LAST TIME OUT

Oklahoma beat upstart Kansas State 42-30 Saturday in Norman, Okla. The Sooners jumped to a 21-point lead in the first quarter and held on after the Wildcats twice got within five points in the late minutes. Quarterback Landry Jones completed 26 of 37 throws for 294 yards and four touchdowns without an interception in Oklahoma's 28th consecutive home victory. Running backs DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown rushed 30 times for 145 yards. Jones threw three TD passes in the first 10 minutes as OU continued its dominance in the first quarter. It has outscored eight foes 79-0 in the opening quarter. Nebraska remembers well that kind of treatment. It fell behind Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and the Sooners 28-0 in the first five minutes of a 62-28 defeat last year in Norman.

QUARTERBACK SITUATION

Like Nebraska, the Sooners enter Saturday's showdown in Lincoln with its backup quarterback from the preseason in control — but under distinctively different circumstances. Bradford, who threw for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns to lead OU's juggernaut of an offensive unit last year, went down with a shoulder injury in the season-opening game against Brigham Young. Without Bradford, Oklahoma, ranked No. 3 at the time, lost 14-13. The junior QB re-injured his right shoulder Oct. 17, early in the Sooners' 16-13 loss to Texas. He underwent surgery last month and will enter the NFL draft next spring. Jones, a redshirt freshman, has performed admirably, completing 62.4 of his 229 passes for 1,657 yards and 17 touchdowns. And he's done it without tight end Jermaine Gresham, the All-American who will miss the whole year with a knee injury. Top receiving target Ryan Broyles has caught 10 touchdowns in seven games.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

Oklahoma leads the all-time series 44-37-3 over Nebraska and has won four straight in the series by an average of 20.5 points after the Huskers won eight of nine from 1991 to 2001. The rivalry thrived in the 1970s and '80s, when OU and NU met 15 times with both teams ranked nationally in the top 10. In 42 of 43 meetings since 1962, either the Huskers or Sooners have been ranked higher than Oklahoma's position this week at No. 20. During that time, only in 2005 — a 31-24 OU victory in Lincoln — were both teams unranked.

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE

Oklahoma leads the nation in sacks, averaging 3.4 per game, and tackles for loss at 8.6 per outing. The Sooners have relied on their defenders to carry a young offense that has struggled, at times, to rebuild the line and replace injured All-Americans at quarterback and tight end. OU ranks third nationally in rushing defense and eighth in scoring. The 30 points scored by Kansas State were a season high against Oklahoma, which had allowed seven points in three home games before the Wildcats' visit. The Sooners' three defeats, to BYU, Miami (Fla.), and Texas, came by a total of five points.

COACHING RIVALRY

Youngstown, Ohio, natives Bob Stoops (Cardinal Mooney High School class of 1978) and Bo Pelini (Mooney class of '86) have known each other for decades. Only last year, though, did they direct Big 12 programs from opposite sidelines. The Stoops-Pelini connection is somewhat striking, beyond their shared background: Stoops coached his first game at OU in 1999 two days before his 40th birthday. Pelini was hired at NU 11 days before he turned 40. They both played safety in the Big Ten, coached under Hayden Fry as graduate assistants at Iowa and hired their brothers as defensive coordinators. Stoops and Pelini enjoyed similarly successful first years after 5-7 seasons at traditionally powerful programs. Stoops, though, has the leg up on Pelini in year No. 2. The Oklahoma coach won a national title in 2000, finishing 13-0 with a win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Pelini and the Huskers still have work to do this fall to secure an invitation to any bowl game.

— Mitch Sherman

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