I have to say, right now, I know how all the OU players, all the coaches, and all the fans feel. Because right now, we're all asking ourselves one question:
"WHEN ARE WE GOING TO CATCH A BREAK?!?!?!"
I've felt this way, to a degree for the better part of two years. Oh sure, it hasn't all been gloom and doom in my life, but as I indicated in the last post, the bad seems to have far outweighed the good for some time.
Hence, my continuing connection with the University of Oklahoma football team, its players, coaches, and fans. After all that's happened in roughly the same timeframe, they're probably asking the same question. For all OU fans, it really began all the way back on January 4th, 2005, a day that will live in infamy for Sooner fans. But as always in the Sooner Nation the past few years, after the sting had passed, hope continued to spring eternal as we entered the 2005 season. Though we were losing Heisman trophy winner Jason White as well as plenty of incredible players on both offense and defense, we still had one of college football's greatest running backs as well as solid talent at most other positions. Sure, there were concerns, but we'd seen our hero Bob Stoops come up big in such situations time and again, fielding top teams and continuing to compete. Then came OU-TCU, the first game of the season on September 3, 2005. Two losses in a row. But still, we hoped, especially as OU switched from TCU starter Paul Thompson to untested redshirt freshman Rhett Bomar. We picked it up a bit in a win against Tulsa, but then another loss to UCLA. Still more despair, as in the next game we lost Adrian Peterson to injury, and then came a loss to Texas, the first since the 20th Century. This gave them a record of 2-3, a record the team had not known since 1998 when John Blake was head coach.
Despite these struggles, the Sooners went on a wonderful run, winning game after game. Then, the hand of God struck again, as OU got robbed by the officials (for the first time) in a win-turned-2-point-loss against Texas Tech. OU fans were livid, as the system put in place to "get it right" failed them. The Sooners continued to overcome such adversity, however, finishing 8-4 with a win in the Holiday Bowl against Oregon, a team considered by many to have been BCS-worthy. In fact, that win wasn't only a statement by the team on overcoming adversity; it was also the coming-out party for Rhett Bomar, as he won the Holiday Bowl MVP award and signaled the promise of a great future for OU.
We entered the spring of 2006 excited, ready, poised for success. With an up-and-coming defense lead by solid junior and senior leadership, and with a young-but-talented-and-improving quarterback, and the return of Adrian Peterson, once again, hope sprang eternal in Norman. We KNEW that 2005 was a mere blip, not even a recession but merely a "market correction", and we KNEW that once we hit 2006, we would regain our rightful place among the top teams in NCAA Division-I football.
And yet again, the hand of God, or the nudge of Satan, or the winds of Providence, or the whim of Lady Luck, or the machinations of cruel Fate (whichever particular deity you wish to pin this on) took a hand in the fortunes of our dear Sooners. After an extensive investigation, OU's athletic compliance department reported that two OU football players had taken money for work they had not performed. Later it was reported that Bob Stoops had removed both players, identified as offensive lineman J.D. Quinn and quarterback Rhett Bomar, from the team. This threw the Sooner Nation into chaos and uncertainty, as we had no idea who the new quarterback would be. When we learned the quarterback would be Paul Thompson, again, we were concerned. Thompson had converted to wide receiver after his replacement as starting quarterback and hadn't even taken a snap as quarterback since the 2005 season. Worse, OU was already thin on the O-line and the loss of a potential starter or even a competent backup was a heavy blow.
Yet again, though, Stoops led his team through this adversity with incredible strength and force of will, and OU won its opener against UAB, then won against an improving Washington team. Adrian Peterson was running like a man possessed. Paul Thompson turned out to be not only competent, but exceptional as quarterback, validating the faith in him held by Stoops and the other members of the Sooner team and staff. Our defense had some problems, but it was early, and Stoops had always been a defensive master. Our hopes were high going into the game against Oregon. Sure, it was in Eugene, and sure, Eugene is a tough place to play, but we'd played Oregon twice in the previous two seasons and won both times, including the great victory in the Holiday Bowl.
