A look at the Oklahoma Sooners.

THE OFFENSE

Base formation: Multiple

2006 per-game averages:

Points: 30.1

Total yards: 370.7

Rushing yards: 188.7

Passing yards: 182

Turnovers lost: 2.3

Time of possession: 31:30

THE DEFENSE

Base formation: 4-3

2006 per-game averages:

Points: 16.0

Total yards: 273.1

Rushing yards: 99

Passing yards: 174.1

Turnovers gained: 2.0

THE COACH

Bob Stoops

Year at Oklahoma: eighth 

Record: 85-18

Worth noting: Under Stoops, the Sooners have spent 69 straight weeks in the national rankings and played in all four BCS bowls (going 1-2 in national title games). Stoops was the defensive coordinator when Florida won the 1996 national championship, and also when the Gators gave up 629 yards to Nebraska while trying to win the ’95 championship. He’s steered the Sooners to a 3-1 record in the Big 12 title game.

THE GAMERS

Reggie Smith

Position: SS Year: So.

Height: 6-1

Weight: 197

Worth noting: His early-season switch from cornerback to strong safety (a spot he made 10 starts at as a freshman) was key to the Sooners’ needed improvement in the secondary (OU is No. 2 in the Big 12 with 14 interceptions). Heavily recruited by the Huskers, Smith also is a special-teams threat who has 62- and 61-yard punt returns and one of 55 yards on a kickoff.

Malcolm Kelly

Position: WR Year: So.

Height: 6-4

Weight: 217

Worth noting: If the Sooners need to go to the air, they look first to Kelly. His 52 catches are 19 more than OU’s No. 2 receiver, and he has eight of the team’s 18 touchdown catches. Against Texas Tech, Kelly tied a school record by making 11 receptions. In the game, he also produced one of his four 100-yard efforts.

Allen Patrick

Position: RB Year: Jr.

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Worth noting: Who bets Steve Spurrier would love to have this South Carolina product in his backfield? Patrick, who as a sophomore at Independence (Kan.) Community College broke his leg and was granted a medical hardship, has allowed the Sooners to keep hammering away on the ground without the injured Adrian Peterson. In the first three games after Peterson broke his collarbone, Patrick had no fewer than 32 carries per game and averaged 148.3 yards. Then, after a sprained ankle kept him out of the next two games, he returned for last week’s must-win game against Oklahoma State and got 163 yards on 23 attempts.

QUARTERBACKS

Paul Thompson is right where he planned to be at the end of his career, but considering the route he’s taken, he has to be the Sooners’ MVP. After backing up Jason White in 2003, Thompson redshirted when the Heisman Trophy winner was granted a sixth year of eligibility, then won the job to start last year only to play so horribly in a loss to TCU that he moved to receiver. Thompson returned to quarterback only after Rhett Bomar was kicked off the team in August, and has put up numbers (2,169 passing yards with a 61.5 completion percentage, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions) that make you wonder why he ever struggled in the first place.

RUNNING BACKS

All junior Allen Patrick has done since Adrian Peterson broke his collarbone in OU’s sixth game is average 152 yards rushing — 3.8 less than Peterson did. Patrick, who like Peterson is physical and has an effective inside-the-tackles burst, missed two games because of a sprained ankle. In his absence, true freshman Chris Brown averaged 126.5 yards. No one’s saying Oklahoma’s offense has become more potent without the nation’s best running back (who won’t play Saturday), but since Peterson went down, the Sooners have averaged 208.8 yards on the ground — 37.1 more than when Peterson was earning his “All Day” tag. Like Nebraska’s Dane Todd, fullback Brody Eldridge is awaiting his first rushing attempt.

RECEIVERS

You could say the Sooners are going through a sophomore slump and not really criticize them. Sophomore Malcolm Kelly is the favorite target. He reached 1,000 yards receiving quicker than any Sooner (19 games) and has a touchdown catch in eight games this season. His 851 yards are more than OU’s next two receivers. Fellow sophomore Juaquin Iglesias is becoming a bigger factor at the other wideout slot (his only catch against Oklahoma State was for a TD), while another second-year player, Manuel Johnson, is No. 3 on the team with 25 catches. Junior tight end Joe Jon Finley is next with 19, and is second to Kelly with three touchdown grabs.

O-LINE

It’s hard to tell that the Sooners lost four seniors and two NFL draft picks who combined for 41 starts in 2005 — even with a current line that starts three true sophomores and a true freshman. OU has overcome the loss of tackle Branndon Braxton, who broke a leg in the seventh game. Left tackle Chris Messner has graded the best among this group. Left guard George Robinson is a whopping 330 pounds.

