Now that’s more like it.Except for all the penalties. And maybe that nothing-happening second and third quarter.

Fine. It was Bedlam, Oklahoma beat the three-touchdown spread and closed with a flourish, but you’re still right.

The Sooners’ next complete game will be their first and only one more chance remains, be it in San Diego at the Holiday Bowl or San Antonio at the Alamo Bowl.

But now that I think about it, after what went down Saturday afternoon at Owen Field, it sounds picky.

Even while it took the Sooners to stop the Sooners most of the day, this was no hold-your-nose victory.

Rhett Bomar played well, Adrian Peterson, eventually, ran really well, the offensive line, eventually, blocked really well and the Sooner defense was pretty darn strong for the duration.

Indeed, even as OU failed to play its first complete game, it did not fail at all where the task was completely dominating one bad bunch of Cowboys.

And was it me or did Mike Gundy look a little like John Blake standing down there on the sideline, headphones in place but still looking terribly uncertain, like the events of the day were swirling around him, yet hardly being affected by him?

The Sooners picked up 17 first downs. The Pokes picked up seven. The Sooners finished with 560 yards of total offense. The Pokes, even with a single play that covered 56, finished with 139.

Yada, yada, yada.

So this is how the regular season ends?

Really, not bad at all.

I’m still happy for Mike Leach down in Lubbock, but it’s true, the officials took it away last Saturday. It wasn’t all them, it never is. But it was all them at the end..

So make it 7-4 with an asterisk for a team beaten by TCU, made to look bad by Tulsa, that couldn’t give the ball away fast enough at the Rose Bowl and that was just plain dominated at the Cotton Bowl.

It may be heresy in these parts, but call it another good season under Bob Stoops. Because there’s no other way to put it. Even with four losses. Even with all the penalties and letdowns and breakdowns and youthful mistakes.

It can be no other way.

If we believe the best players come forward before each season ends, then we’re talking about a football team that counts two freshman as its best receivers, a redshirt freshman as its best quarterback, one freshman and five sophomores among its best eight in the secondary and an offensive line that may be short on talent, is short on live bodies with a propensity to get hurt just walking down the street.

And yet here the Sooners are. Stillwater might be an hour-and-a-half away, but OU’s Bedlam rival remains a million miles away between the opening kick and the final gun.

It doesn’t happen by accident.

The Sooners could have gone south. Heck, they did go south for a while.

Yet, be it through sheer persistence, force of will, incredible motivation or just darn good coaching Monday through Friday with a solid game plan worked up for Saturday, the Sooners have come out shining on the other side.

Yes, 8-3 would sound so much better than 7-4, but life isn’t fair and football’s part of life and does it really matter all that much anyway? Would the Sooner Nation be smiling any wider?

And that’s just the thing.

It’s been six seasons since Stoops left Gainesville for Norman. In two of the six, he’s left the Sooner Nation wanting. Last season and the one before. But that’s just the way it goes when the team you coach lies down in the national-championship game.

In all the rest, this one included with a bowl game pending, he’s sent the fans home happy.

Hardly ever considered, but there may be no better barometer when it comes to a coach’s standing, real and perceived.

Mack Brown can go 10-2 and Longhorn Nation wonders why their guy can’t get it done. Your man Stoops goes 7-4 and if not for the fact it’s become an annual absurdity, he probably gets another raise. He may still.

Because this team wasn’t very good and it came along. It’s managed to offer a hopeful future while providing enough kicks in the here and now to make it fun.

Five out of six to close the season and an embarrassed Bedlam rival.

What’s not to like?

The Sooner Nation sleeps and dreams well.

Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com