Kansas City, Mo. ? Just as the ball keeps doing when they try to run with it, the Oklahoma Sooners have fallen.
Seven fumbles helped lead to a mistake-filled 41-24 loss at UCLA on Saturday, dropping the embarrassed Sooners to 1-2 and taking them out of the running for the national championship.
The word is out. Oklahoma can be had. So dominant while carrying the Big 12 Conference banner into three BCS title games in five years, the Sooners now seem ripe for the taking.
They are, in fact, the only team in their conference with a losing record. How long has it been since that could be said?
To be sure, nobody is assigning Oklahoma to its pre-Bob Stoops doormat status of 1994-98, when it did not have one winning season.
But does anyone think the second-ranked Texas Longhorns have forgotten those 65-13 and 63-14 thumpings Stoops’ Sooners dealt them in recent years?
Texas A&M also has a score to settle – 77-0 in 2003. That was two weeks before Stoops laid a 56-25 hammer on Texas Tech.
Nebraska, unbeaten in three games so far this season, probably has not forgotten its 30-3 loss last year in Norman.
Even Kansas University’s Jayhawks could be thinking this could be its year for an Oklahoma breakthrough – and wishing they hadn’t agreed to play their home game against Oklahoma in Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
Still, this is Oklahoma – a team with a reputation to protect and a willingness to protect it.
“We’re not done,” a defiant Stoops said. “I know what all will be written. We’re a work in progress, and we’re fighting that, and we’re not quitting. We’re going to keep pushing and make improvements each week. If we do, we’ve got a chance to be a good team.”
The Sooners get to take a much-needed break before they dive into Big 12 action Oct. 1 against Kansas State. Maybe there’ll be time to work on taking care of the ball.
“It has been unlike us. Unfortunately, it’s like us now,” Stoops said.
Explaining to the youthful Sooners that everyone in the Big 12 is circling the day they get them will not be necessary.
“Everybody will have their shots at us,” Stoops said. “And that’s fine.”
In an abbreviated weekend for the Big 12, Oklahoma was the only team Saturday to lose. Heading into this week, nine conference teams are unbeaten. Colorado, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Iowa State are 2-0. Baylor, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas are 3-0.
Texas A&M is 1-1, and Missouri, which knows a thing or two about the sweet taste of revenge after beating Troy, 52-21, is 2-1.
The Tigers saw their season wrecked last year in a shocking 24-14 loss at Troy. But as Troy coach Larry Blakeney said, the difference between this year and that may not have been entirely due to the Tigers’ motivation.
“The big difference was the 14 or 15 guys that we had last year,” he said. “Nine of them are in the NFL, and one got drafted in the first round.”
¢ Promise kept: Adam Ickes blocked Josh Cummings’ 46-yard field-goal attempt as time expired to preserve Nebraska’s 7-6 win over Pittsburgh, just as he said he would. Afterward, Ickes’ roommate, Stewart Bradley, revealed Ickes’ pregame vow.
“He said he might not block an extra point, but if they have a field goal, he said, ‘I’m going to for sure block it,”‘ Bradley recalled. Ickes and Zach Potter each blocked field goals, marking the first time since the 2000 game against Colorado that the Huskers had stuffed two attempts.
¢ Churning out players: Ever notice how Texas A&M produces lots of great defensive tackles? And the way high-quality defensive ends proliferate at Nebraska?
The NFL has. It released some interesting statistics this week showing which football factories are turning out the most pros. The Aggies and Cornhuskers came up big – but only at specific positions.
Overall, Florida State had the most players on opening-day NFL rosters with 42. Surprisingly, no Big 12 team ranked among the top 10.
But Texas A&M had the league’s most defensive tackles, with six. Georgia and Nebraska tied with six defensive ends. Oklahoma’s five cornerbacks were tied with Ohio State and LSU. Six schools had two kickers in the NFL, including Nebraska.
