Why OU could win

After struggling early in the season, the Sooners have become dominant on defense, rising to the top of the Big 12. While the Cowboys present the stiffest offensive challenge since Oregon in Week 3, OU couldn't be better prepared for such a challenge with a secondary that may just be the Big 12's best.

Texas throttled OSU's passing game. The OU defense is better.

OU's eighth-year coach may be in the midst of his best coaching job yet. Despite unwelcome obstacles that greeted the season and kept popping up along the way, Stoops guides a team that continues to improve each week.

This team can sniff 10-2. And the smell is inviting.

The Sooners have struggled mightily in their recent trips to Stillwater, losing in 1998 and 2002 and finding themselves pushed to the limit in the other meetings since 1996. But this OU squad is road tested and rugged.

The Sooners are 3-1 in true road games and should be 4-0, if not for blown calls at Oregon. And they've been in raucous atmospheres -- Oregon, Missouri and Texas A&M.

While the Cowboys seem to rise and fall almost weekly, the Sooners have surged behind a young team consistently putting it all together in unison.

Since the loss to Texas — Paul Thompson, the offensive line, the receivers and runners, the defensive front seven and the secondary ? this team seems to have every player performing at his best.

Try slowing that down.

By John Helsley