The Texas Tech loss was not the worst under Coach Bob Stoops.
This one was.
Oklahoma lost for the first time ever to Baylor, 45-38. Repeat. First time ever.
More importantly, a Sooner win would have moved them up to No. 3 in the country in the BCS and a good chance to play for the national championship.
The reasons for this loss were obvious.
About as obvious as all those Baylor receivers who ran past the OU secondary to be five yards open to receive deep passes by Robert Griffin III. Again. And, again. And again.
They’re probably still running open in Waco.
Then, even after Landry Jones brought the Sooners back to tie the ball game, 38-38, it was obvious that Baylor (without any time outs) was content to run the clock out and take the game into overtime.
But Stoops called a time out. Huh?
The obvious best choice would have been to let the clock run out, not give Robert Griffin III even one extra second to do his magic. Take the game into overtime, where the Sooners “Belldozer” offense would have been perfect to run.
But, Stoops called time out. That too was obvious. Obviously outrageous.
(To put this in perspective, the last coach to call a more improvident time out was Pat Jones many years ago in Stillwater. He did it on a Sooners fourth down with seconds left before the half in Bedlam. Oklahoma, which had been content on running the clock out before the time out, threw a touchdown pass. So, we can officially say that Stoops made an “Aggie” move in Waco.)
Make no mistake, Robert Griffin III gets our Heisman vote, if we had one. Nothing written here should be construed as disrespecting Griffin, Baylor and Coach Art Briles. Baylor was the best team on the field Saturday night.
But as good as Baylor was, that doesn’t explain why Oklahoma lost this game. Or the Texas Tech game. Or the Bedlam game that I’m predicting they will lose in two weeks.
It doesn’t explain why this former national champion contender turned two-loss team is so disappointing. Or that it’s likely to be a three loss team going into bowl season.
My conclusion is Oklahoma is not that good. Especially on defense. True, there are some very talented players. Roy Finch and young Brandon Williams. And Jaz Reynolds. The O-line has some talented pass blockers, but not run blockers. Landry Jones had a pretty good ballgame. He got the Sooners back in it. Those are all offensive players.
The so-called “Sharks” in the defensive secondary are a less talented football players who, for whatever reason, struggle to grasp the coverages that secondary coach Willie Martinez dials up for them. They played with heart. But, if they are sharks, then they are those whale sharks that don’t bite people.
The defensive coaching staff has shown it can’t consistently get its teams prepared to play inferior, but well schemed and motivated talent. That’s especially true in the secondary. As Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables said after the game, his secondary did not play disciplined. That was the same problem against Texas Tech.
How bad is the problem? This defense gave up 620 yards offense on Saturday night. That’s more than any Oklahoma defense in the 116 year history of the program.
Still, regardless of preparation or talent, this Oklahoma team has a more serious weakness. These guys do play with heart. With emotion. But this team lacks the leadership and character to face adversity. I hate to say it, but this defense looked like it was beginning to lay down in Waco — more out of frustration — with more than eight minutes left in the game. The last two Baylor scores were by Bears walking into the end zone untouched. I won’t say they gave up, that’s probably not fair to these young players. But, they were in disarray.
Coach Stoops talked all week about players needing to step up this week at Baylor, given the season-ending injury to Ryan Broyles. We all were looking to offensive players when he said that. We should have been looking to defensive players, because it was more than offensive production that the Sooners lost when Broyles went down. They lost a leader.
The Sooners needed character and leadership on defense to step up to face the great challenge from Griffin’s play. They didn’t step up.
And “in the end”, neither did Stoops.
When it was time for the coach to step up, Stoops called a time out. That decision was the coaching equivalent of jumping a route and letting Art Briles run past him. It was like Javon Harris biting on that inside fake of Kendall Wright.
Baylor had no time outs left and was content to run out the clock and send the game into overtime.
The time out gave Baylor the extra time to march down the field, and with :08 left, throw a touchdown pass to yet another receiver who got behind a Sooner safety in the end zone for the winning touchdown. Game over. — Mike
Follow
Dead on Mike. Why no field goal with 9 minutes left in the game? This was an obvious lack of belief in the defense by going for it. Kick that field goal, and score two touchdowns and the game was over.
Instead, not one but two decisions that let his team down. Players make mistakes and so do coaches, but considering it is Stoops, no excuse. Why aren’t the other sports writers writing and talking about this today or last night. Stoops gets a pass? Players played with heart but not smart (especially defensive secondary).
I do have to say, the OSU and OU games were so much fun to watch though. Can’t remember back to back games being so exciting. Have to love college football.
I agree Mike, this one stings more than Tech. Our bcs title hopes are gone. At this rate it looks like OSU will hang over 60 on us. Leadership, be it from coaches or players, is clearly lacking. This team has quality players without chemisty. Tonight they didn’t play with the intensity of a team making a championship run. It was hard to watch and Stoops’ call was just icing on the cake. I’m still baffled by it. Tonights outcome was disappointing in so many ways but Baylor deserved it with the effort they put in. Atleast we aren’t going to be embarassed in another NC game…