¢ Will these guys ever quit?: Maybe Bob Knight isn’t the only cranky genius at Texas Tech. You have to hand it to football coach Mike Leach. First Kliff Kingsbury, then B.J. Symons, then Sonny Cumbie and now Cody Hodges. Four years in a row, the Red Raiders have had fifth-year seniors lead the nation in total offense. All Hodges did Saturday was throw for 356 yards and four touchdowns in the first half of an 80-21 trouncing of Division I-AA Sam Houston State. Hodges finished 26-of-37 for 436 yards.
The Red Raiders get Oklahoma at home Nov. 19.
Kansas City, Mo. ? Just as the ball keeps doing when they try to run with it, the Oklahoma Sooners have fallen.
Seven fumbles helped lead to a mistake-filled 41-24 loss at UCLA on Saturday, dropping the embarrassed Sooners to 1-2 and taking them out of the running for the national championship.
The word is out. Oklahoma can be had. So dominant while carrying the Big 12 Conference banner into three BCS title games in five years, the Sooners now seem ripe for the taking.
They are, in fact, the only team in their conference with a losing record. How long has it been since that could be said?
To be sure, nobody is assigning Oklahoma to its pre-Bob Stoops doormat status of 1994-98, when it did not have one winning season.
But does anyone think the second-ranked Texas Longhorns have forgotten those 65-13 and 63-14 thumpings Stoops’ Sooners dealt them in recent years?
Texas A&M also has a score to settle — 77-0 in 2003. That was two weeks before Stoops laid a 56-25 hammer on Texas Tech.
Nebraska, unbeaten in three games so far this season, probably has not forgotten its 30-3 loss last year in Norman.
Even Kansas University’s Jayhawks could be thinking this could be its year for an Oklahoma breakthrough — and wishing they hadn’t agreed to play their home game against Oklahoma in Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
Still, this is Oklahoma — a team with a reputation to protect and a willingness to protect it.
“We’re not done,” a defiant Stoops said. “I know what all will be written. We’re a work in progress, and we’re fighting that, and we’re not quitting. We’re going to keep pushing and make improvements each week. If we do, we’ve got a chance to be a good team.”
The Sooners get to take a much-needed break before they dive into Big 12 action Oct. 1 against Kansas State. Maybe there’ll be time to work on taking care of the ball.
“It has been unlike us. Unfortunately, it’s like us now,” Stoops said.
Explaining to the youthful Sooners that everyone in the Big 12 is circling the day they get them will not be necessary.
“Everybody will have their shots at us,” Stoops said. “And that’s fine.”
In an abbreviated weekend for the Big 12, Oklahoma was the only team Saturday to lose. Heading into this week, nine conference teams are unbeaten. Colorado, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Iowa State are 2-0. Baylor, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas are 3-0.
Texas A&M is 1-1, and Missouri, which knows a thing or two about the sweet taste of revenge after beating Troy, 52-21, is 2-1.
The Tigers saw their season wrecked last year in a shocking 24-14 loss at Troy. But as Troy coach Larry Blakeney said, the difference between this year and that may not have been entirely due to the Tigers’ motivation.
“The big difference was the 14 or 15 guys that we had last year,” he said. “Nine of them are in the NFL, and one got drafted in the first round.”
“He said he might not block an extra point, but if they have a field goal, he said, ‘I’m going to for sure block it,”‘ Bradley recalled. Ickes and Zach Potter each blocked field goals, marking the first time since the 2000 game against Colorado that the Huskers had stuffed two attempts.
The NFL has. It released some interesting statistics this week showing which football factories are turning out the most pros. The Aggies and Cornhuskers came up big — but only at specific positions.
Overall, Florida State had the most players on opening-day NFL rosters with 42. Surprisingly, no Big 12 team ranked among the top 10.
But Texas A&M had the league’s most defensive tackles, with six. Georgia and Nebraska tied with six defensive ends. Oklahoma’s five cornerbacks were tied with Ohio State and LSU. Six schools had two kickers in the NFL, including Nebraska.
The Red Raiders get Oklahoma at home Nov. 19.