Falcons notebook: Sooners' White impresses Newson
9/5/2004NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma quarterback Jason White didn't bring the Heisman Trophy onto the field for yesterday's game against Bowling Green.
Then again, he didn't need to in order to gain the Falcons' respect.
After the game, BG safety Keon Newson said he made it a point to shake the hand of last year's Heisman Trophy winner following BG's 40-24 loss.
"I considered it a great honor to be on the field with the Heisman Trophy winner,'' Newson said. "It's not every day you get to even meet one, much less play against one.''
White was solid but not spectacular, completing 24 of 41 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. While his passing yardage total was lower than all but two games he played last season - a win over Oklahoma State and the loss to LSU in the BCS championship game - White did direct the Sooners to 496 yards of total offense and five touchdowns.
But White also made a mistake. Newson stepped in front of White's third-and-1 pass into the flat early in the final period for an interception, and the senior safety wasn't touched until he was pummeled by teammates in the end zone following his 28-yard return for a TD.
"As the game flowed, we were able to pick up on a couple of things they were doing,'' Newson said. "On that play I picked up on a different signal and I was able to make that play.''
Newson, who also had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery, gave the BG secondary mixed reviews for its performance.
"I thought as the game went on we were better able to handle the different kinds of routes we were expecting,'' he said.
GROUND UP: With White and All-American receiver Mark Clayton, Oklahoma was expected to throw the ball well. What might not have been expected was the way the Sooners were able to run the ball.
Oklahoma finished with 258 net yards rushing, averaged 5.0 yards per running play, and had two backs finish with at least 100 yards. Junior Kejuan Jones finished with a game-high 148 yards with a touchdown on 32 carries, while freshman Adrian Peterson added 100 yards and a TD on 16 rushes.
"It [their offensive line] was good, but I didn't think it was dominating,'' BG coach Gregg Brandon said. "I thought their backs were hard to tackle. We had to swarm to tackle those guys, and it's tough to sustain that kind of intensity.''
THREE-DOT DATA: Oklahoma is 31-1 at home under coach Bob Stoops. Yesterday's crowd of 84,319 was a record for Memorial Stadium. The Sooners held the ball for almost 18 more minutes than the Falcons, but most of that difference came when Oklahoma held the ball for 13:32 of the final quarter. Jovon Burkes led the Falcons with 12 tackles, while fellow linebackers Terrel White and Ted Piepkow each had nine.
THE LAST WORD: Oklahoma senior defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek came away impressed with the Falcons.
"We knew they were going to be a good team coming in,'' Dvoracek said. "That's what you want, for them to test us in the end and see what we're made of. They made us dig down deep. It's always better to play a good game than come in and have a blowout.''