Oklahoma hosts the Aggies of Utah State at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Owen Field.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Test No. 1 for Utah State in
its game Saturday against third-ranked Oklahoma will
be to do what the Sooners' first two opponents haven't
done: Just keep it close.
The Sooners (2-0) have won their first two games
by a combined score of 130-23 heading into a game against
a Utah State team that failed to convert a single third
down last week against Wyoming.
"Oklahoma is blowing teams out," Aggies
linebacker Jake Hutton said. "They blew out Miami,
so they are the real deal right now."
With two lopsided wins -- 79-10 against North Texas
and 51-13 over Miami -- already on their ledger, the
Sooners opened as a 51-point favorite against the winless
Aggies (0-2). But players aren't counting any unhatched
chickens yet.
"We just take in the mind-set that each team's
different, every week's different," Oklahoma safety
D.J. Wolfe said. "It's something to where you
can't look at it as, "We just blew this team out,
so we're automatically going to blow that team out.'
That won't happen. That's not the nature of football."
The last time Oklahoma started a season with two
wins by so large of a margin was in 1972, when the
Sooners beat Utah State 49-0 in their first-ever meeting
and then walloped Oregon 68-3. In three all-time meetings,
Oklahoma has outscored the Aggies 176-24 -- an average
victory margin of 50.7 points.
"We all know it's not going to happen every
game, but it's great when it does," Oklahoma cornerback
Reggie Smith said of the back-to-back blowouts. "As
long as we get the win, I really don't care how many
it's by."
The atmosphere at Owen Field won't be completely
foreign to Utah State's players. Since former Oklahoma
State linebacker Brent Guy took over as coach two seasons
ago, the Aggies have played a road game against a top-tier
opponent each year in addition to WAC foe Boise State
-- which was responsible for Oklahoma's last loss.
In 2005, Utah State lost 35-3 at fifth-ranked Alabama.
Last year, Arkansas beat the Aggies 20-0.
And while Hutton said the sheer number of fans makes
it fun to play those opponents, he also knows the Aggies
can't get too caught up in the moment.
"When we played Alabama, we all went in and
looked around the stadium, and gave it "oohs'
and "ahhs' because we weren't used to that kind
of thing, and then they came out and scored 14 quick," Hutton
said.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops pointed out that the Aggies
held fourth-quarter leads in each of their first two
games, including against UNLV -- which nearly upset
then-No. 5 Wisconsin last week.
"We recognize it that we've got to be on top
of our game, continue to build for the season and keep
making improvement," Stoops said.
Instead of measuring themselves against Utah State,
defensive end Auston English suggested the Sooners
would use a mistake-free game as their standard.
"If you strive to be perfect and you don't
hit that mark, it's just going to make you fuel off
that for next week and keep you hungry," English
said. "If you always strive to be perfect, it
just keeps you going."
The Sooners also realize that a strong start doesn't
necessarily mean a strong finish. The 1972 team that
opened the season with two wins by a 114-point margin
won two more games in blowout fashion before losing
at Colorado in Week 5 to spoil a perfect season.
"You've always got to be worried about focus.
You've got to come out and play every game just like
you're playing the national championship game," Oklahoma
receiver Malcolm Kelly said. "You come out one
week and don't play hard, anybody can beat anybody."