EL PASO, Texas -- The 2009 football season will always be remembered more for what Oklahoma didn't have than what it did. The injuries began before the season opener and piled up all the way through Thursday's Sun Bowl.
Sooner coach Bob Stoops, who wrapped up his 11th season at OU with Thursday's 31-27 victory over No. 19 Stanford, has been around the college game for 30 years as a player and a coach.
He freely admitted the ailments his team suffered were one-of-a-kind. He'd never seen anything like it before and prays he never sees it again.
That why, Thursday, he looked like the captain of huge ship that hit an iceberg and ran into a "perfect storm," but still managed to make it back to port.
"They just never got dejected," Stoops said about his team, which finished 8-5. "Everyone kept positive and worked through it; and worked through it in a pretty good way."
Thursday's victory was the Sooners' second straight over a Top 25 team, dating back to a convincing 27-0 victory over Oklahoma State Nov. 28. It left the door open for the Sooners to get back in the polls. They won't be out until after the BCS title game.
But OU made a case it belongs in there with Saturday's performance. It was able to overcome obstacles that were too vast to cleanly dodge.
The Sooners started the season ranked No. 3. Some of the major reasons were players like quarterback Sam Bradford, tight end Jermaine Gresham, tight end/offensive lineman Brody Eldridge and defensive end Auston English. Those four and several others were in street clothes Thursday due to season-ending injuries.
"It's no one's fault, with all the different people that haven't been able to play," Stoops said. "It just breaks my heart seeing Jermaine Gresham, (Sam Bradford), Brody Eldridge in the locker room and can't ... they're dying to play. So, you just feel for them,"
But what didn't kill the Sooners made them stronger. Landry Jones had an up-and-down season replacing Bradford. But he went out on an upswing, throwing for 418 yards against the Cardinal. His confidence seemed to grow as the game went on.
Jones understood the importance of finishing well.
"I felt like ever since Oklahoma State we were headed in a great direction and just finishing this game off and finishing this season (wth) momentum is a great feeling," he said.
Offense was where the brunt of the injuries hit. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson likened it to starting over every Sunday after figuring who had been lost in the previous game. The Sooners figured out ways to score points despite struggling to run the ball and breaking in an inexperienced group of receivers.
"It would have been nice to have more things go our way," Wilson said, "but greatness is when it isn't going your way and you keep battling and you keep fighting and keep plugging."
Defense was OU's cornerstone. It figured out ways to stay in games while the offense limped. It gave up some points in El Paso, but came up with two huge stops late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory and did a better job than most against Stanford All-American running back Toby Gerhart.
"We were just inspired and playing with a lot of emotion," middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds said. "Everyone was doing their job. No one was trying to be Superman out there. It all worked out."
There haven't been many times this season when things have.
Make no mistake, no Sooner's satisfied with an 8-5 season. This season ended a string of three straight Big 12 championships and OU didn't play in a BCS bowl game for only the third time since 2000.
But there was an element of pride some of those teams missed.
"These guys just kept fighting through it and did the best they could ... It's pretty special," Stoops said.
OU Sports
Sooners feel good about season
- OU Sports
-
-
Schedule easing up for Sooners
For some time, the Oklahoma women have been done no favors by their schedule. That may still be the case, but not for much longer....
-
Sooners using roller-coaster season as motivation
Oklahoma’s women’s gymnastics team has been anything but consistent. After dominating its season opener, the Sooners fell to No. 7 Oregon State and No. 9 Nebraska before trouncing then-No. 2 Arkansas....
-
Sooners open season with World Series aspirations
The Sooners haven’t even taken the field yet, but there is already talk of a national championship floating around the Oklahoma locker room. The Sooners will take the first step toward that goal when they open the season at 1:15 p.m. ...
-
Sooners have to eliminate mistakes that are costing them wins
It was a typical practice for Oklahoma on Thursday. The long workout had a lot of energy and precision. It mirrored many it has had over the last three months....
-
Move to Big 12 is chance at stability
Maybe this Internet thing’s really going to make it after all. Maybe even as a news source....
-
Sooners struggling to make climb
Oklahoma left the Lloyd Noble Center floor feeling an emotion that has become far too common on Monday. The 71-68 loss to Missouri was another tough loss in a season that’s getting tougher every day....
-
Sooners quartet needs help from teammates
How well did Oklahoma play Monday night? So well, even after missing 14 of 23 free throws, Steven Pledger, one of the nation’s best sharpshooters, had an open 3 to send the Sooners into overtime against No. 4 Missouri....
-
Sooners good enough everywhere but the free throw line
Steven Pledger sank to the floor with his face in his hands as the buzzer sounded. He couldn’t believe the 3-pointer he took with about 1 second remaining didn’t go through the net. It wasn’t the only thing running through his mind after ...
-
Last season ended in first trip to College Word Series since 2004
Hunger. Passion. Those were the two words most often repeated at the Oklahoma softball squad’s Media Day on Monday. And it’s those two traits that the Sooners are bringing to the 2012 season, which kicks off on Friday....
-
Campbell has another big night when Sooners needed her to step up
Scoring Oklahoma’s last nine points in a narrow victory over Texas Tech, freshman Sharane Campbell had been instrumental in front of the home crowd in one victory already this season....
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
Schedule easing up for Sooners
