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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sooners expect title shot after routing Tigers

Big 12 champs hoping Florida next on schedule

Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford passed for 384 yards and two touchdowns.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By RALPH D. RUSSO Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – By the time Mossis Madu sprinted into the end zone in a half-empty stadium, Oklahoma was done making its point.

Here’s what Sam Bradford and the high-scoring Sooners wanted to drive home: They belong in the BCS championship game.

The No. 4 Sooners did that with a 62-21 blowout of No. 19 Missouri for the Big 12 title Saturday night.

Taking advantage of an opportunity many felt it didn’t deserve, the highest-scoring team in major college football history romped to a third straight conference crown and became the first to reach 60 points in five consecutive games in 89 years.

“We were tired about hearing everyone talking about how we didn’t deserve to be in the game,” said Bradford, who passed for 384 yards and two touchdowns. “It was a big motivator for us.

“I don’t see how we could not be No. 1 tomorrow.”

No need to worry, two is just as good. And if all goes accordingly today, Oklahoma (12-1) will be in the top two of the Bowl Championship Series standings, looking at a title game matchup against No. 2 Florida on Jan. 8 in Miami.

Touted as the best two conferences in college football this season, it seems appropriate their champions will play for the national title.

For Oklahoma and coach Bob Stoops, it’ll be their fourth appearance in a BCS national championship game. The Sooners won their first try in 2001 against Florida State, but have lost their last two – to LSU after the 2003 season and to USC after the 2004 campaign.

The Sooners’ losing streak in BCS games is four, taking some of the luster off a coach who earned the nickname “Big Game Bob” early in his tenure.

No one would argue with Big 12 Bob, though. Stoops improved to 6-1 in the conference title game. No other Big 12 team has won more than two in the 13-year history of the league.

This one was over by halftime. By then Bradford had already thrown for 240 yards and two TDs and the Sooners led 38-7. Along the way they zoomed past Hawaii’s NCAA record 656 points set in 2006.

The Sooners kept trying to put up more points until the end. Soon after Bradford threw a long incompletion into the end zone, Madu dashed 37 yards for the final points with 3:33 left.

Chase Daniel and Missouri (9-4) never really had a chance and for the second season in a row, they lost the Big 12 title game to Oklahoma.

Oklahoma became the first team to score at least 60 in five straight games since Tulsa in 1919, according to STATS LLC.

The numbers were staggering again. The Sooners piled up 627 yards, Chris Brown and Madu, the third-stringer playing because DeMarco Murray injured his knee on the opening kickoff, each ran for more than 100 yards and three scores. The defense held Missouri 24 points below its average and forced three turnovers.