NORMAN, Oklahoma — This fall, or maybe in the spring, when the Sooners start playing, it will mark their 20th season since their last national championship.It’s the longest streak between championships in the program’s history since they first reached the top of college football.
Let’s be clear, though, there are other long-term droughts.It spanned 18 years from when legendary head coach Bud Wilkinson finally reached the summit to when legendary head coach Barry Switzer made his first summit.It’s been 15 years between the Swiss’ last national title and the third legendary head coach Bob Stopps’ first, and it turns out it’s just about taking all the marbles .
It took the Swiss 10 years to join Wilkinson and clinch an elusive third national title in 1985.Many wondered if this would happen.
Along with OU, only Alabama (1964-65, 1978-79, 2011-12) and Nebraska (1970-71, 1994-95) have won more than one consecutive AP National Championship in the modern era. Only Alabama (1961, ’64-’65; 2011-12, ’15, ’17), Miami (1983, ’87, ’89) and Notre Dame (1946-47, ’49) with OU of Claims Shared distinction at least three AP National Championships in the same decade in the modern era.
Only the Crimson Tide, with 11, has more AP National Championships than Crimson and Cream in modern times.Notre Dame is tied with OU at seven.
But the Sooners are in the midst of a severe drought that cannot be ignored.The coaching staff, fans, boosters and everyone associated with the program will not ignore this.Everyone’s longing for a great return to one of the most historic — if not the most — programs in college football history.With that in mind, it’s time to delve into the depth, why, how, and how the drought can and may end.
A wise man once said, “I’d rather be lucky than kind.” In the 1930s, New York Yankees thrower southpaw Gomez coined the phrase and served as that wise man.And, to be fair, he’s both lucky and kind.He was a seven-time All-Star, two-time Triple Crown, two-time American League champion, two-time AL champion, three-time AL strikeout champion and went 189-102 with a 3.34 ERA A record of 1,468 strikeouts throughout his career.And, oh, by the way, he won the World Series five times between 1932 and 1939.He was lucky and very good.
Sooners have also been largely good, if not great, for the better part of the past two decades.In the 2000s, apparently all coached by the Stoops, they had a terrific .821 win percentage, the third best of any decade in their storied history.Only the 1950s and 1970s were better.
They have 11 or more victories in 8 seasons and at least 12 victories in 5 seasons.One, of course, was a perfect 13-0 run on the way to the 2000 National Championship.
The Sooners won six Big 12 championships, including a three-peat from 2006-08.They played in each of the four BCS bowls, except for one current New Year’s Six, winning in Orange, Cotton and Rose.
In the 2010s, not much has changed.In the Stoops’ final seven seasons and current head coach Lincoln Riley’s first three seasons, they’re 109-25 with a .813 winning percentage.Just one less win and one more loss would equate these two decades with those in the win-loss column.
It gave the Sooners 9 10-win campaigns, 7 of which had at least 11 victories and 4 of which had at least 12 W victories.Riley has never finished with fewer than 12 wins in his young career so far.
This time, while some only included the BCS era, the Sooners were featured in every New Year’s six bowls.They won Fiesta and Sugar (twice) and lost Cotton, Peach, Rose and Orange (twice) – we’ll find out more in a minute.
Combined, only two other projects have performed better overall since the turn of the millennium.With a .817 winning percentage and a 219-49 overall winning percentage, the Sooners trail only Boise State (219-43, .835) and Ohio State (217-43, .834) for the best record in the country.
Did I mention they are basically good?But luckily, not so much.Now, instead of one excuse after another, we’ll discuss many more other reasons why they couldn’t quite get over it, but overall luck wasn’t on their side.
Let’s start with the 2003 season.The Sooners wiped out almost everything in their path, including, as you may recall, Texas A&M’s 77-0 shelling.In the first 11 games into the Big 12 tournament, only Alabama has stayed within single digits, and only Colorado has lost with them by two points or less.Linebacker Teddy Lehman has repeatedly called this team the best team he’s ever played for, and for the most part, who’s going to argue that?
“If you look back, top to bottom, it’s really a completely complete team,” said Lehman, who has lost a total of six games throughout his career.”The offensive line is very good; the quarterback is very good; the wide receiver is very good. On the defensive end, all three divisions, D-line, linebacker and secondary, you have very talented players and a lot of experience.”
All that talent, struck by some unfortunate luck, proved to be their downfall, starting with a 35-7 loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament.But let’s backtrack a minute first.How strong is this lineup?Well, ESPN sent out the entire team ahead of time to make it with the coaching staff, praising the OU for being the best team ever.
