The University of Oklahoma continued their winning ways with a 47-17 victory over Texas Tech in Red River Conference action.

 

Tech fell behind 14-0 with two tries by wing Manny Soto, converted by Thomas Chinellato. But after OU captain Michael Al-Jiboori was sin-binned they perked up and scored two tries to get to 14-10.

 

But OU rebounded. Lock Austin Weber and center Thomas Murphy touched down to extend the Sooners’ lead, and then Al-Jiboori opened it up with three tries in the final 20 minutes.

 

“The first half was an adjustment for us,” said OU Head Coach Jason Horowitz, who started six freshmen. “We were missing six pack starters due to military, ROTC, wedding, and internship commitments. The young kids stepped up big-time; it just took them the first half to get acclimated to the intensity of this match.”

 

A year ago Tech pushed the Sooners all the way for the ARC championship. That time, said Horowitz, his team ceded the momentum and had to claw their way back into the game.

 

“Going into Lubbock, we knew that even though they have only played two games so far they have some serious talent and can be dangerous in the pack as well as counter-attack, which they were,” said the OU coach. “We made some adjustments at the half and crashed Murphy a bit more to open some space for Al-Jiboori and drive the pace up. That worked well as Mike was able to find space in the midfield that was not there in the first half. Manny Soto was the key to breaking the line on the outside when Tech closed down the midfield on us.”

 

Oklahoma moves to 4-0 in the conference.

 

“Overall, I am pretty happy with how we performed,” said Horowitz. “Our focus over the bye week will be our defense. We simply need to be more tenacious and recognize the shift in the attack.”