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November 23, 2009

What happened?

By John Shinn

Oklahoma has had disappointing losses this season. But Saturday's 41-13 loss to Texas Tech elicited new, and deeper concerns.

It wasn't the fact the Sooners lost that caught many off guard. After all, OU is now 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12 Conference.

It wasn't that the offense struggled to move the ball or score points. That's been the case in every game away from Owen Field.

The curveball thrown Saturday was the play of the defense.

After locking down 10 straight teams to 21 points or less and eight to two touchdowns or less, OU was lit up by the Red Raiders.

"We didn't play well enough. That's all it was," defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. "We just didn't play good."

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables didn't point fingers.

He didn't have to.

The front seven struggled stopping the run. Defensive backs struggled locking up receivers. Every level of OU's defense struggled against the Red Raiders.

"I think playing good defense is a lot about attitude. That's as big as anything in tackling is attitude," he said. "Our guys competed and played hard but I don't think we had a nasty disposition. Just didn't play overall with a great sense of desperation."

There's no reason why it shouldn't have been there. A victory over the Red Raiders could have been huge when bowl bids are announced in 13 days.

A Cotton Bowl bid could have come if the Sooners were able to close out the season with two straight wins. After the Texas Tech loss, even a victory over Oklahoma State in Bedlam Saturday won't raise OU that high in the bowl pecking order.

It was a bad time for OU to come apart.

"I don't know if we came apart or not. I guess you can say we didn't have a focus," defensive end Jeremy Beal said. "A lot of credit to them (the Red Raiders). They played an outstanding game. We didn't come prepared to show up and play."

So, does a team and unit used to entering Bedlam with a conference and national championship on the line have the ability to rebound?

The question will get an answer at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Owen Field.

Prior to Saturday's game, many were calling the Sooner defense the best of the Bob Stoops era. It still might be. The great ones get back up after they've been knocked down.

"I remind our guys, for example, in 2001 we won a game 38-37. We were a pretty good defense, but Kansas State went up and down the field on us. We came back and responded and had a great year," Venables said. "That's the great thing about sports is you get to learn from winning and losing both and your experiences along the way.

"I've said all along I'd be a hypocrite now if I said otherwise, that we reflect our attitude and our leadership and our character, our guys on defense. I think they were very disappointed in themselves as well. We're better than that."

John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com

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