Thu, Nov 20 2008
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Published October 13, 2008 01:15 am - Red River loss doesn't dampen BCS dreams DALLAS (AP) — Oklahoma’s season opened with the highest of hopes, and they were only amplified when the Sooners reached the No. 1 ranking a month into the season.
Crushing as it may seem to those in crimson and cream, a loss to Texas may not be the end of those preseason aspirations. “In the end, it’s always disappointing to invest so much and you end up losing. But in the end, I think everyone realizes, if you watch everyone else play, it isn’t that easy to go undefeated at all,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. “There’s a ton of games left. There’s half the season still left and a lot of good teams out there. “We’ve got to be ready to play, to be at our best, but chances are everyone else could have the same thing happen to them. I don’t need to refresh everyone’s memory but, heck, the national champion a year ago had two losses and late in the year.” If there’s a tiny slice of good news, it’s that the Sooners (5-1, 1-1 Big 12) emerged with the highest ranking of any of the one-loss teams in the country at No. 4 (No. 6 in the USA Today poll) after the 45-35 loss in one of the Red River Rivalry’s most memorable games. Texas took over Oklahoma’s old No. 1 ranking, and unbeaten Alabama and Penn State are the only other teams ahead of the Sooners. “We know there’s a lot of games to be played, a lot of games,” linebacker Travis Lewis said. “There’s a lot of one-loss teams right now, and our goals are not thrown out by any chance, by any means. We have our heads up. “We’ve got a good team coming into home next week in Kansas. That’s a good redemption game.” The Sooners have some issues to shore up before the 16th-ranked Jayhawks (5-1, 2-0) arrive next Saturday. They’re one of only four teams that have allowed two kickoff return touchdowns this season, and Stoops has indicated the problem is simply an unwillingness to tackle by some players on the coverage unit. Jordan Shipley’s 96-yard return gave the Longhorns their first touchdown of the game, and their first big emotional play. “We just all kind of stand there and stick our hand out, and he runs right through everyone,” Stoops said in assessing the play. There’s also the matter of replacing Ryan Reynolds, the only experienced linebacker on the team. Stoops said the solution would involve moving either Lewis or Austin Box from the outside to the middle, but it would take a little more time to figure out which one. 
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