Sooner Spotlight: How They Got to Arizona

No. 1: Down but Not Out

What better way to end this list than to talk about the last game the Sooners played in and won: the Big 12 Championship game.

Obviously they wouldn’t be in the Fiesta Bowl if they did not win the conference title, but the manner in which they won the game was far from the usual formal they used in all of their other wins. Spotting the Cornhuskers 17 points was definitely not head coach Bob Stoops’ plan, especially at a neutral site field where about 65 percent of the fans rooted for Nebraska.

OU did not look anywhere in sync on the offensive side of the ball while the Cornhuskers mounted the three-possession lead, and Nebraska seemed to have the game in hand midway through the second quarter. But redshirt sophomore quarterback Landry Jones gained his composure and was able to get the Sooners on the scoreboard with a 49-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Kenny Stills.

The touchdown gave OU some life, but Nebraska almost responded on the next drive with what could have been the knockout punch.

The Cornhuskers drove down to inside the Sooners’ 10 yard line, but junior linebacker Travis Lewis and the defense stood tough and forced freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez to throw an errant ball into the end zone and into Lewis’ hands. The interception completely turned the game around, and OU scored 10 unanswered points to tie the game before Nebraska regained the lead with a field goal late in the first half.

But a three-point lead was nothing compared to what the Sooners overcame in the second quarter. Junior kicker Jimmy Stevens kicked a field goal in the third quarter to tie the game and put another one through the uprights in the fourth quarter to provide all of the points the defense needed to work with to seal the victory.

The defense pressured Martinez and forced turnovers and didn’t allow Nebraska’s offense into the end zone during the final 30 minutes to win 23-20 and earn a trip to Arizona.

While pitching a shutout was impressive, the Sooners’ ability to not give up and respond when many people counted them out after giving up the early lead. Jones and this offense was not known as the kind of mount comebacks on the road, but they had the never-say-die attitude that allowed them to put points on the board.

The defense did its job and then some for the majority of the game, and neither side of the ball shot itself in the foot once OU got the lead. And that’s what champions do, they step up when they need to be at their best.

Now, the Sooners are looking to add a Fiesta Bowl trophy to the list of accomplishments for the 2010 season following a year that was filled with injuries and disappointment.

Maybe this trip to the desert will treat the Sooners better than the previous two.

Sooner Spotlight: How They Got to Arizona

No. 2: Landry Strikes Twice in Stillwater

The Sooners went into the final week of the season still looking for a share of the Big 12 South and a
berth in the conference title game, and they had to go an hour north to try to accomplish both feats. They eventually went on to beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys 47-41, but redshirt sophomore quarterback Landry Jones grew up and may have become the quarterback that all his doubters wanted him to be during the game’s final two drives.

Jones had thrown for 306 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions before he went under center with around four minutes remaining, but two passes he made helped lift OU and his stock.

The Sooners were trying to run out the clock in a 33-31 game, but they were stuck in an obvious passing situation on third-and-long. Many people expected former OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson to run the ball again to keep the clock going, but he decided to play according to the down-and-distance
and go with a pass play, meaning both he and Jones would be heavily criticized if the play did not work and Oklahoma State went on to take the lead.

But, Jones made Wilson a genius.

The Artesia, New Mexico, native connected with senior wide receiver Cameron Kenney over the middle in perfect stride, and he was off to the races. Kenney outran every defender and scampered into the end zone for an 86-yard touchdown. The touchdown put OU up 40-31 with 3:03 left, but Oklahoma State returned the following kickoff for a touchdown to put the pressure back on the Sooners’ offense to convert.

OU ran the ball on first down, and again everyone expected Wilson to call up a run play to keep the clock ticking. But Wilson played the heater and rolled with Jones again.

Jones found his tight end, James Hanna, wide open with no one between him and the end zone, and again he put the ball right where it needed to be to make sure his target could catch the ball easily and continue toward six points without having to change stride. Hanna showed off his speed and completed the 76-yard play for the touchdown and the victory.

Oklahoma State tacked on a field goal but did not get the ball back to help OU secure the six-point victory. Jones ended the game by throwing for 468 yards, which tied former OU quarterback Sam Bradford for the program’s single-game yards record, and four touchdowns, but more importantly he ended the game with a Big 12 South title and new identity.

He was always seen as someone who folded on the road, especially in the fourth quarter, but he proved he could get the job done when the team needed him the most. Those two passes could not have been thrown any better, and those passes could have turned the mediocre performance into maybe the finest of his career.

