Oklahoma has lost exactly two games in Norman since its breakthrough season in 2000: one to huge underdog Oklahoma State in 2001, and one to huge underdog TCU in 2005. So there is some precedent, and therefore minor hope, Saturday for huge underdog Cincinnati. You know, the last time we saw Oklahoma against the Big East, it was getting trucked (beer-trucked, that is).

But even though I'm relatively high on the Bearcats, and their coach, Brian Kelly, off arguably the best season in school history in Kelly's first year, the venue here doesn't matter much. Not that Cincy is destined to fall without a reasonable fight, like completely helpless Chattanooga in Norman last week; if nothing else, the Bearcats can clamp down with All-Big East, NFL-bound corners Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith, who are good enough to anchor the Bearcat secondary in the same way Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams did on the corners last year for South Florida's run. It returns every significant member of last year's somewhat prolific receiving corps, and got a virtually flawless performance from prodigal starting quarterback Dustin Grutza last week after basically an entire year behind Ben Mauk (who, by the way, will get you off the field yet, Grutza). Eastern Kentucky gained all of eight first downs and didn't score until well into the third quarter, with the game well in hand for UC. The wayward pregame skydiver had a better night than the Colonels.

All together now: this is not Eastern Kentucky. Cincinnati may be as good as the Texas Tech outfit that upset OU in Lubbock last year, and better than the Sooner-felling Colorado team that outlasted them in Boulder, but within the bounds of predictable reality, the best Cincinnati can hope for against Oklahoma, I think, is a relatively mistake-free game, a couple of big plays to sustain momentum through the first half and a competitive score for long enough to lure a few curiosity-seekers who saw it go by on the scrolling ticker. With Oklahoma still breaking in new corners and outside linebackers, and Kelly pulling the strings in his stock-in-trade, the short, screen-heavy, flat-attacking, spread passing game, a little worry is in order for the first two, two-and-a-half quarters.

But the Bearcats don't have the push on the offensive line to mount sustained, clock-killing drives, and don't have the bulk or depth defensively to avoid getting worn down by Oklahoma's mountainous offensive line -- Cincy's front four defensively is outweighed by OU's front five on the other side by about 60 pounds per man. Once the inevitable holes start to open for DeMarco Murrayand Chris Brown -- if they're not there right away -- Sam Bradford will have the opening to deliver a dagger, and for the final 15 minutes, anyway, the rout will be on.
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Oklahoma 41, Cincinnati 17

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Photo of Auston English via US Presswire.