During a week of upsets, OU managed to avoid a similar fate and became the No. 1 team in the nation.

Sam Bradford passed for 411 yards — including a school record 202 in the first quarter — and led the Sooners to a 35-10 win over TCU.

“It’s a good solid win,” head coach Bob Stoops said. “Anytime you’re playing ranked teams, you have to play at your best. Heck, the way things are going, you have to be at your best every week.”

OU was the only team in the top four to win this weekend, as No. 1 USC and No. 4 Florida both lost to unranked teams and No. 3 Georgia lost to conference rival Alabama.

Alabama’s win catapulted the Tide to No. 2, with LSU, Missouri and Texas rounding out the top five — meaning three Big 12 teams are now ranked in the top five, with Texas Tech not far behind at No. 7.

The last time the Sooners were ranked No. 1 was during the Big 12 Championship in 2003, when they lost to Kansas State.

Despite the ranking, players are trying not to get ahead of themselves.

“We’ve still got a long way to go before we even think about where we’re ranked in the polls,” Bradford said. “Right now, they pretty much don’t mean anything.”

The victory over TCU completed a 4-0 non-conference slate for the Sooners. They have beaten their opponents by a combined score of 199-52.

The Sooners now have won 21 consecutive home games, which is tied for the second-longest in OU history.

The longest home winning streak in school history is 25, which ended in 1957. The Sooners have four home games remaining, which means if they run the table they will tie that mark.

The last time the Sooners lost at home was against TCU in 2005, when running back Adrian Peterson was limited by injury and quarterback Rhett Bomar replaced starter Paul Thompson in the middle of the game.

This year’s Sooner team is remarkably more consistent, led by the performance of Bradford.

Against their non-conference opponents, the Sooners have ripped defenses apart, amassing an average of 49.8 points per game, which ranks fifth in the nation.

OU struck first when Bradford hit senior wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias for a 24-yard touchdown pass just two minutes into the game, and the Sooners never looked back.

The Sooners gave up their first points of the game after poor coverage on special teams — perhaps the one thing that has been a growing concern in the Sooners’ four victories — led to a field goal.

OU was quick to strike back when junior running back Chris Brown capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive with a one yard touchdown run to give the Sooners a 14-3 lead.

The Sooners tacked on a third score with another touchdown pass from Bradford, who this time hit senior wide receiver Manuel Johnson for a 76-yard strike to give OU a 21-3 lead moving into the second quarter.

Both defenses dominated the second quarter, but the Sooners found the endzone again in the final minute of the quarter to take a 28-3 halftime lead when Bradford and Johnson connected on a 55-yard score for Johnson’s second score of the day.

After a three-and-out on their first drive of the second half, the Sooners scored from 63 yards away on a perfectly executed flanker screen to Johnson.

Johnson finished with a school record of 206 receiving yards — many of which came after the catch — and pulled down three touchdowns.

“The pass game, I feel like if they want to load up the box and play us man outside, we like our chances,” Bradford said.

With the defense stacking the box in order to stop Brown and DeMarco Murray, Johnson repeatedly was able to get behind coverages.

“I told him that’s one of the best performances of a wide receiver we have had in 10 years,” Stoops said. “It ranks up there with anybody we’ve had — 5 catches, 206 yards and three touchdowns. That’s a pretty special night.”

In the first part of the fourth quarter, TCU finally found the end zone when junior running back Joseph Turner scampered in from a yard out for the Horned Frog score.

Bradford finished with 411 yards — a new career high and third most in OU history — on 19-for-34 passing and four touchdowns. He has now set new career highs in passing yardage in each of the last three games.

For TCU, sophomore quarterback Andy Dalton finished 16-for-39 with 212 yards and an interception.

“It’s always a good thing to win, it’s not always an easy thing to do,” Stoops said.