Published: October 19, 2008 11:25 pm         

Bradford says OU can be even better

NORMAN — Could the Oklahoma offense do any better than it did in a 45-31 victory over Kansas Saturday?

Quarterback Sam Bradford threw for a school record 468 yards and three touchdowns.

The Sooners had another 206 yards rushing.

OU’s 674 yards in total offense was the most by a Sooner team since rolling up 829 yards against Kansas State in 1988.

Kansas hadn’t given up so much yardage since allowing 717 yards to the Mike Gundy-Barry Sanders-Hart Lee Dykes Oklahoma State offense in 1988.

OU ran 97 offensive plays, the most by a Sooner team since 1975 when OU ran 102 plays against Oregon.

“It can be better,’’ Bradford said. “There were a couple of things communication wise that broke down and that was my fault. We’ll see some things Monday (in film session) that we can correct.’’

Bradford couldn’t find too many things to complain about without watching the films. He was not sacked while throwing a career-record 53 passes.

Bradford’s had a school record 26 completions in the first half in throwing for 313 yards, the second highest total for a Sooner quarterback.

“The offensive line did a great job,’’ he said. “They gave me all the time in the world. I was able to sit back there and analyze what they were doing. The receivers did a great job finding the open spaces.’’

Bradford put up his big numbers, despite the Sooners losing their top receiver Manuel Johnson (who came into the game with 32 catches for 553 yards and eight TDs) early in the game with a dislocated elbow.

Juaquin Iglesias had a school record 12 receptions for 191 yards, just 15 yards off Johnson’s school record of 205 yards set earlier this season against Texas Christian.

“That’s the thing about having a great quarterback,’’ Iglesias said. “He (Bradford) puts it right on target.’’

Quentin Chaney, who came into the game with only six receptions, caught six balls for 105 yards. Little-used Kolby Smith caught a two-yard TD pass.

“This group of wide receivers is so deep that we have a lot of expectations,’’ Bradford said. “Q (Chaney) knew it was his turn to step in and make plays and that’s what he did tonight.

“It was pretty much the same as we always do. We have a lot of reps with everyone during the week. Q is a great player and it’s not anything out of the ordinary for him to come in and play. He did a great job making some catches on some competitive throws.’’

The Sooners were held to 48 yards on 26 carries the week before against Texas on the ground. OU turned that around Saturday with DeMarco Murray running for 92 yards on 12 carries, a 7.7 average and Chris Brown gaining 83 yards on 16 carries, a 5.2 average.

“It (balance) opens up so many things for our offense,’’ Bradford said. “Today we had some play action passes that were there because we got the running game going early. When people have to try to decide if we’re going to run or pass, that’s when we’re at our best.’’

Murray seemed to be running with a purpose after being held to six yards on seven carries against Texas.

“He ran Monday as hard as I’ve seen him run in awhile,’’ Bradford said. “He did that all week. I wasn’t surprise to see him run the way he did today. I really expected him to come out and do that.’’

The Sooners had run a season-low 67 plays against Texas. Going into the game , OU had averaged 77.7 plays a game. OU had 36 first downs, which help make the game a four-hour affair.

“Today we kept ourselves ahead of the chains for the most part,’’ Bradford said. “We were able to convert on third downs (7 of 16). When you keep that momentum, it keeps things going and you can stretch people out.’’

Bradford was effective with play action as well.

“That gives the defense one more thing to worry about,’’ he said.

The Sooners needed to put the numbers up that they did. Kansas had 491 yards in total offense themselves. The two squads combined for 1,165 yards, marking just the sixth time the Sooners and their opponent have combined for more than 1,000 yards in total offense.

“We knew we had to go out and play well to win,’’ Bradford said. “To go out and play the way we did was a blast. We know our job is to go out and score every time we touch the ball. That’s our mindset regardless of how many points the other team has scored.’’