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January 4, 2009

OU's defense under fire

By John Shinn

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The question was asked so many times Sunday morning that several of Oklahoma’s defensive players had to feel like parents sitting in a car during a long drive, the kids constantly asking, “Are we there yet?”

The question they kept getting couldn’t be answered with a simple yes or no, but was just as frustrating. How could a team that ranks 63rd in the country in total defense possibly stop Florida in Thursday night’s BCS national championship game?

“Have you seen what we’ve done the last part of the season?” OU’s Nic Harris asked a reporter.

The safety was bringing up holding Texas Tech and Missouri to less than half of their average point total in victories that catapulted the Sooners to the top spot in the BCS rankings.

But it’s hard to ignore the 359.1 yards OU has allowed this season. It’s even harder to overlook the 24.5 points the Sooners have allowed per game. Both averages represent the most a Bob Stoops coached OU team has ever allowed. It gives credence to the notion the Sooners are playing for the national championship in spite of their defense.

“People say we can’t play defense, but I know we can play defense,” the Sooners’ Jeremy Beal said. “I think we know we can play defense. That’s what we’re going to go out and do on Thursday is just play defense and do what we do.”

Some, at least in the lower Midwest and Texas, have accepted playing defense in the Big 12 Conference this season was lot like trying to hit big league pitching in bad light.

The quarterbacks were exceptional. The receivers were phenomenal.

OU cornerback Dominique Franks reminded one reporter that it was Big 12 players that were finalists for three national offensive player of the year awards. OU’s Sam Bradford, Texas’ Colt McCoy and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell were the trio up for the Davey O’Brien Award given to the nation’s best quarterback. It was Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree, Missouri’s Jeremy Maclin and Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant up for Biletnikoff Award given to the best wide receiver. Even the Mackey Award, which goes to college football’s best tight end, came down to Missouri’s Chase Coffman, Oklahoma State Brandon Pettigrew and OU’s Jermaine Gresham.

To followers of the SEC, that meant the Big 12 couldn’t play any defense.

When it was announced last month the Sooners would be in the BCS title game, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow said, “I can’t wait to play against a Big 12 defense.”

There’s a perception out there that OU’s like a boxer with great punching power, but a weak chin. The Sooners are tired of hearing about it.

“To win a game, you have to be good on offense and defense,” OU defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. “We’re not worried about what everybody says. We’re going to be ready to play.”

OU’s won seven national titles and a stingy defense was the key in all of them. The numbers might say OU’s current defense doesn’t rank with those, but the opportunity has arrived to prove it does.

“It’s not about how you start, it’s not about the middle of the season, it’s how you finish,” Harris said. “We’re finishing at the national championship game. I’m pretty sure we’re coming out with the win. All the critics will be silenced. All the stats will go down the drain.”

John Shinn

366-3536

jshinn@normantranscript.com

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