Sooner coach Bob Stoops said OU would consider canceling its game at Washington in 2008 if the Pac-10 Conference does not change its rule requiring league officials to be used at its home stadiums.
Monday, OU president David Boren sent a letter to Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg asking him to pursue having the Pac-10 change its policy.
“I think there's no question that (OU athletic director) Joe Castiglione and I and President Boren, if that rule's is not changed, may reconsider that game,” Stoops said.Oklahoma beat Washington 37-20 Sept. 9 in the first game of the home-and-home series.
The Sooners also played a home-and-home series against UCLA of the Pac-10 in 2003 and 2005. The game at Oregon concluded a series that began in Norman in 2004.
Bellotti feels Sooners pain
Stoops said he’s heard from several coaches since returning home from the Pacific Northwest.
Tuesday, he and Oregon coach Mike Bellotti had a brief chat.
“He just apologized and said that it’s unfortunate that the two of us have got to be in the middle of it,” Stoops said. “I said, ‘Well, you didn’t do anything wrong but play hard, and that’s the same thing we were trying to do.’”
But Stoops received sympathy from outside the college football world. One of the coaches he spoke with was Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo.
“I was amazed,” he said. “I've never spoken with Tom Izzo, never met him in my life, and Tom called just appalled at the situation and expressed his concern and support … that it's just unfortunate, that he knows as a coach what we have to endure and just how wrong it was.”
Peterson returns?
Adrian Peterson made his debut as a kick returner against Oregon. The All-American running back will continue his role on special teams Saturday against Middle Tennessee.
“He just needs to see it more,” Stoops said. “We need to keep getting him more practice with it. Sure, we intend to continue with it.”
Heisman hype
Peterson, who earned his second straight Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week award, has rushed for 515 yards and ranks No. 2 nationally.
But some believe his Heisman Trophy hopes dimmed because of the loss to Oregon. Stoops did his best to shoot down that notion.
“How he could slip, other than that a game is taken away from us?” Stoops said. “If that's how they look at it, the fact that there's a loss in the column, then you've got to be undefeated to win the Heisman. I don't know how that would be explained.”
Red Zone woes
OU settled for four field goals against Oregon. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said that was the biggest reason OU is 2-1 instead of undefeated.
“What you can’t do, and Coach Stoops said this to me my first year here when we lost to A&M; down at Kyle Field in ’02, ‘You can’t go on the road and kick field goals,’” Wilson said. “That’s why we have to look at our Red Zone plan and figure out a way to get the ball in the end zone. We do that and we win the game. That’s on us. That’s not on a bad call.”
The Sooners have had the ball inside opponents’ 20-yard line 14 times. They’ve come away with points 13 times, but only have six touchdowns.
Rematch?
OU quarterback Paul Thompson came up with an easy way to settle the Oregon game debate — a rematch.
“I would love to play Oregon again,” he said. “We've got a bye. Maybe we could play them then.”
The Sooners are off next Saturday but the Ducks are at Arizona State.
John Shinn
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jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
John Shinn's Oklahoma Football Notepad
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