If you’re an Oklahoma fan, and right about now you’re wondering if the Sooners might somehow find their way back into the national-title chase, because, really, you never know, everybody might lose a game, it could happen … stop, and stop right now.
Start worrying if the Sooners can handle Tulsa.
Harsh? Sure.
Negative? Duh.
Warranted? Oh, yeah.
Put it this way.
I know what happened at Owen Field Saturday was nothing like the forgettable John Blake seasons. I remember them well. They were off the curve. We may never see anything like them again in college football. And yet, watching the proceedings against the Horned Frogs, taking it all in and giving it a moment of thought, it’s just as clear OU has never looked this bad since.
The Sooners didn’t quit.
Quitting would imply they might have won if they hadn’t.
They just weren’t very good. And it may be because they aren’t very good.
Defensively, the second half was sharp.
OU’s first drive of the third quarter was impressive.
And that was it.
All she wrote.
The rest was fizzle.
Fizzle and poor play.
There were turnovers. There were fumbles. The defense didn’t lose this game. Not even close. And still, there were times Tye Gunn looked like Jason White used to look on third down.
One of the fumbles was Paul Thompson’s, inside the TCU 10. It probably cost the Sooners a touchdown. Another one was Rhett Bomar’s, deep inside OU territory. It directly led to a Horned Frog touchdown.
So maybe without those two snafus OU wins 17-10.
Why not?
Don’t be tempted by such foolishness. It’s just a ridiculously Soonercentric way of admitting the Horned Frogs were the only ones making anything happen.
Bob Stoops was asked by that tall goofy guy with Fox Sports Net Southwest if the Sooners, after two straight losses, the Orange Bowl and this, have lost their mystique. The coach looked like he might go off on the guy before giving an angry but oh, so accurate answer.
“You think we won all these other years just because (we were) Oklahoma,” he said. “No. We won because we made plays.”
Only Saturday, the Sooners didn’t make any plays.
Or, if they did, they never led to anything.
Things never got rolling.
Even while OU played its best defense and scored all its points after the half, the end was all anybody needed to watch.
With 5:43 to play, Chijioke Onyenegecha’s blanket coverage turned into a pop-up interception for Clint Ingram. It set the Sooners up, trailing by a touchdown, at the TCU 47.
First down, Adrian Peterson ran 5 yards. Second down, the line allowed the Horned Frogs through to drop Peterson for a loss of 3. Third down, Thompson threw incomplete to Jejuan Rankins. Fourth down, Thompson threw above and behind Lendy Holmes. Even though, Holmes could have caught it.
Given a chance, the Sooners, almost to a man, gave it back.
The fans already leaving, OU got one more shot with 2:05 to play.
Having to march 80 yards, the Sooners began the drive with a false start, followed it up with a toss to Kejuan Jones for 4 yards and a toss to Jo John Finley, who curled before reaching the first-down marker, for 6.
Only TCU’s illegal substitution kept the chains moving.
From there, Thompson threw incomplete, incomplete again and complete to Travis Wilson for a loss of 2 before being sacked and fumbling the ball away on fourth down, the game already out of his hands.
OU did not sniff making it interesting.
“I’m really disappointed across the board,” Stoops said.
As well he should be.
Now he has to go fix things. The thing about that is it assumes things are fixable. And isn’t that the question?
Were the Sooners bad Saturday?
Or are they just plain bad?
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Sooners’ futility a one-day deal or could it
Column by Sports Editor Clay Horning
- OU Sports
-
-
It’s a recipe for success
Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso was answering questions Saturday after her Sooners clinched another return to the Women’s College World Series when, without really meaning to, she began to make it clear her job has, sort of, become ...
-
Tigers deny Sooners’ Big 12 title hopes
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma wanted to win its first Big 12 tournament in 16 years on Sunday. Missouri needed to win it to get in the NCAA Tournament. Need topped desire at Bricktown Ballpark....
-
Sooners make winning look easy
As Oklahoma’s players locked arms around the pitching circle, coming together for what passed as a celebration following Saturday’s 7-1 NCAA Super Regional-clinching victory over Arizona, three gloves remained near second base....
-
There are no easy outs in the lineup
Looking for a gameplan to stop Oklahoma? Well, one may or may not be available, but walking two of the first three Sooners you face certainly isn’t part of it. Just ask Arizona’s Kenzie Fowler....
-
Sooners will play for Big 12 championship
OKLAHOMA CITY, — It’s been 16 years since Oklahoma won the Big 12 tournament. It’s closer now than its ever been to ending the streak. The Sooners rolled through Baylor, 7-2, on Saturday at Bricktown Ballpark to advance to the tournament’s ...
-
Sooners send five more to nationals
AUSTIN, Texas — Oklahoma track and field teams had five more individuals qualify for the NCAA Championship on Saturday evening at the NCAA West Preliminary. The men’s 4x100-meter relay team also advanced to the national semifinals....
-
OU sophomore Jao-Javanil wins NCAA golf title
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Oklahoma’s Chirapat Jao-Javanil made Oklahoma golf history Friday, becoming the first Sooner, man or woman, to win an individual NCAA national championship....
-
Pitching staff is exactly where Golloway wants it to be
When the Big 12 tournament began, Oklahoma felt like it had the pitching staff to make a deep run. Dillon Overton, Jordan John, Jonathan Gray and Damien Magnifico gave them four quality starters and a closer — Steven Okert — capable of ...
-
Sooners shut out Wildcats, need one more win for WCWS entry
Oklahoma might have scored more runs, not committed an error and starting pitcher Keilani Ricketts could have been just a little more efficient along the way....
-
Sooners send 4 more to NCAAs
AUSTIN, Texas – Oklahoma’s track and field teams added four individuals to the list of Sooners advancing to the NCAA championship Friday at the NCAA West Preliminary. In addition to the four new qualifiers, Brittany Borman advanced to the ...
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
It’s a recipe for success
