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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma's offense was far from crisp
during a blistering season opener, but didn't need to be against
generous Texas-El Paso.
The 19th-ranked Sooners turned five of UTEP's seven turnovers
into touchdowns in a 55-14 victory Saturday night.
Josh Heupel threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, and
freshman Renaldo Works scored three fourth-quarter TDs for
Oklahoma, which is coming off its first winning season since 1993.
The temperature at kickoff was 106, making it the hottest home
game in school history. But that didn't keep 74,761 from turning
out, giving Oklahoma its largest home-opening crowd since 1988.
Heupel and the Sooners' wide-open passing game appeared rusty at
times, but Oklahoma took advantage of great field position and the
UTEP mistakes to take control.
"I thought that when we made them go the long, hard way, the
few times that we did, we stopped them," UTEP coach Gary Nord
said. "But they had a short field all night long due to our
turnovers. It was really frustrating, that part of it."
Nord, who was Oklahoma's offensive coordinator in 1995, tried a
little bit of everything to keep the Sooners off balance. In the
first quarter alone, the Miners attempted two onside kicks, ran an
end around and converted a fake punt.
They also failed on a fake field goal in the third quarter after
reaching the 13-yard line, and converted on fourth-and-1 to keep
their second touchdown drive alive.
"When you come into a place like this that has a good football
team, you have to take some chances. We knew that," Nord said.
"We were trying to keep the ball out of their hands as much as we
could early."
Heupel, who set school and Big 12 records with 3,460 yards and
30 touchdowns a year ago, scored on a sneak and threw scoring
passes of 4 and 31 yards. But he had seven straight incompletions
during one stretch, was intercepted once and lost a fumble. He
wound up 18-of-36 for 274 yards.
Works scored on runs of 19, 6 and 5 yards, and led Oklahoma with
98 yards on 19 carries.
Safety Roy Williams returned an interception 35 yards for a
score and two of Works' touchdowns came after turnovers.
"Any time you beat somebody 55-14, you've done a lot right,"
coach Bob Stoops said. "But it was far too sloppy for us to be the
kind of team we want to be."
A fumble recovery on the Miners' first play gave Oklahoma the
ball at the UTEP 17, and three plays later Heupel scored from 1
yard out.
The Miners tied it nine minutes later, keeping the drive alive
with the fake punt, but Oklahoma later capitalized on a failed
onside kick to take over at the UTEP 46. A 36-yard completion to
Quentin Griffin set up Heupel's 4-yard TD pass to tight end Trent
Smith that gave the Sooners the lead for good.
After their first touchdown, the Miners netted 10 yards or fewer
on four of their next six possessions, including the one in which
Williams intercepted Rocky Perez's pass and returned to the end
zone for a touchdown that made it 24-7.
Perez threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Paul Tessier in the first
quarter. The Miners' other TD came on a 19-yard run by Chris Porter
one play after reserve quarterback Wesley Phillips gained 9 yards
on fourth-and-1.
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