Clay Horning
Let’s get this straight.
If Oklahoma goes up to Stillwater and takes care of business, Texas will still have a case. A good case. But a deflated case.
It will still look good on paper.
Texas beat OU, so how can OU lead the BCS charge in the Big 12 South? OU can claim Texas Tech beat Texas so how can Texas be in front of Tech? And OU beat Tech, so, you know, shouldn’t it be in front? Texas can come back with its loss being at Tech and OU’s victory being at home. Then OU can say …
The Sooners don’t have to say anything.
Not anymore.
They need not point at a scoreboard nor break out the pie charts and graphs. A demonstration is not in order.
Because everybody was watching Saturday night.
Everybody was watching the Sooners absolutely crush the Red Raiders, the second-ranked Red Raiders, the Red Raiders, who last week received 21 first-place votes from the Associated Press media voters: 65-21.
Everybody was watching Sam Bradford throw for four more touchdowns and for another 300 yards even if he only completed 14 passes, which wasn’t bad for 19 tries.
Everybody was watching the Sooners post 402 first-half yards, 625 for the night and 299 from the running game while DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown each cracked the century mark, almost by the half.
Everybody was watching while a maligned defense, led by a maligned defensive coordinator, posted the best 60 minutes this program’s seen since the coordinator’s running buddy, Mike Stoops, with his help, received most of the credit the last time OU played a huge defensive game in a huge setup, Jan 3, 2001, in Miami. Everybody was watching as Brent Venables answered the critics in a big, big way.
Some were watching when Bradford sat down with the ESPN Game Day crew about 3 minutes after it ended and answered the question everybody’s asking.
Does Oklahoma belong atop the nation’s list of one-loss teams.
“I think so,” he said. “It would be hard for me to say no after tonight.”
Which is exactly the point.
So great a win, it was groundbreaking and nostalgic at the same time.
The reason Bob Stoops has taken so much heat after winning his fourth and fifth Big 12 championships, after delivering OU to its fifth and sixth BCS bowl appearances is everybody remembers when he never lost in the big atmosphere, when people wondered if everything he touched really did turn into gold.
This was like those days.
This is what the Sooners twice did to Texas, once winning by 49 and once by 52. This is what they did to Washington at the Rose Bowl, even if that was by a mere 20 points. This was the swagger that allowed the Sooners to come back that day at Texas A&M; when they trailed and trailed and trailed until Jason White found Mark Bradley running the wrong route and they won.
OU never left and yet it feels like the Sooners are back.
“We didn’t do anything fancy,” Stoops said.
No, nothing fancy.
But one linebacker, Travis Lewis, made 13 tackles and brought an interception back 47 yards. Another one, Keenan Clayton, picked up a fumble on the run and brought it back 54. And Bradford threw one of those deep balls others may throw but not nearly as often and Manny Johnson reeled it in with almost nothing but the left arm nobody could stomach looking at just four weeks ago against Kansas.
You have to feel for Texas.
The Longhorns were so good for so long this season. Colt McCoy has been great all season. It was anybody’s game that day at the Cotton Bowl and Texas made sure it wasn’t OU’s.
But it’s not that simple.
Since, Tech beat Texas and OU beat Tech.
Really, really, really bad.
Now everybody’s even.
It might be a beauty contest.
The Sooners never looked so good.
Clay Horning
366-3526
cfhorning@normantranscript.com
