Wearing Box’s No. 12 jersey, Wort thrust his arms into the air to elicit a cheer from the student section, ran to the end zone and dropped onto one knee to ask his departed teammate to help guide him.
Box would surely have been proud with his performance.
Wort earned the first game ball of his college career and the top-ranked Sooners backed the prolific combination of Landry Jones and All-America receiver Ryan Broyles with a sturdy brand of defense to beat Tulsa 47-14 on Saturday night.
“A special moment to see the crowd react like that, wearing my friend’s jersey,” said Wort, Box’s replacement as Oklahoma’s starting middle linebacker. “It was a special moment. I got to run out there, go to midfield and just see the crowd go nuts.
“I just looked up to the sky, thought of Austin. Went to the end zone thought of Austin, prayed that maybe he’d help me out with this one.”
The Sooners (1-0) took the field for the first time since Box overdosed on painkillers in May, allowing Wort to become the first in a series of defenders that will wear his number as a tribute this season.
Jones, who feels new meaning with the No. 12 he wears on offense, went 35 for 47 for 375 yards and Broyles came up just shy of his own school receptions record with 14 for 158 yards. Dominique Whaley ran for 131 yards and four TDs as the Sooners extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 37.
Broyles’ 4-yard touchdown catch put Oklahoma up 30-0 with 4:23 left before halftime, and Tulsa (0-1) never mounted a challenge in Bill Blankenship’s first game as head coach.
The Sooners opened at No. 1 for the first time since 2003, after holding the top spot for only two weeks over the past seven seasons. They were selected as the preseason favorite after a solid finish to last season that included the end of a five-game losing streak in BCS bowl games.
In Atlanta, Kellen Moore and those BCS Busters from Boise State are off and running again, coming into the heart of mighty SEC country to beat up Georgia.
Moore threw for three touchdowns — giving him 102 in his career — and the No. 5 Broncos romped past the 19th-ranked Bulldogs 35-21 Saturday night, boosting their hopes of making another run to a major bowl while dealing a huge blow to embattled Georgia coach Mark Richt.
Moore, the nation’s top-rated passer last season and expected to be a leading Heisman contender, carved up Georgia’s 3-4 defense after a sluggish start. He completed 28 of 34 for 261 yards, with his first scoring pass — a 17-yarder to freshman Matt
He had two more before to lead the Broncos to yet another marquee opening victory.
In the last three seasons, Boise State has started the season with victories against Oregon, Virginia Tech and now Georgia.
In Columbus, Ohio, starting his first game in eight years, quarterback Joe Bauserman ran for a touchdown and threw for three to tight end Jake Stoneburner to lead No. 18 Ohio State to a 42-0 win over Akron on Saturday in a sweltering season opener.
Luke Fickell made his head-coaching debut for the Buckeyes after being elevated from defensive assistant to take the place of Jim Tressel, who was shoved out in the wake of an ugly NCAA scandal.
Stoneburner became the first Ohio State tight end to catch three TD passes in a game.
Bauserman, starting for the first time since he was a senior in high school, ran for a 15-yard score and threw TD passes of 28, 11 and 2 yards to Stoneburner.
The nearby Ohio State Medical Center reported around 20 people were treated for heat-related illnesses.
In Arlington, Texas, in a rare opening matchup of top-five teams, both missing key players, Jarrett Lee admirably directed LSU’s offense in place of suspended quarterback Jordan Jefferson.
Being without standout cornerback-punt returner Cliff Harris was more than mistake-prone and third-ranked Oregon could overcome.
The Ducks’ fill-in punt returner had a fumble that led directly to an LSU touchdown and Lee’s touchdown pass came against the defensive back playing in Harris’ spot in the fourth-ranked Tigers’ 40-27 victory Saturday night.
“I asked them to put to the perimeter all the things that could be considered distractions,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “I enjoyed Jarrett Lee’s gutty effort. I liked how the offense did the things they needed to do.”
Already without the suspended Harris, the Ducks made things even harder on themselves with four turnovers—three that LSU converted into 20 points while building a 30-13 lead.
