subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite mapBuy a Classified
Sun, Jul 05 2009 

Resources

print this story   Print this story
  Post to del.icio.us

Photos


Oklahoma State defensive back Perrish Cox, left, breaks up a pass to Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Stillwater, Okla. Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Brody Schmidt)
Brody Schmidt /


Published November 30, 2008 12:36 am -

Sooners made their statement when and where it counted



STILLWATER — Give it up, Mack Brown.

You too, Mike Leach.

All arguments aside, the football fortunes seem destined to pour cold water all over your own national title arguments.

Oklahoma State even argued with you, but on every occasion, Oklahoma argued back. Six straight times the Sooners answered an offensive punch with a counterpunch and in the end, the 61-41 Sooners victory should say all there needs to be said to settle that pesky fifth tiebreaker that will allow the voters and computers connected to the Bowl Championship Series to determine the Big 12 South Division representative — and very likely, one of two spots in the national championship game.

Consider the statements made from the Oklahoma offense and quarterback Sam Bradford. For starters, nine consecutive third-down conversions. Give him style points for trying to convert the 10th on his own, an 8-yard carry on a third-and-goal that ended with a 1 1/2 axel out of bounds while taking a nasty hit by OSU defender Ricky Price.

No matter though. Bradford started a streak of back-to-back fourth-down conversions by recovering his own mishandled snap from center and scoring on a 1-yard keeper, making it 37-26 with time waning in the third quarter.

“Reminded me of a youth league play I once made,” Bradford said.

Six of Oklahoma’s scores raise another argument. In 71 drives inside the red zone, the Sooners have registered 61 touchdowns. They’ve exceeded 60 points in four consecutive games.

“The great teams score when they need to,” Bradford said. “Tonight I think we met that challenge. We had to. They just kept answering us, so we had to answer them.”

There were 12 consecutive scoring drives in this contest. A three-and-out by the OU defense with 5:44 to go ended the run.

Bradford recovered from a 4-of-11 start passing and a seven-point first quarter, including only the second time this season he hasn’t led the team to a score on its first drive, and finished the night 30-of-44 passing for 370 yards. His four touchdown passes, two to Jermaine Gresham, moved him past Jason White as the career TD pass leader at OU with 82.

That’s in four less seasons than the former OU Heisman Trophy winner’s six campaigns. Need a statement for that contest?

But meanwhile, a memo to Leach, the Texas Tech coach whose team saw his team get pasted for 65 points last week: Graduation rates, as you requested on Saturday as a means for a tiebreaker, won’t factor. Memo to Mack Brown and Texas: You’d have a better chance arguing in favor of disqualifying a 9-3 North champ Missouri for losing in Kansas City a week in advance, in a wintry mess against Kansas.

But yet, Missouri is probably owed a BCS break after getting shafted last year when the Orange Bowl selected North runner-up Kansas rather than the Big 12 championship-losing Tigers. Or, Mack, you could wait and see if being a division runner-up has its, um, benefits again. Should OU lose to the Tigers next week...oh, we wouldn’t want to go there.

Even the “45-35” flyovers reminding a Boone Pickens Stadium crowd and a national television audience of the Red River Rivalry outcome shouldn’t matter. It is, you know, a three-way tie.



print this story    email this story    comment on this story   

Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.




Zillow
monster
autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide


Find a job! Find a Home! Find a car!

Premier Guide

Premium Jobs

4673-Administrative Assistant/Encumbrance Clerk
Applicants must have a High School Diploma. Accounting skills and Bookkeeping experience imperative. Preference will be ...>MORE

4657-Hygienst Needed
For large dental practice, work TTh. Please fax resumet o 405-751-7160....>MORE

4637-Apartment Manager
PART TIME
Apartment Manager Needed in Haskell
Must live on site, work well with people and bookkeeping helpful
...>MORE

4658-Administrator Home Health Agency
Administrator for Tulsa and Eufaula-based home healthcare agency. Requirements include:
*2 years previous Administr
...>MORE

4603-Hospital Openings
Okmulgee Memorial Hospital, Inc. is accepting applications for the following positions:
Director Facilities/Environ
...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Autos

4667-1986 Ford F 350
2 wheel dr., dually, 7.3 diesel, 4 spd. 918-682-4811...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Real Estate

4665-Small Apartment
with stove & fridge, by lake Ft. Gibson located between Wagoner and Muskogee, all bills paid. $450/mo. 918-625-0740...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Extras

4656-26 1/2 5th Wheel
2001 Rockwood with pullout, excellent condition. 918-773-6092...>MORE

4668-Skeeter Fish & Ski
2002 150hp Yamaha, 19ft, barely used, $11,000. 918-251-2964...>MORE

4670-Bass Boat
18 ft Vision 115hp, 4 cly. Mercury, 40lb Minn Kota, 2 locators, excellent condition. Extras. 1 owner. $5500. 918-348-877...>MORE

4672-AKC Boxer Pups
7 wks old. 1 white Female, 1 Fawn Male & 1 Fawn & white Female. $300. 918-617-2568...>MORE

4643-1996 Yamaha Wave Runner
3 passenger, 3 cyl., 2 stroke, 56 hours used. Excellent condition. $2000. 918-351-3972...>MORE

See all ads


 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index