PASADENA, Calif. — Oklahoma football has lost its way.It’s a shocking development. One Sooner fans rightly believed inconceivable as long as David Boren kept throwing money at Bob Stoops. And yet there it is. There’s no other way to put it.
Playing inside college football’s greatest and most famous stadium, the Sooners were nothing short of embarrassing; stumbling, bumbling and fumbling their way to a 41-24 loss to UCLA.
Even as the Sooners were not so much bad as they were maddening.
OU played its best football of the season for extended stretches. But those stretches were rendered meaningless thanks to short bursts of FEMA-like ineptitude.
There was even Rhett Bomar, on a day he fumbled five different times, playing the part of the oblivious Michael Brown. Asked about the center-quarterback exchange, which remains no snap between him and Chris Chester, he replied, “It was pretty good today.”
While a case can be made the Sooners arrived in Pasadena stuck in a pattern of negativity, one that’s included injuries, transfers, poor play and some seemingly minor off-the-field concerns, what happened Saturday still stands out in stark relief.
Some of it was all-timer stuff.
From his own 7, Bomar allowed a shotgun snap through his legs, only to recover at the 1, even as the Bruins believed they had a safety.
Lendy Holmes, while yet to scare anybody with his punt-returning prowess, continued to alarm the Sooner Nation with his punt-fielding prowess, giving the Bruins the ball at the OU 19 with an absolute muff.
UCLA tied the game on the next play.
Though the Sooners were flagged for fewer penalties and fewer yards than the Bruins, every one seemed to create or nullify a turning point.
Near the end, even as Stoops disagreed, it was Chijioke Onyenegecha’s defensive hold that brought back Demario Pleasant’s interception and long return that might have put OU back in the game.
Just before the half, it was Chester’s offensive hold that turned first-and-goal at the 3 into first-and-goal at the 13 when a touchdown would have given the Sooners an intermission lead.
As it happened, OU trailed 13-10 following Garrett Hartley’s 37-yard field goal.
Plenty of it was on the players but plenty of it wasn’t.
Though Adrian Peterson gained 76 yards, he also lost 18, just about every one on a stretch play the Sooners kept going to even as the Bruins kept turning first-and-10 into second-and-13 and second-and-5 into third-and-8.
The last time Peterson wanted so little of the ball he pitched it back to Bomar who was tackled for a 9-yard loss.
It was comical.
That Holmes was even in the game to return punts was highly questionable.
After the muff, the job was given to a hobbled Jejuan Rankins, apparently to prevent another turnover. While nobody’s sure why Reggie Smith isn’t returning punts, Holmes’ exit remained seven points too late.
Paul Thompson was in the stadium, but never summoned, even after offensive coordinator Chuck Long said the Sooners were here to win, not develop; even after Bomar’s streak of quarters without a completion reached three and he’d dropped his first snap.
Players don’t call the plays and players don’t make personnel decisions.
Coaches do.
Silver linings? There were a few.
Bomar threw for 241 yards and the Sooners picked up 398.
Travis Wilson proved a threat receiving and running. The defense was stout most of the day and fantastic against the run.
It wasn’t TCU, when OU was simply bad. And it wasn’t Tulsa, when OU had to wake up to win. But in so many ways, it was so much worse. Because it looked nothing like Sooner football.
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
