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By Andrew O'Brien
September 7, 2009
Upsets. Injuries. Punches. Just to name a few of some of the happenings throughout the festivities of the first college football weekend of the 2009 season, and it definitely didn't disappoint. For the most part, the teams that were supposed to win, well did, and some quite convincingly. Then there was Oklahoma.
Oklahoma started the season ranked third after making a solid run towards the National Championship last season. The Florida Gators seemed to be too much to handle though, knocking off the Sooners 24-14 in the BCS championship game.
While the Gators opened their season up against Charleston Southern, the Sooners didn’t have such an easy task.
Max Hall. No, that’s not the team Oklahoma opened up against. But he is the leader of BYU and the 20th ranking they own. BYU has been a tough competitor over the past few seasons, but Hall has a lot to do with that.
But on Saturday night, it wasn’t just a regular defeat for the Sooners. They also suffered another huge loss. Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford went down with a shoulder injury during the second quarter. It was all downhill from there.
Bradford went down on a hit by a BYU defender in the closing seconds of the first half and didn’t return. Backup freshman quarterback Landry Jones was shoved into the starting line-up, and it was evident the Sooners rely heavily on their junior Heisman Trophy winner. Jones finished the game 6-for-12 for 51 yards, and the Sooners lost 14-13.
BYU’s Hall will look back at this game for many reasons. First, it helps his bid for a spot in the running for this season’s Heisman Trophy. But more importantly, it thrusts BYU to the forefront of the latest BCS busters from the Mountain West conference and in the discussions as a contender to compete for the BCS national championship.
It was the first game of the season but upsetting the 3rd-ranked team in the country will do a lot for BYU. As for Oklahoma, their season is drastically different now, especially for the next few weeks while Bradford rehabs the sprained AC muscle in his throwing shoulder.
