Three losses.
Near the bottom of the Big 12 Conference standings.
It’s a situation a team like Oklahoma, which has won 60 games over the last five seasons, is not familiar with.
So, what’s left to play for? The answer will help define how the rest of the Sooners’ 2005 season goes.
There’s no chance for a national championship and last Saturday’s 45-12 loss to Texas all but erased any chance of winning the Big 12 South. The usual sources of motivation no longer exist.
Even OU coach Bob Stoops admits he didn’t see his team’s predicament on the horizon.
“I feel that we’re better than where we’re at right now, or should be,” he said at his weekly media luncheon Tuesday. “Now, I didn’t anticipate all that’s happened and who we’d miss. I’m not making excuses, what I’m saying is I didn’t anticipate all of that. You play the hand you’re dealt, but I felt overall that coming into the year, we would’ve been stronger and better than we have been.
“You can name a bunch of reasons why we haven’t been. Blame it on me, that’s fine. I’m not going to sit here and act like coming into the year I didn’t feel we’d be better than this. I did. All we can do is try and improve.”
But how much improvement can OU really make?
The Sooners have been saddled with all the typical struggles of a young team. The offensive line has three senior starters, but has played three freshmen on numerous occasions. Wide receivers, at any given time, might consist of three freshmen on the field. It’s defense is counting on a secondary that features two freshmen at the safety spots.
So, does the focus switch from winning games to simply getting better and gaining experience?
That would mean telling a senior class that has won two conference championships and played for two national championships to put its immediate goals away.
Senior offensive lineman Davin Joseph said all that matters is the health of the program.
“Oklahoma football is bigger than seniors wanting to win,” he said. “It’s more than what one person wants. It’s about being a dominant program. From when we won a national championship in 2000 to last year, we’ve been dominant.
“We have to get back to there. Whether it’s taking baby steps or whatnot, we have to establish that again. If it means playing young guys to go out on a positive note, that’s what we have to do.”
Stoops doesn’t believe selling out to youth is the answer.
There’s only one thing that can cure what ails OU.
Winning.
That will require the Sooners putting things together, cutting mistakes and playing harder and more focused. It will require everything Stoops was talking about three weeks ago, when OU was 1-2, looking to take advantage of an off week before Kansas State came to town.
“Yeah, I think we can. That’s what we’re pushing for,” Stoops said. “Again, it goes with playing a little bit smarter and more physical as well. You put those together. We’ve got to be able to find that though.”
The Sooners still believe they can turn things around.
“We still feel like we are a very talented team,” tight end Joe Jon Finley said. “We have a lot of young players, but right now we still have a chance of having a great year. We just have to take it game by game and keep working as hard as possible trying to improve.”
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Quest to win keeps Sooners going
- OU Sports
-
-
Sooners did not show up to play
Texas had something to play for. So there’s that. If the Longhorns are to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, this was just the kind of game they absolutely had to win....
-
With W.V. set free by Big East, Big 12 schedule’s out and it’s backloaded for Sooners
With West Virginia finally receiving its release from the Big East Conference on Tuesday, the Big 12 Conference was finally able to release its conference football schedule for the 2012 season....
-
Red River rut
The rut Oklahoma has been trying to escape for the last two weeks continued to grow deeper with a 69-58 loss to Texas Tuesday night at Lloyd Noble Center....
-
OU gearing up for Texas’ Brown
If Oklahoma guard Steven Pledger had his way, tonight’s meeting with Texas will come down to two players: himself and Longhorn guard J’Covan Brown....
-
Sooners will have a dramatically new look up and down the order, on the mound
The clubhouse at L. Dale Mitchell Park hasn’t changed over the last year. Just about everything else has since the 2011 baseball season ended. The locker stalls have 20 new nameplates. The coaches’ locker room has two new ones as well. ...
-
Despite hard fight, UConn wins big
By its own standards, the Connecticut team that took the floor Monday night at Lloyd Noble Center was not in the same class as its previous incarnations. But a down year for the seven-time national champions is still better than just ...
-
Believe it or not, OU women are progressing
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma appeared plenty willing to embarrass Oklahoma for a third time in seven games....
-
OU reeling from stunning loss to Texas Tech
As Oklahoma’s players headed toward the exit at United Spirit Arena on Saturday night, most had dazed looks on their faces. The 65-47 loss to Texas Tech was something they didn’t see coming....
-
Husky challenge
No time might seem like a good time to face Connecticut. The Huskies are always terrific and this season will enter Lloyd Noble Center likely ranked No. 2 following Notre Dame’s Sunday loss to West Virginia....
-
Sooners put finishing touches on perfect opener
Oklahoma capped off a perfect opening weekend of softball on Sunday with an 11-1 victory over Kent State. The Sooners were led by another strong outing from pitcher Keilani Rickets and an offensive explosion by Allee Allen....
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
Sooners did not show up to play
