View from the Sidelines....OU Beats Iowa State

Originally Published: Oct 17, 2010 8:34 PM CDT

It was a remarkably festive atmosphere on the field Saturday night. Its almost like the team and crowd were unaware that they werent supposed to be fired up to play Iowa State. Kudos to the fans. It wouldve been easy to take an emotional week off. They didnt. And the Sooners executed at their highest level all season.

- When Roy Finch made his first appearance every player on the OU sideline came to the edge to watch. You get the impression that this kid has put on quite a show in practice. As good as Demarco and Mossis are (and I like those guys a lot), they dont provide the home run threat that Finch will bring. It looked to me that Roy was out there running plays intended for Demarco Saturday. I think once they start to formulate a package of plays just for him that get him on the edge and into space well really see him flourish.

- Speaking of Demarco...a cool scene when he broke the touchdown record. Joe Washington was among the first to congratulate him when he reached the sidelines. Then Demarco went to each offensive lineman to say thanks for paving the way. I dont put Demarco in the upper shelf class of OU all-time great running backs like Owens, Sims, Vessels, Washington, Pruitt and Peterson. But I think hes in the shelf just below. Ill put him in the class of Demond Parker, Mike Gaddis and Quentin Griffin. The problem with Demarco is he lacks a ton of "spectacular" plays. His run against Texas his freshman year is his shining moment. But hes been steady and productive for four years. Hes going to obliterate the touchdown record. He may get to 70. That should count for something.

- Frank Alexander is getting healthy. He looked MUCH better Saturday night. Quicker. Thats bad news for opposing quarterbacks. Bobby Jack Wright (defensive ends coach) was rotating ends about every two or three plays against Iowa State....giving R.J. Washington and Pryce Macon a lot of action. It also served to keep Beal and Alexander fresh.

- I  was pretty impressed with Kenny Stills as a punt returner. Im not advocating taking the job away from Ryan Broyles, but the job looks to be in exciting hands in years ahead.

- Itll be interesting to see if Missouri says anything worthy of the bulletin board this week. Theyve had a bad habit of doing that the week they play Oklahoma and it hasnt worked out well for them in recent years.

- I wasnt necessarily thrilled to see OU ranked #1 in the first BCS. But I was glad to see all the experts follow that up by saying they thought Oregon should be #1. Thatll give Stoops something to coach with this week. "Youre #1, but nobody thinks you should be."

- ESPNs Bruce Feldman with this stat: Of the 12 previous years of the BCS, the team that has been ranked #1 in the first poll has made it to the BCS Championship Game six times and won the title twice (99-Florida State, 04-USC).

- There is a tremendous positive vibe around this team right now. Granted, the only season I have to compare it to is last years 8-5 debacle. But, you just get a good feeling around this team. Chemistry is hard to put into words sometimes, but it is absolutely vital for championship calibre teams.