October 03, 2007

For The Love of Sport: Sooners Stake a Claim: Make no mistake, the bellwether game for Oklahoma this year is this Texas game. The latest column in a continuing series by sportsfilter's own kyrilmitch_76.

posted by justgary to football at 09:08 AM - 17 comments

Thanks for the article. Now I know that Sooners are cheaters from way back. Did you write this before or after they lost to Colorado?

posted by bperk at 10:12 AM on October 03, 2007

Nice Article. I really think OU is better than the Colorado game. They were looking ahead to Texas and stumbled. I think that Bob Stoops is one of the better coaches in the college game today but that loss is on him, he isn't supposed to let that happen. The loss to Colorado probably put an end to their hopes for a shot at the championship but I agree that they will probably beat Texas and I think it will be a rather lopsided victory at that. I think LSU is the best team in the top 10 right now but as you said an SEC schedule makes it very hard to go undefeated regardless of how good you are. USC is fully capable of losing at least one on this years schedule and I actually hope they do (sorry USC fans). Last Saturday really turned this year into a heck of a race I think with all those top teams losing it really opens the door for a lot of fun football this year. Should really be fun watching how it finally shakes out.

posted by T.C. at 10:24 AM on October 03, 2007

Oh god, losing to the Buffs. I'd feel so sorry for the Sooners if I didn't hate them for not handing the Buffs an ass-whuppin.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 01:06 PM on October 03, 2007

I live in St. Louis now, having just graduated from OU, and the last thing I want to have to hear is all the Mizzou fans giving me a hard time (if they beat Nebraska and are sitting undefeated) while OU might have two losses under their belt. So, go OU. As for Nebraska/Mizzou... spontaneous combustion anybody?

posted by igottheblues at 03:10 PM on October 03, 2007

OU will beat Texas badly it won't be close.

posted by T.C. at 03:13 PM on October 03, 2007

As a life-Long Sooners fan, I can tell you there is a quiet grumbling in Norman.grumbling of how Bob Stoops can't win the "big games". Starting with last year's "embarrassing"(who wants to get beat by'Cinderella'?)loss to Boise State,to the trouncing they took by USC in the National Championship game the year before that,and LSU same deal before that. And who can forget the Rhett Bomar blunder. Some circles are starting to silently steam because, and this year confirms it: The Sooner Nation gets their collective hearts broken.....again. Stoops seems to get outcoached in those games (like Colorado) and it is so painfully obvious. I know due to the wide loyalty and popularity, it will not happen soon. But as they say: You read it here first.

posted by Pimpkiller at 04:00 PM on October 03, 2007

Good idea, fire Stoops. I'm sure coaches with a winning percentage over 80% grow on trees in Oklahoma.

posted by bperk at 04:20 PM on October 03, 2007

To fire Stoops would be insane. So they lost to Boise State? So what. They finished 12-2 when they could have folded the tents when Bomar got kicked off the team. He does the right things and kicks kids off the team, and Mack Brown will suspend a player for some meaningless game for getting arrested. Seems that people might have been spoiled too much. I believe they were ripped off in Oregon (he certainly outcoached them), and beat some very good teams over his career. They usually play teams like the Alabama's, Miami, and of course a very good Big 12 conference (to heck with what others say - tough conference). I believe they will continue to grow and get better. Nobody really believed they would be in this situation with a rookie QB. Really now.

posted by Mickster at 06:12 PM on October 03, 2007

Firing Stoops would be ridiculous at this point. How many coaches have won a national title in the last seven years? Only a few (b/c pete carroll owns most of those), so i hope his NC should stop people for calling for his head too soon. Some times schools like OU don't realize how good they have it, and get worse by gettting rid of a good coach.

posted by brainofdtrain at 11:54 PM on October 03, 2007

I actually posted this to the column section Saturday morning before the game. I was almost nervous to read the comments about my brilliant prediction that the Sooners would go undefeated and play for the national title. I still think that they are a pretty solid team but with one loss I am not sure that they would make it over a one-loss SEC team.

posted by kyrilmitch_76 at 06:27 AM on October 04, 2007

If people in Norman want to fire Bob Stoops, then I'd like to go on record as naming Norman, Oklahoma the stupidest city in America. You read it here first.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:17 AM on October 04, 2007

Fact: The true character of a man/team is judged by the way that they deal with adversity. Discussion: Does anyone remember the OU/Nebraska rivalry back in the '70's? My take is that OU's is still in danger of "trick" plays. The "Big 8" used to run them a lot. I have seen some of OU's competitors who are behind in the spread by a supposedly insurmountably amount run "trick" plays with success. They still seem to work against the OU power-house. They don't work all the time, but enough for a good team to take advantage of them (Boise State). Please don't abuse me with a play-by-play with Boise State. I saw an abreviated version of a replay whilst floating around in places without HDTV access. I'll admit that I'm not an expert, but it seems like OU can get beat by teams like Boise State if they go unconventional. But in the case of Colorado, turnovers. You can't win on the negative side. Do you blame the coach? I don't know. I didn't see the game at my location. Bottom line: My thought is that Colorado was a "wake up call" for the Sooners. They have the capability to respond. As a (very) distant observer, the Sooners were not expected to do much this year according to the "experts." Scoring over 60 points a game may have boosted their confidence a bit too much going into this game. I have to admit, my confidence was boosted to the point of putting them over LSU, and equal to USC. Sayanara: I won't be able to see the games, so keep us posted. We love you guys back there. I'm a Sooners fan, but I'm happy as long as the best teams rise to the top. Well, as long as it isn't Nebraska. And is Mizzou going to get any "love" this year? Have faith in us and what we are accomplishing. The good things are not getting reported. They outweigh the bad reports by far. Didn't want to mix sports with politics, but we're a bit discouraged by what you folks may think about what we're dealing with based upon the report from the media. Armed Forces Network (AFN) is pretty good about giving us FOX News along with CNN. We don't watch CNN/MSNBC. I have helped build schools and childrens homes in countries from Djibouti to Inodonesia. We're doing a lot more right now, and it's helping the locals. If you vote to not do help via govt funds, then please send some charitable contributions. Bless you all, and go Sooners and KC Chiefs!!!

posted by NavyChop at 09:27 AM on October 04, 2007

I'm not the official welcoming committee here but welcome to Spofi NavyChop. Nice first comment. OU looked out coached against the Buffs but I cant see putting all the blame on Stoops. The players have to execute the plays and that didn't seem to be happening either. LSU = National Championship (unless my crimson tide trip them up in Tuscaloosa)

posted by Folkways at 10:03 AM on October 04, 2007

Or the Gators this Saturday. It should be one heck of a game.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:05 PM on October 04, 2007

Thanks for your comment NavyChop. Unfortunately, the only word we're getting back here about Djibouti is that its capital is Djibouti. Keep up the good work.

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 02:24 PM on October 04, 2007

I really hope the Trojans don't stumble this year because I think LSU-USC for the title would be on heck of a game.

posted by billsaysthis at 04:44 PM on October 05, 2007

D'oh!

posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:46 AM on October 08, 2007

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