Somewhere on our walk from a dusty parking lot to the aged girders of Doak Campbell stadium a young Florida State coed asked me, “Just what is a Sooner, anyway?”
In the ideal world I would have said, “That’s who’s going to win this game tonight.”
Unfortunately, that’s the sort of witty response you think about five hours later on the walk back through the pack of Florida State students AFTER the No. 1 Sooners beat the No. 5 Seminoles 23-13 here in Tallahassee on Saturday night.
Instead, I muttered, “How much time ya’ got?” or something like that, as my left-brain mode was turned on, thinking I had to give some sort of reality-based academic answer to this youngster (as if she really cared).
But, this was not a night of some reasoned dispassionate presentation of analysis.
This was a night of emotion and gut-instinct and Landry Jones stepping up in the clutch on a third and 12, with the game tied and momentum entirely shifted in favor of the screaming Seminole fans who hadn’t seen Doak Campbell this loud in a generation (a record 84,392 attended — but 12,000 of them wore crimson). And Jones hitting star receiver Ryan Broyles on a 23-yard post route for a first down to keep the Sooners drive alive.
And, then, right after, to lob a 37 yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills — a youngster likely the same age as that coed — who knew very much what a Sooner is as he wrestled Landry’s pass away from Florida State’s Greg Reid in the end zone to show it. The Sooners had wrestled back control of the game and a 20-13 lead with precious time running out.
(I didn’t hear any Tomahawk chop chants at that point. Just a lot of “Ohhhhhhhh Youuuu”s at Doak Campbell.)
This wasn’t a night for some objective statistic. Sure, Stills had a career high 125 receiving yards (yeah, we know his “career” is still in its infancy, but still). Instead it was the intangible, undefinable and immeasurable quality of Stills and Jones and the rest of those young football players that showed this night what a Sooner is with poise and aplomb in the biggest non-conference road win Oklahoma has had since the Big 12 began.
Stills “tweeted” after the game: “Big time players make big time plays in big time games.”
Hey, that’s what Barry Switzer used to call “Sooner magic.”
Magic or not, Oklahoma has it’s gravitas this season. Defeating No. 5 Florida State on the road, when so many were doubting whether the Sooners could win a tough game on the road, was a major step toward playing in the national championship game in New Orleans.
It was reminiscent of a road game at College Station in 2000, a game that advanced the Sooners to the BCS championship game against Florida State and Oklahoma’s 7th national championship.
“One of our goals is to be strong and fight through adversity. We have a lot of confidence. That helped in a game like this and it will continue to help us, ” Stills told reporters after the game.
Yes, young lady, a Sooner is one who steps up against all odds and overcomes adversity.
—
Meanwhile, a big shout out to Jones. His numbers weren’t Heisman spectacular (18-27, 199 yds, 2 INTs), thanks mostly to a Mark Stoops-taught Florida State defense that played exceptional. But, his calm-headed fourth quarter performance was a Heisman-like. He came through in the end.
Also, to the Oklahoma defense, which remain energized by the spirit of Austin Box and who made play after play (three interceptions, six sacks) to hold a high-powered Seminole offense to a mere 3 points in the first half and 13 over-all.
— Mike
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