If he didn’t complete those passes, he would probably be seen as the goat and everyone would be calling for quarterback Blake Bell, who redshirted this year, to be the team’s leader in 2011. But he did make those passes, and he was a big part why the Sooners are playing in the Fiesta Bowl.

Be sure to check back in tomorrow, Dec. 30, for the No. 1 reason why OU is playing in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

Sooner Spotlight: How They Got to Arizona

No. 3: On the Road Again

It’s no secret that the Sooners have struggled in true road games in recent years. They had lost all five of their games in 2009 away from Norman, and they did not win easily or look pretty on the road in each of their two road games, at Cincinnati and in Dallas against the bowl-starved Longhorns, before the start of the true road schedule during conference play.

After shutting out Iowa State 52-0 at home, OU was named the No. 1 team in the nation according to the first BCS rankings. The top spot put a target on the team’s back as it traveled north to Columbia, Mo., to square off against a Missouri Tigers team that had a chip on its shoulder and wanted to repay the favors of three big losses, including two in the Big 12 Championship game, that the Sooners handed the Tigers in 2007 and 2008.

Missouri returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and rode the momentum and energy to eventually defeat the Sooners 36-27 despite trailing 21-20 to start the fourth quarter.

The Sooners recovered from the loss with a 43-10 shellacking of Colorado at home, but their road trip to College Station, Texas, against Texas A&M officially knocked the Sooners out of the national-title race. OU went on to lose to Texas A&M 33-19 in a game where it could not overcome early mistakes, three failed trips inside  the Aggies’ five and a drop by junior tight end James Hanna on a fake field goal pass.

The Aggies played a physical game on defense and took advantage of every opportunity on offense, but the Sooners shot themselves in the foot and practically gave the away a very winnable game.

The back-to-back road losses caused a lot of questions for head coach Bob Stoops and his players to answer, and a feeling of unease on the road swept across Sooner Nation. The road woes even resulted in an OU parody of Willie Nelson’s hit “On the Road Again” to surface and spread on the Internet.

Once again, OU recovered by winning handily at home, this time Texas Tech fell victim to a 45-point offensive assault. With two games remaining on the Sooners’ schedule, they had to figure out quickly how to win on the road if OU wanted to win the final division title in its current form.

The Baylor Bears were the first road stop in OU’s path toward a Big 12 South title, but the offense met little resistance in Waco, Texas. Every aspect of the Sooners’ offense was clicking on all cylinders, and OU went on to win 53-24 in a game that was over in the first quarter.

The Sooners played like they did during the 2008 season, which helped build momentum going into Stillwater, home of in-state rival and higher-ranked Oklahoma State.

Even though redshirt sophomore quarterback Landry Jones threw three interceptions, including a pick-six and what may be the play of the year in college football, in the first half, OU was able to outlast the Cowboys in the second half by striking big and on back-to-back possessions in the final minutes of a game that truly was Bedlam-worthy.

The Sooners did what very few people thought they could do: win their final two games on the road to clinch the Big 12 South and a chance to face Nebraska for the final time as a member of the Big 12.

OU continued its road streak by beating the Cornhuskers 23-20 in Arlington, Texas, and Stoops is the one laughing last at anyone who still have doubts about his team playing on the road.

The Sooners now have to extend the away-from-Norman win streak to four games if they want to avoid adding onto the national joke and perception that they cannot win a BCS game, especially against what seem to be inferior opponents at the Fiesta Bowl. But, OU would not be there if it wasn’t able to take care of business on the road when it mattered most.

Be sure to check back in tomorrow, Dec. 29, for reason No. 2.

Sooner Spotlight: How They Got to Arizona

No. 4: The Ball Bounces in OU’s Favor

If we’ve learned anything from LSU head coach Les Miles this year, it’s that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. OU got some luck, or what fans reverently call Sooner Magic, multiple times this season when the ball was on the ground.

The magic started during the fourth week of the season when Cincinnati wide receiver D.J. Woods had trouble holding onto the ball in key situations. Woods had a solid game by catching seven passes for 171 yards, but his day is more remembered for the two times he could not secure the pigskin.

While trailing 14-9 in the second quarter, Woods caught a pass and streaked down the field toward the end zone, but OU senior defensive back Jonathan Nelson wasn’t going to let the receiver cross the goal line without a fight. Nelson caught up to Woods and punched the ball out and the ball went into the end zone for a touchback.

