DeMarco Murray first channeled Spencer Tillman. Taking off from 4 yards away he was knocked wide but handed a touchdown nonetheless having cleared the goal line's plane.
But the real deja vu moment arrived in the third quarter with the 12 -yard scamper that ended all Poke hope.
High-stepping into the end zone, Murray looked like Quentin Griffin the night the diminutive sophomore scored OU's only touchdown against Florida State.
That seemed to make perfect sense because the Sooner defense was channeling its 2000 national championship self from start to finish Saturday afternoon at Owen Field, site of Oklahoma State's most recent Bedlam demise.
It ended a 27-0 Sooner victory that was hardly that close. Of course, 3-0 wouldn't have been close on a day the Cowboys could have played till midnight and not found the red zone, much less the end zone, with a compass, just as long as they had to go through Sooners to get there.
Nobody could have seen it coming.
Made an apparent non-sensical touchdown favorite by oddsmakers and a betting public just a week after issuing a seeming we-quit anti-statement of defeat at Texas Tech and fresh off losing a fourth offensive lineman, All-American Trent Williams, to a Tuesday practice mishap, OU had no right to believe it would have its way on the regular season's final day.
But it did.
Making sure there weren't any questions, the Sooners dominated the Cowboys with a completeness every bit as unlikely as the river of injuries and snakebitten breaks they'd suffered right up to Saturday's kick.
Times like this, it's tempting to invoke Sooner Magic, but how could anything so absolute and definite require metaphysics to explain?
The first 10 minutes were a sort of comedy act. The Sooners dropped passes, fumbled away first-and-goal and missed a 35-yard field goal as though Patrick O'Hara kicked it blindfolded. Still, smoke and mirrors had the day off. The rest of the way, OU was just that good.
It was a long time coming.
With OSU gaining just 109 yards, only 4 in the second half, defensive coordinator Brent Venables was the staff star, but he was thinking about his boss.
"It's been crazy, but to see him able to enjoy a win (like that)," he said, "was really satisfying to see."
Venables gave Bob Stoops credit for keeping spirits up. Stoops gave credit to the players.
Apparently, they have struggled to play well, to play winning football and to not commit needless penalties, but they have not struggled with the work. It finally paid off with an outstanding performance.
"Regardless of the situation, this has still been a good group to coach," Stoops said, adding later, "I feel for the players more than anything, having them stick in there."
They came through time and time again Saturday.
Tress Way invoked Wahoo McDaniel, flipping field position over and over as though carrying a thunderbolt in his left cleat. Ryan Broyles returned a punt 57 yards and another, as though fielding it an afterthought after chasing it down, 87 for a score.
OSU threatened to crack the scoreboard one time only, yet tight end Trent Ratterree not only tracked down Justin Gent's fumble return 55 yards after the Poke picked it up, but stripped him of the ball and fell on it, too.
Two Sooner kneel downs from the final gun, really, it was the game's final and most fitting play.
OU wouldn't be denied.
Nor scored upon.
Just like that, five losses don't seem so bad.
Just like that, the future, a rebuilding season to be sure, doesn't seem so dim.
It is the power of magnificence.
Bedlam Saturday, that was OU.
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