“It was the first time we saw this, and we were like, ‘Well, maybe we’re fine,’” Lehman said.”We took our foot off the gas, plain and simple. Now, I’m not blaming it on the coach. I’m blaming it 100 per cent on the players. That shouldn’t matter, I think it does. I think that’s the number one thing on the team. One time someone relaxed and said, ‘Well, well, maybe we finally made it.’”
Returning to a shocking 28-point Big 12 championship loss, OU actually scored first.That didn’t diminish their drive to compete in the BCS National Championship, but it certainly diminished their ability to win.Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jason White suffered a sprained ligament in his hand that hampered his efforts against the Tigers, who was hit with three sacks and 13-for-37 passes without a touchdown. Passed for 103 yards with two interceptions.Stoops later revealed he broke his toe in the Sugar Bowl, the most perverse performance of most of the season.
“Jason didn’t say it, and neither did we,” Stoops said.”Obviously, [his hand] is in a cast, so it’s not great. He’s had a sprained hand since the Big 12 Championship. But this kid is tough, and he’s fighting for it no matter what.”
“I think that was a big factor for Jason,” Lehman said. “You know, he had a concussion. He was, I don’t know, broke his hand, he broke a rib. I didn’t even know he had What, but he slams and fights. So it’s definitely a factor. Now, is it the only factor? Absolutely not. We should be able to go there, in my opinion, beat these two at 50 Team % or less. That’s what I think we’re much better than both of them, but obviously that’s not the case.”
Let’s fast forward a few years.OU boasted the most prolific offense in college football history, like Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, running back DeMarco Murray, tight end Jermaine Gresham and a bruised offensive line – Trent Williams is one of them – the size of an interstate that can open loopholes.The offense became the first time ever to score more than 60 points in five straight games, only to be stopped by Florida’s vicious defense and a surprising number of key injuries.
OU moved into the Big 12 championship game with six straight wins after suffering its only setback of the season in a Red River matchup against Missouri.Has the highest BCS ranking in a three-way tie consisting of Texas State and Texas Tech, earning a spot in the competition.Mizzo had as many chances to win in Kansas City that night as I did when I got into the ring against Mike Tyson.Final score: 62-21.
But the bigger story wasn’t the 41-point victory and the euphoria that followed, but the loss of a player who had nearly 1,400 yards and 18 touchdowns in the game.On the tee, Murray rushed 30 yards and hit his knee at the 36-yard line at the end of the game.He will not be able to compete in the BCS National Championships in South Beach again.
Sure, Ou wasted a lot of chances against Florida, but his absence did play a part.In the second quarter, after two successful runs to the 1-yard line, Kevin Wilson attempted to pair with Chris Brown, somewhat ignoring Gresham, who scored earlier and also scored again, and the Gators stopped him for two. Second-rate.Along with that goal-line stand, where he could have hit one of those four runs or received the ball from the back, OU largely missed out on Murray’s massive play potential.
In the second half, Tim Tebow and the Gators capitalized on all those turnovers.He orchestrated a 13-game, 75-yard drive that Percy Harvin closed with a 2-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, and the pair, along with stingy defense, became the story of the 24-14 finals, Not the high-octane offense of the Sooners.
“Since I’m not playing, I guess I can say that,” Murray said recently when asked if Ou would have won if he played.
Not all doom is free of at least some form of self-harm.But they are not mutually exclusive either.
Now, I’m in no way suggesting this game will be played one way or another, but it would be foolish to ignore the impact of a game as monumental as the 2004-05 BCS National Championships.Defending Heisman winner White drove OU to the bottom right and hit wide receiver Travis Wilson for a 7-0 lead that ended the first quarter when receiver Mark Bullard Leigh inexplicably chose to be at his own 6-yard line.With no better rebound, USC recovered and the floodgates opened on a 55-19 romp in South Beach.
“I don’t know why Mark did that,” Stoops said.”I’m as shocked as anyone in the stadium. How do you explain it? I don’t know. It goes back to Pop Warners football. Mark should have made a better decision. I’m not going to sit here and walk further in front of the whole media far, but it’s as bad as it is now.”
Bradley later said: “It was just a stupid mistake of mine. Before I knew what was going on, I saw the referee pointing in the direction of the SC. I had to live with it, but I wouldn’t let it overwhelm me to the point where The point where it can’t work. Things happen. You have to move forward.”
In a fresher moment on Sooner Nation’s mind, the No. 2 Sooners played No. 3 Georgia State in the 2018 Rose Bowl.They took a 31-14 lead late in the second quarter after Riley finished perfectly for some, for whatever reason, now only call it a “Philadelphia special.”Quarterback Baker Mayfield flipped to H guard Dimitri Flowers, who threw to wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who ran to his right and threw a short pass to a wide-open Mayfield in the end zone.Mayfield swirled his arms on the near sideline in celebration, and they seemed destined for their first national championship game since the disappointing Orange Bowl against the Gators a decade ago.
