Published: September 13, 2009 08:52 pm         

Jones finds his man in Broyles

NORMAN — Landry Jones, in his first start as the quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners, found the go-to receiver he didn’t have a week earlier in a shocking 14-13 loss to Brigham Young.

Jones connected seven times to wide receiver Ryan Broyles for 155 yards and three touchdowns in a 64-0 rout of Idaho State.

No other receiver caught more than two passes as Jones ended the night by going 18-for-32 for 286 yards and three TDs.

“It’s easy to throw to Ryan,’’ said Jones, subbing for an injured Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford. “I just put it up there and he’ll get it.’’

Jones, in the second half against BYU, had connected with Broyles only once for three yards.

The defense, Jones said, dictated Broyles as Saturday’s go-to rece-iver.

“He was the guy who was open so I threw him the ball,’’ Jones said. “Ryan is a great athlete. He’s going to get open. The defense allowed us to throw the ball deep. If I get a shot to throw it deep, I’m going to take a shot. You have to trust your receivers. If they’re open, you’re going to throw it to them no matter what’s out there.’’

Jones and Broyles set the tone early when Broyles took a flat pass from Jones on OU’s first play from scrimmage and went 34 yards. Jones’ longest completion against BYU was 13 yards.

“I just wanted to get in rhythm,’’ he said. “Once you get in rhythm, you can start throwing the ball down field more.’’

Of course, facing Idaho State — a Football Championship Subdivision team — was different from facing a top 20 team like BYU. Jones spent the week knowing he would start. He had in come in the second half against BYU.

“I felt a lot more confident out there,’’ he said. “I wasn’t as nervous. I came out this week knowing that I had big shoes to fill, but I prepared as well as I could. I played as hard as could and it came out well. I had a blast. You have butterflies like anyone else, but after the first snap, they went away.’’

Jones felt he played well.

“But I’m sure I’ll see some more on film,’’ he said. “Sam has been out there for three years. He’s more developed mentally than I am. I know I need to see coverages better.’’

Bradford “helped him out a quite a bit,’’ Jones said.

“He’s been there before,’’ Jones said. “He knows what to watch out for.’’

Jones’ only negative was throwing an interception in the third period. Bradford was there for advice.

“He told me to keep my head up,’’ Jones said. “I’m a perfectionist, but he said you have to forget some things and move on.’’

Jones was not lacking in confidence in his ability to throw the deep ball.

“I’m going to try to wing it,’’ he said. “I have a lot more confidence about throwing the ball down the field. I felt I played smart. If it (route) wasn’t there, I could dump it off to the running backs.’’

Jones’ 235 yards passing was the third most by a OU freshman quarterback in a half. Bradford holds that mark with 350 yards against North Texas in 2007.

OU’s defense recorded its first shutout since 2006. Linebacker Ryan Reynolds and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy both said the unit played with a chip on its shoulder.

“We wanted to try to make a statement that we were going to play hard no matter who we were playing,’’ Reynolds said. “We kept it vanilla this week. We wanted to make sure we gapped up and played our responsibilities. Everybody knew their assignments and executed.’’

“We played smart,’’ McCoy said. “We didn’t want to give up the big play. We wanted to be stingy the entire game and not give up anything late. The second and third teams played well. That’s why we got the shutout.’’

Enid’s Austin Box was the co-leading tackler for the Sooners with six solo and three assisted stops. He had two-and-a-half tackles for 11 yards in losses.