 6-0 695 16
15. West Virginia 5-1 677 4
16. Mississippi St. 6-0 671 18
17. Rutgers 6-0 495 19
18. Cincinnati 5-0 456 20
19. Texas A&M 5-1 397 21
20. Texas Tech 5-1 274 NR
21. TCU 5-1 272 23
22. Boise St. 5-1 271 22
23. Stanford 4-2 215 17
24. Arizona St. 5-1 133 NR
25. Michigan 4-2 96 NR
Others receiving votes: Northwestern 77, Ohio 54, Texas 54, Louisiana Tech 24, Wisconsin 16, Nebraska 10, Nevada 7, Oklahoma State 6, Western Kentucky 6, Iowa State 5, Louisiana-Monroe 2, Northern Illinois 2, Toledo 2, Tulsa 1, UCLA 1.
HARRIS POLL
The Top 25 teams in the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Oct. 13, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Alabama (110) 6-0 2,870 1
2. Oregon (5) 6-0 2,758 2
3. Florida 6-0 2,554 6
4. Kansas State 6-0 2,538 5
5. Notre Dame 6-0 2,427 7
6. LSU 6-1 2,263 8
7. South Carolina 6-1 1,992 3
8. Florida State 6-1 1,898 9
9. Oklahoma 4-1 1,860 13
10. Oregon State 5-0 1,850 12
11. Southern Cal 5-1 1,820 10
12. Georgia 5-1 1,574 11
13. Clemson 5-1 1,437 14
14. Mississippi State 6-0 1,348 17
15. West Virginia 5-1 1,291 4
16. Louisville 6-0 1,228 18
17. Rutgers 6-0 947 19
18. Cincinnati 5-0 793 20
19. Texas A&M 5-1 674 23
20. Stanford 4-2 634 16
21. Texas Tech 5-1 534 —
22. TCU 5-1 514 21
23. Boise State 5-1 488 22
24. Arizona State 5-1 225 —
25. Texas 4-2 188 15
Others receiving votes: Michigan 172, Ohio 153, Northwestern 95, Louisiana Tech 81, Wisconsin 27, Iowa State 24, Nebraska 24, Michigan State 21, Oklahoma State 19, N.C. State 18, Western Kentucky 11, Tulsa 10, UCLA 5, Nevada 4, Baylor 3, Louisiana-Monroe 1, Virginia Tech 1, Washington 1.
