With the fourth quarter just under way and OU leading 45-20, Cincinnati senior quarterback Dustin Grutza dropped back to pass and was crushed by three OU defenders.

Unfortunately for the Bearcats, Grutza suffered a broken leg on the play. But that was an example of the harassment he suffered from the Sooner defense breathing down his neck.

The Sooners managed three sacks for 25 yards in the contest, but they were constantly in the backfield forcing Grutza out of the pocket and messing up Cincinnati’s timing.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Travis Lewis was a big reason why the Sooners were in Grutza’s face so much.

Lewis recorded 12 tackles in the game and sacked Grutza twice for 14 yards.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said his play was good, but he still has a lot more to offer.

“I thought Travis went out and played solid, certainly not spectacular but played solid and will continue to improve,” Venables said.

He said, though, Lewis’ assertiveness and aggressiveness was certainly impressive.

“I like how he can run. I like how he thinks on the field,” Venables said.

Sophomore defensive end Jeremy Beal could also regularly be seen in the Bearcat backfield. He finished the game with 10 tackles and recorded OU’s third sack.

“No question about it, Auston [English] and Jeremy Beal, their ability to spin into a 3-4 defense with basically base personnel, you can keep that same personnel on the field for the whole game,” Venables said.

The 3-4 defense consists of three linemen and four linebackers, while the 4-3 is the opposite. Beal could often be seen switching between lineman and linebacker in the two schemes.

Junior linebacker Ryan Reynolds, who recorded eight tackles, was also solid. Reynolds is trying to acclimate himself to a new position, after switching from outside linebacker to the inside position this offseason.

“We’re coming together real well as a team. We were ready for everything they threw at us,” Reynolds said.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Austin Box — who was expected to be a regular starter —didn’t see the field until late in the game, recording two tackles.

Box missed last week’s season-opener because of recent arthroscopic knee surgery, but the team wasn’t concerned that he could be an injury risk.

“I felt very comfortable playing [Box] based on his play throughout the week,” Venables said.

The Sooner secondary did a decent job shutting down the big play for most of the contest. Senior defensive backs Lendy Holmes and Nic Harris managed to contain the speedsters outside, combining for 15 tackles.

Only on one notable occasion in the first quarter did the Bearcats really have a huge play offensively. Grutza and junior wide receiver Marty Gilyard connected for a 57-yard strike that cut the score to 14-7.

Cincinnati managed 326 total offensive yards in the contest against the Sooner defense, but most of them were in the first half, when the Bearcats scored 13 points.

In the second half, the Bearcats also recorded 13 points, but their only touchdown came with two seconds remaining. OU shut down the Cincinnati offense in the second half, allowing just 81 yards of total offense.