Bradford strong in return from injury

norman, okla. -- Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford wasn’t sure how his injured shoulder would hold up to a full day’s work.

After 49 throws in No. 19 Oklahoma’s 33-7 win against Baylor on Saturday, Bradford is ready for next week’s rivalry game against No. 2 Texas in Dallas.

“I think that’s something that we were all curious around here is how I would react to 3 1/2 -4 hours in my pads, on and off, not throwing the whole time, kind of sitting on the bench, coming back and making some throws,” Bradford said. “I felt like my arm responded great, and I felt good out there.”

Bradford was 27-for-49 passing and threw for 389 yards and a touchdown after missing the last month with a sprained joint in his throwing shoulder. It was the 14th 300-yard passing game of his career.

And he could have had even bigger numbers if the Sooners’ receivers didn’t have trouble handling his passes. Bradford had a career-high 22 incomplete passes, most of them coming on flat-out drops or passes that at least hit his receivers’ hands.

“To have been off as much as he has and go out there in his first go at it to play as well as he did, I thought he played great,” said Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops. “He stays away from the poor, the negative plays or the bad plays and he had a great night.

“If you add in seven, eight, nine drops -- you could cut that and say there’s five legitimate that are dead right in their hands -- he has an incredible night.”

There had been concern that Bradford’s shoulder wouldn’t have the stamina to hold up for a full game, but he ended up matching the second-most passes he’d thrown in his career.