D-LINE

Larry Birdine, recovered from a torn biceps muscle that kept him out the entire regular season last year, and C.J. Ah You give OU one of the strongest left end tandems in the nation. Birdine has 6½ tackles for loss and four hurries, while Ah You has 7½ behind the line and seven hurries. With right end Calvin Thibodeaux providing a team-best five hurries and 6½ tackles for loss, opponents can expect to see relentless pressure in the backfield. Cory Bennett and DeMarcus Granger rotate at one tackle spot and have combined for 44 stops and five more tackles for loss. The other interior lineman, Steven Coleman, has five stops behind the line and is tied with Ah You with a team-best three sacks.

LINEBACKERS

It doesn’t matter who plays in these spots, the Sooners always have a star or two. Rufus Alexander is the latest. The senior weakside backer, a candidate for nearly every defensive honor, is leading the team with 95 tackles and is in position to be the first to do it in two straight seasons since Rocky Calmus (1999-2001). Fellow senior Zach Latimer is second with 73 stops and defends the pass with similar effectiveness. He returned an interception for a score against Middle Tennessee and also had picks against Colorado and Missouri. In last week’s win against Oklahoma State, he forced a fumble on a goal-line stand. 

SECONDARY

Zac Taylor will have his hands full trying to outsmart this unit. In the last five games, OU has 29 breakups and eight interceptions. And when the Sooners steal the ball, they don’t just crumple to the turf — their average return is 13.3 yards. Reggie Smith’s move back to strong safety paved the way for Lendy Holmes (tied for No. 2 on the team with six breakups) to make his mark at cornerback. Smith is tied with the other starting corner, Marcus Walker, for the team lead in breakups (eight). Walker has come back from two shoulder surgeries and had big interceptions against Missouri and Texas A&M. The team’s No. 3 tackler, free safety Darien Williams, missed the Oklahoma State game with an injury but is practicing and expected back in the lineup Saturday. Nickel back Nic Harris is tied for the team lead in interceptions (three), is tied for second in breakups (six) and is No. 4 in tackles (60).

SPECIALISTS

The Sooners don’t harp about their prowess on special teams because they always expect to be, and almost always are, stellar. Juaquin Iglesias leads a kickoff return unit that ranks No. 9 nationally with a 24.4-yard average. He returned a free kick 88 yards for a touchdown against Baylor. Reggie Smith, who’s handled all but one punt, is averaging 8.4 yards a return. He returned one  61 yards for a score against Middle Tennessee. Opponents are averaging just 17 yards on kickoff returns and 4.6 on punt returns. Jason Carter blocked one punt for a safety against Missouri and got another block against Washington. OU uses two punters — Michael Cohen for long kicks (he’s averaging 42.1 yards) and Mike Knall for short ones (nine of his 11 attempts have been downed inside the 20). Much was made of Colorado’s Mason Crosby last week, but OU’s kicker, Garrett Hartley, has made 17 of 18 field goals and is one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award. He did miss his first PAT of the season last week.

SCOUTING REPORT

From Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. His Cowboys almost overcame a 13-point deficit that would have denied the Sooners a spot in the Big 12 championship, but Zac Robinson’s final-play pass from the OU 25-yard line intended for D’Juan Woods in the end zone was tipped away by Reggie Smith and fell incomplete to leave Oklahoma a 27-21 victor.

The Sooners took a 27-14 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Chris Brown with 3:51 to play in the third quarter, but managed just 1 yard of offense the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Gundy opted to utilize Robinson in a no-back package and alternate him with regular starter Bobby Reid, who suffered a shoulder injury in the third quarter. Reid did return and said he was OK to play at the end, but Robinson, whose fumble into the OU end zone at the end of the third quarter cost the Cowboys a scoring opportunity, got the call on the final drive.

“We put game plans together to draw blitz when we want to draw blitz and to eliminate blitz when we want to eliminate blitz, (and for) when we want to throw the ball down field and when we want to run it. Our game plan was to stick with what we had prior to the game no matter how the game was going because, in our opinion, teams prior to this had tried to change their plans against them during the game and it just snowballed on them.

“We didn’t have any problem going up and down the field in the second half. Zac gave us an advantage in personnel to control what they did on defense.

“That was a heck of a college football game. That was about as fun a game as I have ever been involved in as a player or a coach. Unfortunately, close doesn’t count. 

“(Oklahoma is) very good, much improved from early in the season. They have obviously put themselves in position to probably compete with just about anybody in the country.”