Oh, but then disaster struck.Austin Seibert was reliable in every way throughout his career, but somehow didn’t execute the squib that Riley somehow mysteriously demanded moments later.Instead, it bounced off a Bulldogs top player who took over at 47.With a short sideline pass and a 55-yard Rose Bowl record-tying field goal, Rodrigo Blankenship and the “dogs” had momentum.
“It probably gave them a little juice,” Riley said.”They were able to steal threes on us. It was a good call. Austin did a great job on those. He just didn’t play well and ended up going straight to their guys, which is one of the things you can’t do. thing, and we did it.”
They took that momentum to a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, but it was quickly erased by the Clippers and eventually turned into their own TD lead.Riley, however, opted not to play fourth-and-1 in overtime because a touchdown would have ended it, and the Bulldogs blocked Seibert’s field goal in two overtimes, just before a 27-yard Sony hit. Michelle TD run before the end.
“Oops” moments may not always be on the field.But sometimes an “oops” moment off the court leads to an “oops” moment on the court.Three years ago, during the 2014 season, the Sooners still beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, 45-31, just a few weeks earlier in the Iron Bowl in the infamous six-ball game. shocked.In a 14-point win over Tide, Trevor Knight ham.
He entered 2014 as a Heisman contender.He was a popular man not only in Norman and 405, but throughout the country.So popular that on college game day, Katy Perry told him to call her when he picked the Sooners at the TCU Horned Frogs game.
The same goes for the season after the fireworks distraction (he chose not to call her).That day, the Sooners upset 37-33 in Fort Worth, their latest road setback until a 48-41 loss to Kansas State last season that derailed their 2014 campaign.
Also, in order not to imply anything, they lost by 34 twice against Baylor and against Clemson at the Russell Athletics Bowl.That year, they lost a total of five times.But after winning that game, maybe the momentum continued, Michael Hennicourt didn’t miss a fourth-quarter extra point and shot against Kansas State, and things were different next.just maybe.who knows?Probably not, but oops, Sooners did it again.That’s another pop star, but you get the idea.
“I blame Katy Perry,” Mayfield said of his redshirt season three years later.
In addition to major talent, Patty Gasso’s OU softball program has won four national championships, three of them in the past decade, as they come up with timely tactics when needed.Timely batting, timed great defense, dynamite pitching—they tend to be equations at the highest leverage.
In the national championship game, the Sooner football program simply doesn’t have the same key genes.In the Big 12, for whatever reason, it has it, but it doesn’t stop there.
Although injuries can be blamed, White and the Clippers got their chance in the 2004 Sugar Bowl.With less than three minutes left, he overthrew running back Cojuan Jones in the end zone with a third down, then his fourth down pass for receiver Mark Clayton was caught. knock down.
“Every time we dropped a game, we knew our offense was good enough to deal with, and there was never any [doubt],” Lehman said.”I never thought I’d lose any game I played at OU, no matter the score, even if we ended up losing some games. I still felt like we would always win. . In the last two games, it was One of those weird things they always come out to prove is that it’s not there whenever we need it.”
With better execution, the Sooners could have scored multiple points at Florida State at halftime in the 2009 Orange Bowl.Conservatively, they could have gone up at least sixfold.But the fourth handstand and selection, a couple of key plays on the other side, kept things scoring at seven each.Trailing 17-14 in the fourth quarter and facing two and seven at halftime, Bradford was picked again, leading to a touchdown that nearly sealed it.
Many who only remember the final score may forget that OU actually led Clemson at halftime in their first CFP appearance in 2015.Despite being understaffed in the trenches, there was drama in this attempt on the big stage.It trailed 23-17 with 5:28 left in the third quarter when running back Samaje Perine took the ball from Mayfield and made a turnover on Clemson 30′s fourth-and-1. was stuffed with mistakes.Mayfield then threw a pick OU was driving and threatened to cut it down to one game again.
In the 2018 Rose Bowl, it looks like OU might be taking a turn here.Going head-to-head with Georgia, OU finally made a play and ended up winning one of those games as linebacker Caleb Kelly swung the ball away from Michel and safety Steven Parker picked it up and rushed towards the house. Leading 45-38 with 6:52 left.Not really, as the mighty Sooner offense ultimately couldn’t come up with the first knockout, which would have put the “dog” on life support, and then the defense couldn’t stop it again, and the rest is history.
There are many lessons to be learned.Of course, don’t play from behind.And, to win these games, you have to, have to, have to hold on.
It will be painful, but we cannot ignore the obvious.Sometimes an opportunity is on the table in some way, and the OU doesn’t take full advantage of it.
Post time: Jul-12-2022