ESPN College Football

NORMAN, Okla. -- Brian Kelly took Cincinnati to Oklahoma to see if the Bearcats could measure up to the nation's best teams.

The answer: Not quite yet.

Cincinnati played well at times, and trailed only by one score early in the third quarter. But the Sooners did what great teams do, exerting their will and crushing the Bearcats the rest of the way for a 52-26 victory.

"I told our kids that we had some nice individual performances and we did some good things," Kelly said "We weren't consistent in that high level of play."

Now Kelly has to worry about his team's play in the near future, as starting quarterback Dustin Grutza went down with a broken right fibula on a second-half sack. The early prognosis is that the senior will miss four-to-five weeks, thrusting inexperienced junior Tony Pike into the starting role.

"They didn't really give me an idea of how long I'll be out," Grutza said. "Hopefully I can be back in three or four weeks and recover quickly."

After giving up 14 quick points, the Bearcats pulled to within 21-13 by halftime. But the Sooners controlled the third quarter, scoring touchdowns on their first three drives. Sensing the game slipping away, Kelly called for a fake punt on his own 23-yard line, but Kevin Huber's pass was tipped away.

"We took a chance, and it didn't pay off," Huber said. "That's why you do a fake, though. If it works, great, and if not, it comes off as a bad call. I think he was pretty open if I had gotten it over (the linebacker)."

Oklahoma scored on the very next play, and the game was essentially over. Until the final snap, when Scott Johnson ran in for a meaningless touchdown, Cincinnati's only second-half points came on Mardy Gilyard's 97-yard kickoff return.

Gilyard had a record-breaking day with 246 return yards. That eclipsed the previous Big East mark of 208 yards by Miami's Najeh Davenport in 1998 and the 60-year-old school record of 218 yards by Roger Stephens. Gilyard also had 119 receiving yards, breaking the program mark with 365 all-purpose yards.

"I noticed some flaws in their kickoff defense on those returns and I took advantage," Gilyard said.

"I had a decent day, but I worry about our team a lot. No matter what I do, it doesn't matter if the team doesn't perform well. In the second half, we didn't play with any consistency at all."

Kelly's defense, which is supposed to be one of the best in the Big East, gave up 592 yards. He credited Oklahoma's superior skill.

"They resemble a championship football team," Kelly said. "They have that championship demeanor to them."

And playing the Sooners let Kelly know that his own team isn't there yet.