TULSA, Okla. -- Oklahoma's opener wasn't pretty, only successful.

The Sooners (No. 3 ESPN/USA Today, No. 1 AP) stumbled through the first half Friday night, failing to score a touchdown against a Tulsa team that gave up 35 points per game last season.

They got on track in the second half, scoring five TDs to finish with a 37-0 victory and plenty of things to work on before Alabama gets to Norman next weekend.

"We fumble inside the 10, we throw two interceptions going in,'' coach Bob Stoops said. "I think we'll learn from that.''

The Sooners, who moved into a tie at No. 1 with Miami this week in The Associated Press Top 25, had 509 total yards including 378 on the ground, the most in Stoops' three-plus seasons. But three turnovers and several dropped passes put a damper on things.

Senior tailback Quentin Griffin had a career-high 237 yards on 17 carries, consistently finding big holes up the middle. It was a good start for an offensive line that has been tweaked to provide a better ground attack this season.

"I can't say enough about what they do,'' Griffin said. "The offensive line kept working hard and was a motivation throughout the game.''

Griffin had 155 yards on nine carries in the first half, but the Sooners failed to reach the end zone.

Oklahoma receivers dropped three third-down passes in the half, two of which would have kept drives going. Tight end Trent Smith also lost a fumble at the Tulsa 10-yard line late in the first quarter.

Just before halftime, Oklahoma began a drive at its 2-yard line and used a 20-yard completion by Jason White and 50-yard run by Griffin to move to the Tulsa 7.

But the next snap went over White's head for a 21-yard loss, and two plays later he was intercepted in the end zone.

"The thing about it is, it's correctable and we are going to correct it next week,'' said offensive coordinator Chuck Long. "We executed well, but we turned it over in the red zone. We have over 500 yards and we're struggling.''

After the first half kept the mostly pro-Oklahoma crowd quiet, the Sooners scored twice early in the third quarter to take control, then added three fourth-quarter TDs to make it a blowout.

Griffin had runs of 44, 7 and 3 yards to set up an 8-yard touchdown run by Kejuan Jones two minutes into the second half. Four minutes later, Antonio Perkins returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown that made it 17-0.

In the fourth quarter, Jones scored on a 1-yard run after gaining 39 yards on a carry earlier in the drive. Oklahoma scored twice in the final five minutes of the game, each on short drives set up by turnovers. Renaldo Works scored on a 13-yard run and Jerad Estus scored from 11 yards out.

White, making his first start at quarterback since a season-ending knee injury last October against Nebraska, was 15-of-26 for 126 yards. But he threw an interception in the end zone in the first half and another inside the 15-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter.

"We got off to a slow start. We made a lot of mistakes,'' White said. "We found out we have a lot to work on.''

Tulsa shocked Oklahoma by gaining 33 yards on the first play of the game. But the Golden Hurricane finished with just 213 total yards, lost two fumbles and had to punt 10 times.