Tough luck

That's all the Sooners have had lately

By John Shinn

By John Shinn

Transcript Sports Writer

When it comes to luck, Oklahoma has a reputation of receiving more than its share. After all, they don’t call it Sooner Magic for nothing.

And luck has certainly been a big part of Sooner football for the past year. But when it has come into play of late, it seems OU has been on the wrong side of it.

Adrian Peterson’s broken collarbone is just another in a long line of recent misfortunes that has followed the Sooners around like a dark cloud.

How else to explain the injuries, off-the-field indiscretions and officiating gaffes that have haunted OU all the way back to last season.

It’s as though president David Boren, athletic director Joe Castiglione or coach Bob Stoops himself must have broken the wrong mirror, walked under the wrong ladder or kicked a black cat.

“The things that have happened so far, I would have never thought they would have happened,” quarterback Paul Thompson said. “Who knows what will happen next week, maybe something else.”

The continuous curse on the Sooners goes back to Nov. 19, 2005, at Texas Tech.

Leading 21-17 late in the game, two controversial calls went against the Sooners in the final minutes. OU lost when Texas Tech running back Taurean Henderson was awarded a touchdown on the final play of the game.

At the time, it seemed like an isolated incident. Any number of teams suffer the odd costly call. But as it turned out, it was just a prelude into this season.

It started in the preseason, when quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn were dismissed from the team one day before summer practices began.

Bomar had already been penciled in as the Sooners’ next great quarterback. Just a sophomore, and coming off an MVP performance at the Holiday Bowl, most figured he would be the cornerstone of OU’s offense for three more years. Quinn, who started several games as freshman, was projected to be an integral cog on OU’s offensive line.

Now, Bomar is hoping to regain his eligibility at Sam Houston State. Quinn transferred to Montana.

The Sooners have proven an ability to bounce back. They capped the 2005 season with a dominating 42-14 victory over Oklahoma State before topping Oregon 17-14 at the Holiday Bowl.

This season, OU used the dismissals of Bomar and Quinn as rallying points. Thompson moved back to quarterback and hasn’t missed a beat.

All seemed to be going fine until the Sooners went to Eugene, Ore., Sept. 16. OU was on track for a season-defining victory until a blown call on an onside kick and a subsequent blown instant-replay ruling, conspired to send the Sooners home with a 34-33 loss.

Losing out on a judgment call is part of the game. Losing out on a million-to-one call, as most perceived the debacle in Oregon, is something else.

The latest blow came in last Saturday’s 34-9 victory over Iowa State. Peterson, who rushed for 183 yards, took an off-balance dive into the end zone to cap a 53-yard touchdown run.

He’s now out for the rest of the regular season. He might be back for a bowl game.

The Sooners are trying to take it in stride.

Asked about a curse, most laughed.

“There’s constantly adversity,” safety Darien Williams said. “It’s a tough game and it’s football. It’s something we’re going to have to adapt to every week. Honestly you have to laugh and roll with the punches.”

Even Stoops is laughing it off. He remembers the injuries that never occurred on the way to the 2000 national championship. He also remembers the calls the Sooners have gotten over the years.

“I’ve been here a long time and we’ve had a lot of awfully good things, too,” he said. “Sometimes everything doesn’t go your way. That’s the way it goes. You fight through it and you play the cards you got and we’re going to keep playing ours.”

Perhaps the breaks are just evening out or the Sooners’ fortunes are due to change.

It’s not like anybody’s confusing Owen Field for Wrigley Field.

“People have injuries and unfortunate circumstances,” Stoops said. “Every year, different teams have them and you fight through them. You do the best you can, and I like to say you play the hand you’re dealt.”

And, like anything, luck can change.

John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com