Going into Bedlam, media experts said losing this game might signal a definitive decline in the Sooners program. But, win this game and it could mark a turning point for a seemingly slipping program (at least by Oklahoma standards) to instead be elevated into the national championship picture in the next two or three years.
A change in program direction could be coming. But which way?
On Saturday that was answered by No. 18 Oklahoma, a 10-point underdog and playing without two key offensive starters, with a 33-24 Bedlam win on a frigid day in Stillwater.
The win came thanks to the improbable contribution from kicker Mike Hunnicutt and starter, turned back up, turned reliever QB Blake Bell, who found Jalen Saunders in the corner of the end zone on a touchdown winning pass with a mere 19 seconds left in the game.
This game was somewhat of a microcosm of this Oklahoma season.
It spoiled rival sixth-ranked OSU’s bid to be Big 12 Champions.
It was the 84th Oklahoma win in a 108-year-old lopsided series (the Sooners had won 9 of the last 10 meetings) that Cowboy fans truly believed more than ever would be different this year.
It wasn’t.
This game was a microcosm of the season. The year began with Trevor Knight winning the starting QB job when all expected the Bell Dozer to be the play calling heir to Landry Jones. Knight stumbled. Three games later Bell was the starter. Then poor games against Texas and Baylor and a Bell injury later, Knight was back at the helm. All the while there was a muttered current from disgruntled fans to play redshirt sophomore Kendal Thompson at QB.
It was just a handfull of plays made by Sooners that not only won this game but also marked the future of this program.
A first half 64-yard Jalen Saunders punt return. A fourth down goal line stop by Chuka Ndulue and Gabe Lynn.
Then Knight was injured right before halftime. Coming back after intermission the Sooners coaches skipped by Bell and played fleet footed Thompson because of his read option run abilities.
The game was tight. Time was becoming a factor. And then the Oklahoma coaches made their sea change decision.
Play Bell in the fourth quarter.
Bell stepped up. With 1:46 left in the game, he marched the offense down the field for a comeback win over Oklahoma State.
In reality, three quarterbacks stepped up on Saturday to contribute to the win.
No, make that FOUR quarterbacks, because none was any more valuable to this win than sophomore placeholder Grant Bothun, who tossed a touchdown pass to Hunnicutt on a fake field goal call that harkened back to Big Game Bob’s play calling of old. The play was only introduced to this team at practice on Thursday.
And is that the story line for the media after this win?
In the locker room the reporters were looking for such a story for this improbable game.
“We are moving in a very positive direction despite what the media may think,” said Defensive Coordinator Mike Stoops told reporters.
“Write, ‘Big Game Bob must be back,'” he said.
Time will tell if that is true.
But, there was certainly a looseness and confidence in the attitude of this team on Saturday. It lead these coaches to take chances. Where fans had perceived this coaching staff to become too cautious and complacent, those fans saw the same OU coaches pull out all stops this Bedlam.
Where fans had perceived this coaching staff to become too cautious and complacent, those fans saw the same OU coaches pull out all stops this Bedlam.
The coaches trusted these players to make the plays — including a double reverse, a change in quarterback and a fake field goal (after the Cowboys had made an important defensive stop in the red zone) — a risky combination not seen since Stoops-led Sooners teams upset an Alabama in Tuscaloosa on a fake punt in home territory or crushed Missouri on a fake field goal for a touchdown in Columbia in what seems like a lifetime ago.
The way Oklahoma lost to Texas and Baylor this year irritated fans to no end. It caused them to question whether Stoops’ quality days as the Sooners coach were behind him. It wasn’t so much losing those games that created this tension as much as how those games were played or play-called.
This Bedlam win was like a shot of adrenaline, or maybe even an antidote to discouragement, that elevated the hopes of Sooners everywhere and turned this end of regular season into a positive sea change and not the demise of optimism as some had feared.
“We are on the brink of getting back to where we want to (be). We are only one or two plays away,” Offensive Coordinator Josh Heupel said.
Perhaps those plays already occurred Saturday in Stillwater.
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