Oklahoma fought all season to be in a BCS bowl, but many believe it to be in a tough position.
The seventh-ranked Sooners face No. 9 Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., Jan. 1. The game will mark the Sooners’ fourth appearance in a BCS bowl in the last five years. Boise State, a program that did obtain Division I status until 1996, will be making its first.
To some, the 2007 Fiesta Bowl is a no-win situation for the Sooners.
But OU coach Bob Stoops doesn’t see it that way.
The Broncos are 12-0 and join No. 1 Ohio State as the only undefeated teams in Division I.
“The media doesn’t sit and study 12 football games and what they do,” Stoops said. “When you watch the discipline, how hard they’ve played, the talent that’s there and the way they play, it’s easy to respect them. And we do.
“In the end, we have an opportunity to win another football game. What are we 11-2? So we’ve got a chance to be 12-2. That’s what matters to us and we’re going to do our best to get ourselves ready to do that.”
Boise State secured a berth by winning the WAC title and finishing No. 8 in the final BCS rankings. It may not possess the established reputation of OU, but the Broncos are 32-4 over the last three seasons.
That’s enough to garner the Sooners’ attention.
“If we go in taking these guys lightly, we’ll get ran up a building,” OU quarterback Paul Thompson said. “We have to go in with our mindset as it should be: We’re playing against an undefeated team, a top-10 team in the country and we’ll be in a BCS bowl game on national television. We don’t want to go out there and embarrass ourselves or put ourselves in a situation where we don’t respect them and then we come up short.”
To the Sooners, there’s plenty to gain.
“A BCS bowl championship is definitely a win for us,” center Jon Cooper said.
Players get a chance to coach
OU is in a kind of limbo as far as practice goes. Most of the work last week and this week has been given to younger players who haven’t played much. The starters have been given some rest.
The other issue is recruiting. Most of the staff is out of town recruiting and won’t return until next week.
Stoops said seniors like linebacker Rufus Alexander and C.J. Ah You have turned into position coaches during the practices.
“We have a short staff that is coaching them, so they’ll jump in,” Stoops said. “Rufus is telling the linebackers what to do and C.J.’s telling the d-ends what to do. It’s good. They like it and they like to see the younger guys come along.”
On recruiting
Stoops, who returned from the recruiting trail Wednesday, said winning this season’s Big 12 Championship hasn’t necessarily spiked interest in the Sooners among high school prospects.
He said the interest was already there.
“I don’t think guys are doing that just because we won the Big 12 Championship,” he said. “I think they’re doing it because of a track record of eight years that’s been pretty solid.”
The Big 12 Championship was the Sooners’ fourth in the last seven seasons.
Peterson returns to practice
Adrian Peterson returned to practice for the first time since breaking his collarbone Oct. 14 against Iowa State.
Stoops said a final decision hasn’t been made on how much Peterson will play in the Fiesta Bowl. But if he plays it will be significant and he will likely start.
“We’re not there yet,” Stoops said. “We’ll see how he progresses through this time. But in all likelihood, yes.”
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
