NORMAN — With Adrian Peterson's left arm in a sling rather than in shoulder pads, we figured the number of rushing attempts would change for the Oklahoma football team on Saturday night.
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We figured right, sort of.
Turns out the Sooners actually ran the ball more than usual in their 24-3 victory over Colorado before a crowd of 84,443 at Owen Field.
Backup tailback Allen Patrick had 35 carries all by his lonesome, which is one more carry than Peterson had in any game this season before going down with a broken collarbone one week ago against Iowa State.
All told, the Sooners rushed a season-high 49 times against the Buffaloes, who entered the game ninth nationally in rushing defense at 77.4 yards per game.
OU plodded along for 166 yards on the ground. That's hardly an overwhelming total, but it certainly was effective, especially under the circumstances.
The 1-7 Buffs aren't exactly world-beaters. Heck, they're not even Division I-AA beaters, having opened the season with a loss against Montana State — in Boulder, no less.
But I double-dare you to stand face-to-face with Sooners coach Bob Stoops and mock his team's offensive production.
The former all-conference defensive back at Iowa would challenge you to a throw-down right where you stand.
"That's a team, defensively, that's played well against everybody," Stoops said of the Buffs.
Perhaps never before has a 3.4 yards-per-carry average been so rewarding to a head football coach.
Though not dominant, more than anything the Sooners were just plain smart on offense.
With a chilling wind whipping out of the north, OU went with a low-risk approach.
"Offensively, I thought we really managed the game," Stoops said. "The conditions weren't the best."
No argument from Sooners offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, who told co-offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin after the fourth quarter started, "Man, I felt we've been going into a hurricane here for 30 minutes. It's nice to go the other way for a change."
Patrick finished with 110 yards rushing, giving the 5-2 Sooners a 100-yard rusher in every game this season.
Though some fans were caught yawning during the game, patrons certainly can't cite lack of effort from OU players or those who coach them.
With the wind chill hovering around 38 degrees in the closing minutes, Sooners offensive line coach James Patton was highly visible in his short-sleeve shirt, demonstratively imploring his linemen to move the masses in front of them.
OU freshman tailback Chris Brown came out of redshirt, carried four times and scored a touchdown with 17 seconds left.
Sure, the Sooners could have taken a knee. But the game was over anyway and taking a knee wouldn't have taught (or rewarded) Brown anything.
OU ran a season-high 75 plays and converted 9 of 18 third downs, which is heady stuff without Superman.
The always demanding Wilson seemed far more pleased than perturbed.
"We need to be better, but there were a lot of good things tonight," Wilson said. "It would have been nice to get more points than we did. But credit them. They've played good defense all year."
Sure, the stats could have been prettier for OU. But without Peterson available, 24-3 looks pretty good.
It doesn't make much sense to ask for style points with Peterson not on the field, now does it?
"We could have maybe been more diverse or more wide-open," Wilson said. "But we kind of had a plan of how the offense and defense was working together to get it done."
Saturday night was yeoman's work. But the work schedule changes considerably on Saturday when the Sooners play at 7-1 Missouri.
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