That’s seven points and momentum taken off the scoreboard right there.

Woods looked as if he had recovered from the fumble by continuing his big day on offense and special teams, but his once sure hands faulted him late in the game. He muffed a punt inside his own 10 yard line with the Sooners leading 24-22, and OU recovered and found the end zone two plays later to take a late 31-22 lead.

The Sooners went on to win 31-29. Just imagine what the score could have been if Woods held onto the ball on at least one of those two plays.

Lady Luck was on OU’s side again when it played Texas a week later. Or, to be more accurate, Lady Luck favored redshirt sophomore quarterback Landry Jones that day.

He fumbled the ball twice against the Longhorns, but one of them, which was lost, was nullified by a defensive penalty. The second, though, he was bailed out by a bounce rather than a flag.

The Sooners were just trying to run out the clock with a 28-20 lead, and Jones turned the wrong way to make a hand off to senior back DeMarco Murray. Jones was flushed out of the pocket and he dropped the ball deep in OU territory and with multiple Longhorns crashing toward the ball.

While on the ground, Jones reached out and somehow swatted the ball enough to get it to roll harmlessly out of bounds at OU’s six.

But the fumble that won this year’s installment of the Red River Rivalry came two plays later when another muffed punt found its way into an OU player’s hands. The ball fell through Texas corner back Aaron Williams’ hands and right into OU special teams specialist James Winchester’s.

The Sooners were able to drain the clock to avoid a three-game losing streak against Texas and getting out to an 0-1 start in conference play.

If the balls bounced in other directions on any of those plays, then there’s not telling how either of those games would have ended or how the momentum of the season would have gone.

No fumbles, maybe no fun in the desert; who knows? You could call those plays luck or Sooner Magic, but either way they greatly helped out OU.

Be sure to check back in tomorrow, Dec. 28, for reason No. 3.

Sooner Spotlight: How They Got to Arizona

The Sooners will be playing in their third Fiesta Bowl in five years at 8:30 p.m. ET on New Year’s Day in Glendale, Ariz., and like all stories that end with a BCS berth, OU went through some ups and downs and received some breaks to make it back to the desert. Over the course of the next five days, I’ll count down the top five moments that put the Sooners in the position they find themselves in today.

So, let’s begin the countdown.

No. 5: Stevens Not Living Up to His Reputation

Junior kicker Jimmy Stevens was seen more as a punchline than a reliable option when the Sooners needed a field goal. More people bet on which direction he would miss rather than whether he would actually put three points on the board.

But Stevens did something that very few people thought he would do: split the uprights.

Stevens made 17 of his 21 field goal attempts this season, and his finest moments came when the Sooners needed him most. During OU’s four-game winning streaking leading up to the upcoming bowl game, he was good on 11-of-13 field goal tries and posted two games where he made every attempt he tried.

The first of those two perfect games came in a 53-24 romping on the road against the Baylor Bears. Stevens made all three of his attempts, with his longest coming from 33 yards out.

Stevens’ second perfect game during the four-game stretch was against Oklahoma State in Stillwater to help the Sooners clinch the Big 12 South title. He was good on all four of his tries, and three of his makes came during a fourth quarter that OU and the Cowboys lit up the scoreboard for 40 points.

What made Stevens’ three fourth-quarter field goals so important is that they came after a quarter where the Sooners failed to score any points and allowed the Oklahoma State to tied the game at 24. His three late field goals put OU up 33-24, which was just good enough to help the Sooners avoid the Cowboys’ come-back attempt.

Head coach Bob Stoops named Stevens one of the special teams players of the game for coming through in the clutch and helping extend the Sooners’ during the first half of the final frame.

Stevens came through for his head coach, who benched him a year earlier for missing a critical attempt in a three-point loss against the Longhorns, again during the Big 12 Championship game against Nebraska. He made three of his four attempts, and it was his 27-yard field goal with 8:28 remaining that gave the Sooners the 23-20 lead.

The Sooners’ defense held on, and it was Stevens’ field goal that was the difference in OU’s seventh Big 12 title.

Nobody would have bet that Stevens’ leg would be the difference maker in that game, and while people argue that Stevens may not have done much because he didn’t have a field goal of more than 40 yards during the team’s final four games, he did just about everything he was asked to do: make kicks.

If Stevens didn’t get hot and make all of those field goals at the end of the year, the Sooners could have played a pre-New Year bowl game for the second straight season.

Be sure to check back in tomorrow, Dec. 27, for reason No. 4.