EL PASO, Texas — The Sooners find themselves on the wrong side of a back-and-forth affair against the Stanford Cardinal in the 2009 Brut Sun Bowl. They trail Stanford 24-17 at halftime mainly due to Stanford’s 17-point second-quarter outburst.

OU’s defense set the tone early by holding Heisman-runner-up running back Toby Gerhart to a one yard run, forcing Stanford to throw the ball. But, Stanford senior quarterback Tavita Pritchard could not connect with a receiver on either of his first two passes, with his second pass being deflected into the arms of OU sophomore linebacker Travis Lewis.

The interception gave the Sooners’ offense the ball at Stanford’s 30 yard line, where four plays later freshman quarterback Landry Jones connected with sophomore wide receiver Ryan Broyles.

The defense went back to work on the following drive slowing Gerhart to short gains, but in return it lost junior defensive lineman Adrian Taylor to a broken left leg. He was replaced by freshman lineman Jamarkus McFarland.

Jones’ early success did not seem to settle him down. During the second drive he threw into coverage multiple times, one of which hurt OU while it was driving down the field.

Jones’ fourth pass of the game was intercepted by Stanford senior safety Bo McNally. He returned the ball to the Sooners’ 14 yard line setting up a one-yard touchdown run by junior fullback Owen Marecic to tie the game.

OU did not take long to strike back. After starting their third drive at their own 16 yard line, Jones and sophomore wide receiver Dejuan Miller drove the offense to inside Stanford’s 10 yard line to set up the go-ahead 28-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Patrick O’Hara.

O’Hara got two tries to give the Sooners the 10-7 lead because he missed his first attempt from 23 yards out, but it was negated by a false start.

The Sooners’ defense opened the second half with a third-down interception by junior safety Quinton Carter. Carter was questionable to play Thursday because he was experiencing flu-like symptoms prior to kickoff.

Unlike OU’s first interception, the offense could not convert the turnover into points.

Following a punt by freshman punter Tress Way, Pritchard connected with junior wide receiver Ryan Whalen for a season-long 42-yard pass to put the Cardinal’s offense in the red zone. Gerhart ran the ball in from 19-yards out on a direct snap to him to put Stanford up 14-10.

Jones stayed hot in the second quarter, leading OU’s offense 93 yards on eight plays to give the Sooners the 17-14 lead. Jones connected with three different receivers on the drive, with his final completion going to Broyles for a 13-yard touchdown.

The Sooners almost caught a break midway through the second quarter when Gerhart fumbled the ball on OU’s one yard line, but he recovered the ball in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. The score was Gerhart’s second of the day.

After a three-and-out by OU’s offense, Stanford senior Richard Sherman blocked a Tress Way punt to give the Cardinal the ball at the Sooners’ 11 yard line. A penalty negated a Stanford touchdown, so the offense had to settle for a field goal to put the Cardinal up 24-17.

Jones completed 16 of 26 passes for 223 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Broyles and Miller both have five receptions and combine for 151 yards — 76 for Broyles and 75 for Miller. Broyles has the Sooners’ only two touchdowns.

Gerhart leads all runners with 79 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns — one rushing and one fumble recovery.

The Sooners will get the ball first trailing by a touchdown to start the second half. The second half can be seen on CBS.