NORMAN, Okla. – When it was all said and done and all 62 of Oklahoma's points had been tallied, there wasn't much left for coach Pete Lembo to say. Summing up the program's worst loss in six years isn't easy.
Ball State was throttled 62-6 No. 2 Oklahoma Saturday night. The Cardinals turned the ball over four times, blew numerous assignments and generally played well below their ability.
Oklahoma became the seventh team ever to score at least 62 points against Ball State and the first since Auburn in 2005.
"This was a humbling experience tonight," Lembo said.
The Cardinals kept the game close for the first 20 minutes, trailing 10-6 early in the second quarter. Ultimately, however, the Sooners' superior talent and experience proved too much to handle. Quarterback Landry Jones led Oklahoma's offensive explosion in the second quarter, turning a four-point lead into a 32-point blowout by halftime.
Jones threw for 425 yards and five touchdowns, the sixth 400-yard game of his career. He threw one interception, a pass that overshot its target and went right to safety Kyle Hoke late in the second quarter.
The Sooners kept the pressure on the Cardinals after halftime, adding 21 more points in the first four minutes of the third quarter. By then, the game was out of reach and there was nothing left for Ball State to do.
Lembo and Hoke said Oklahoma didn't do anything unexpected. That, in fact, was what made Saturday's loss so frustrating.
"We knew they were going to go fast, we knew what we were going to do if they went fast," Hoke said. "It comes down to just executing."
Ball State's offense did the defense no favors. The Cardinals had four turnovers, which the Sooners turned into 28 points. Quarterback Keith Wenning was intercepted by linebacker Tony Jefferson on three consecutive drives in the second quarter, snapping his streak of 186 pass attempts without throwing an interception that dated back to last November.
Two of the interceptions were tipped high into the air before finding Jefferson's hands. He also made a diving one-handed catch on a ball Wenning said he was trying to throw away, but didn't quite throw hard enough.
"I tried to throw it over all their heads," Wenning said. "He made a heck of a play, so give him credit."
Oklahoma scored its final touchdown on a 22-yard fumble return for a touchdown by linebacker Tom Wort in the third quarter.
Though Ball State forced two turnovers of its own, it is difficult to win when you turn the ball over four times.
"You go into any game, whether it's against Oklahoma or Buffalo or anybody else, and if you turn it over, you're not going to win," Lembo said. "Regardless of who you're playing that's probably the most important statistic in football."
The Cardinals now return to Mid-American Conference play where they won't face any team with near the talent level of the Sooners. The task of leaving Saturday's loss in the past won't be easy for Ball State, but Hoke said it is something the team must do as preparations for its Homecoming game against Temple begin.
"I wouldn't say it's trying to get rid of the game," Hoke said. "You've got to move on."
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