John Shinn
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Before the sun went down, a plane flew over Arrowhead Stadium with a banner reading “welcome to the beatenbytexas.com bowl.” It was another attempt by Texas supporters to make the point the Longhorns belonged in Big 12 championship game, not Oklahoma.
The Sooners’ retort was more telling: A 62-21 thrashing of No. 20 Missouri.
Hard to believe OU’s argument wasn’t more impressive.
“When we’re at our best, anything is possible,” OU running back Chris Brown said after rushing for 122 yards and three touchdowns.
There’s little doubt the Sooners validated their argument, but they won’t know for sure until the final BCS rankings are released at 7:20 p.m. tonight.
It will all come down to what the voters in the coaches and Harris polls see and computer formulas equate.
Unless they watched something other than the game, they had to be impressed.
“That was a pretty convincing win in a championship game, when you had to have it,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “… If that doesn’t make a statement, then you don’t want it to.”
Saturday night’s romp was OU’s fifth straight victory by at least 20 points, third straight against a ranked team, second straight away from Owen Field and sixth in a row with over 58 points on the scoreboard.
The assumption heading into the Saturday night was if the Sooners won they would advance to the BCS title game Jan. 8 in Miami.
Florida, which topped No. 1 Alabama 31-20 in the SEC championship game Saturday, is expected to be there, too. Texas was holding out hope a lackluster Sooner performance would allow it slip ahead of OU in the final BCS poll and get to a shot at a national championship.
The Sooners slammed to the door shut on that.
Sam Bradford, who will undergo surgery this morning on his injured left hand, threw for 384 yards and two touchdowns and led OU scoring drives nine straight possessions.
He and the Sooners (12-1) played like they had something to prove.
“There was a lot of talk this week about us not deserving to be in this game and we didn’t get a lot of credit for what we’ve done this season,” Bradford said. “There was a lot of motivation to prove those people wrong and that we belonged in this game.”
The Tigers (9-4) were are the wrong place at the wrong time.
Like just about every game OU’s played over the last five weeks, most were expecting a shootout. Missouri entered the game averaging 45 points a game — fourth in the nation. But it couldn’t keep pace. Couldn’t really even come close.
The Sooners pounced on the Tigers early and led 38-7 by halftime.
Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel threw for 294 yards and was 28-for-44. But OU picked him off twice with both setting up touchdowns. Another Daniel fumble set up another score.
“They’re a good defense,” the Missouri quarterback said of the Sooners. “They played well in a big game and that’s that.”
It was performance by OU’s defense that was on par with any its produced this season and up to the standards it set in its five previous Big 12 championship game wins.
The Sooners sacked Daniel twice and held the Tigers to 60 yards on the ground.
“I just think this is a strong team,” OU linebacker Travis Lewis said. “I mean, we know what we want, we know what our goals are, and we’ll do anything to get them.”
OU hit every goal it set for Saturday night’s game, dominating from start to finish.
The mob of OU fans that braved the freezing temperatures were chanting “Going to Miami” in the final moments and some tossed oranges onto field. They left no doubts about whey they think they’re heading.
“We knew what we needed to do,” safety Nic Harris said. “We had a great game, great time playing and we just want a chance to prove it to the world.”
