Winning teams tend to take victories for granted.
They enjoy them for a night and then move on to the next challenge. Oklahoma’s been like that for close to a decade.The losses tend to stick with them a lot longer than the wins.
Ask just about anyone connected with OU about the last time TCU visited Owen Field and memories come flowing back.
“Those losses are like a knife in the gut,” OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables said.
The Horned Frogs’ 17-10 victory over the Sooners Sept. 3, 2005, represented a low point during Bob Stoops’ tenure as coach. It wasn’t because it was a loss. There were several before and there have been several since. It was the way it happened.
The Sooners were entering a transitional phase that season. Many of the starters who’d led them to back-to-back appearances in the BCS title game had either graduated or moved on to the NFL. The Jason White led offense that put up an unprecedented amount of points the previous two seasons was being led by Paul Thompson.
But Thompson’s first run as starting quarterback only lasted one game because of what happened against the Horned Frogs.
The Sooners, the offense in particular, got lashed that afternoon. Thompson struggled mightily, completing just 11-of-26 attempts. Those completions went for an average of 4.2 yards. He even got benched midway through the first half for then-redshirt freshman Rhett Bomar. He wasn’t any better, going 2-for-5 for a paltry 19 yards.
OU couldn’t run the ball, either, and to make matters worse, turned the ball over four times.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, who was then the offensive line coach, said the Sooners were lucky they even had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.
“Our defense gave us a chance. We played the kind of game with our turnovers, lack of a run game and our quarterback getting sacked that it could have been a 35-10 game,” he said. “We were lucky it was 17-10 and we had a chance.”
Looking back, it was the day players realized they could no longer take things for granted.
The Sooners were a three-touchdown favorite and ranked in the top 10 at the time. In retrospect, it was a ranking they had received on little more than reputation. The coaching staff had spent much of the preseason reminding players they hadn’t earned anything. Those messages fell on deaf ears.
Some of the ears had been a huge part of OU success in previous seasons. They too had ingnored the warning signs.
“Davin Joseph was a first-round draft pick. Chris Chester was a second-round draft pick. There were two other seniors (Chris Bush and Kelvin Chaisson) starting in the front. (Fullback) J.D. Runnels was a senior and (wide receiver) Travis Wilson was a third-round pick. That wasn’t a bunch of rookies,” Wilson said. “That was a bunch of seniors that didn’t have a great preseason and didn’t come out ready to play and we got it handed to us.”
It’s served as a wake-up call for the Sooners. Stoops was asked if he would remind his team of that 2005 game this week.
“That’s pretty obvious,” he said. “We want them to understand that this is how well they played and this is how they beat us. And they need to understand that we need to perform a whole lot better to have a chance to win.”
To some who will be out on the field at 6 Saturday night when No. 2 OU (3-0) faces No. 24 TCU (4-0) at Owen Field, it’s a history lesson. Most of OU’s players weren’t around for that game. But there are plenty of seniors who were.
Safety Nic Harris, cornerback Lendy Holmes, offensive linemen Jon Cooper, Duke Robinson and Branndon Braxton all played their first college games that day. They all received a quick lesson that putting on the Sooner uniform doesn’t guarantee a victory.
“I thought I was ready to play, but it ended up being my first collegiate loss,” Harris said. “We can’t come out flat. We have to fire on all cylinders and make sure the same thing doesn’t happen in 2008 that happened in 2005.”
It’s been four years since the Sooners and Horned Frogs last met. But the memories haven’t gone away.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Last time TCU visited Norman …
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