NORMAN — The Brent Venables era got off to an electrifying start on Saturday.
A rapid-fire offense paired with a hungry defense and the No. 9-ranked Sooners routed UTEP 45-13 at Memorial Stadium.
A 31-point favorite, OU raced out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, then coasted to an easy season-opening win that appropriately put just a little more distance between the present and Lincoln Riley’s departure last November.
New quarterback Dillon Gabriel, operating Jeff Lebby’s offense at a mach speed tempo, missed his first throw, then threw strike after strike, including two touchdowns to tight end Brayden Willis. Gabriel finished the day 15-of-23 for 233 yards and also ran for a first-quarter TD.
Eric Gray led the Sooners with 102 yards rushing on 16 carries, but Marcus Major came off the bench with two touchdowns, a 27-yard run and a 6-yard bulldozer TD in the third quarter, and walk-on wide receiver Gavin Freeman took a reverse 46 yards for a first-quarter touchdown.
Mims caught three passes for 81 yards and Willis caught three for 40.
Overall, the Sooners busted loose on pass plays of 42, 33, 31, 28 and 24 yards, and runs of 46, 36 and 27 yards.
On defense, Reggie Grimes had three quarterback sacks to lead a unit that had six sacks and limited the Miners to 28 yard on the ground and 316 total.
The Oklahoma defense took a step back last year under Alex Grinch, but the new coaching staff’s decision to utilize more physical practices with more live tackling seems to have paid early dividends.
Billy Bowman had a team-high nine tackles and broke up two passes from his new safety position. First-time starter Danny Stutsman had nine tackles, and middle linebacker David Ugwoegbu had seven tackles and a sack.
Miners quarterback Gavin Hardison was equal parts efficient and tough with 244 yards on 26-of-43 passing but also was dropped for 34 yards in sacks.
The Sooners are back in action again next week with a 6 p.m. kickoff against Kent State. That game will be carried on SoonerVision on ESPN+.
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