Texas Turnaround

October 9th, 2005

By Justin Waganer
Senior Sports Writer

The clock was ticking below 30 seconds in the first half when Vince Young took the snap and rolled to his left, stopped and popped the pass for a 64 yard touchdown to Billy Pittman. Game over. Series turned. Demons exercised. From the end of the half back in 2002 when Mack’s boys downed the ball at midfield to go to half to now, when they went for the jugular and struck. The wind was taken out of the collective sails of Sooner fans, players, and coaches and the swagger was transferred from one sideline to the other.

Now, we really find out who these coaches are as they are both in situations foreign to them. Stoops must rally the troops to salvage a season that could easily end in November. The good news for the Sooners is this, they won’t face another team anywhere close to as good as Texas. More good news? They can beat every team left on their schedule. The bad news? Every team left on their schedule can beat them. Yes, even those hilarious Baylor Bears.

Brown now gets the honor of being the coach of the team with the gigantic target on their back. Every team from now on will give you everything they have. Onside kicks out of nowhere, trick plays galore, and crowds coming with the slim chance of seeing one of the greatest upsets in recent college history. It can happen (see OSU in Norman in 2001, in Stillwater in 2002) but it probably won’t to this team, they are really stinkin’ good. Brown can’t afford to become the coach that coaches like his team has everything to lose (like they do), he must continue to coach exactly as he did on Saturday and in Columbus.

What do you take from this game if you are an OU fan? Even though this team is young and inexperienced, they didn’t quit like the experience stars that were waxed in last year’s Orange Bowl. These guys kept fighting until the end, for better (TD pass from Bomar to Finley) or worse (Bomar fumble returned for TD). Special teams is solid with Hartley and Freeby and the defense has a lot of talent, just too youthful to stop an attack as powerful as this Texas team.

The Sooners have the opportunity to bounce back against a bad Kansas team in Kansas City next week and they better be ready for the Big 12 South’s newest bowl contender, the Baylor Bears in two weeks in Norman. This is when the coaches must decide what their offense is going to be. Will it be the I-Formation built around Peterson? Will it be the misdirection option with Gutierrez, Jones, and Peterson mixing it up? Whichever it is, this is when you need to be making it yours. None of the teams left on the schedule are good enough to make you change your offense to be successful.

Now you need to start developing that attitude and swagger that won you more games than anyone in college football over the last five years. This is when the Sooners must find their heart again, they can win six in a row and end up in the Alamo or Cotton Bowl or fall apart and take December off. Sooner fans better hope they end up bowling somewhere, might take the sting out of watching Texas play in Pasadena.

Entry Filed under: Sooners