And again, disaster struck in the form of a cruel twist of Fate. Not at the hands of obvious bad luck, but rather, serious incompetence. Since we all know the story of "the Oregon game" (as it will no doubt forever go down in Sooner history), I won't go into it further. Besides, I couldn't really provide any fresh insights on that subject. Suffice it to say, even Mr. Pac-10 himself, Oregon alumnus Dan Fouts, who called the game for ABC, admitted that OU was robbed of a win in every sense of the word.
OU recovered from that travesty with a resounding 59-0 victory over Middle Tennessee, and looked so sharp doing it, we all felt that OU had turned that last corner, the one we were all waiting for them to turn. In that game, the defense fired on all cylinders, the offense rolled easily with Thompson throwing for 257 yards and 3 touchdowns. Adrian Peterson could've racked up 300 yards but was removed after a measly 128 yards and 3 touchdowns on 27 carries. With Texas up next, all looked bright for the Sooner Nation once again, and as always, hope sprang eternal.
Of course, we lost to Texas, 28-10. We played very well at times, and even had a 10-7 lead going into halftime. But turnovers and penalties killed us, and yet another questionable call "reviewed" by some of "the best officials in the game" deflated any remaining OU hopes and sealed the win for Texas. We were unhappy. But we knew we could put it behind us and beat Iowa State today. And we did just that, winning 34-9. But that was the good news.
The bad news was, we lost Adrian Peterson to another injury, suffered on another one of his amazing long touchdown runs. This one went for 53 yards, 6 points, and 1 broken collarbone. Word is he's probably out for the season, or he might play in the bowl game. (At least we still consider the bowl game a given, even with Peterson out.) In fact, some think today's game might be Adrian Peterson's last time suiting up for the Crimson and Cream, because he's eligible for the NFL combine and draft once this season is over. He still has his senior year, and he could probably get another year of eligibility from the NCAA based on this injury, if he really wanted it. But he's pretty much guaranteed a nice, round, six-figure signing bonus if he bolts, so some figure that he's done with us.
As I watched the OU-Texas game last weekend, all I could think was, "When are we going to catch a break?" There was an article in this past week's Daily Oklahoman that talked about how OU used to be able to make big plays on offense and more importantly on defense. It talked about how OU's players were so good, they made those big plays look easy, even in the biggest games. In fact, they made it look SO easy that we'd all gotten to the point where we expected OU players to make those sorts of plays. And now that they haven't been, we're really missing them. Andre Woolfolk's amazing off-the-knee-into-his-arms-as-he-falls-to-the-ground catch in the 2000 Nebraska game. Rocky Calmus' one-armed interception return for a TD in the 2000 Texas game. Roy Williams' amazing Superman play in the 2001 Texas game to seal the win. Mark Clayton turning a 5-yard reception into a 50-yard touchdown. Antonio Perkins and his amazing day against UCLA in 2003, in which he claimed the NCAA single-game punt return yardage and TD record with 277 yards and 3 touchdowns on 7 returns. I read this article with interest, but there's another angle of all of this which is just as important...catching breaks from time to time. OU used to get all of them (or at least most of them).
Another notable thing about OU's great recent teams is that they got a lot of these big plays not only because they were so good, but because things went just the right way for them. Roy Williams' big play in 2001, which resulted in a deflected pass and interception by Teddy Lehman, was really a great example of this. Yes, it was a great play, by Williams and Lehman both, but it could've happened a thousand other ways. The ball could've gone into the hands of a Texas player. Lehman might not have been as quick with his reflexes, or might not have seen it coming. It might have gone backward and fallen harmlessly to the ground. Williams could even have whiffed on getting the ball and it could've been a big play for Texas. But it didn't. Williams got his hand on it and it fluttered straight to Lehman, who saw it in plenty of time to reel it in and stroll casually into the endzone. How many times have we all seen similar plays that resulted in a mere incomplete pass? In this case, though, great play and skill and determination opened the door, but things still had to fall just the right way at just the right time for OU, AND THEY DID. The Sooner Nation still calls this "Sooner Magic", even to this day, because that is exactly what it is. Great plays by great players, but also some big breaks, that lead OU to victory. I watched this year's OU-Texas game wondering where all the breaks were, the things that couldn't be explained by mere talent or determination or skill or hard work or overall great play. I watched all these games where bad things continued to happen to us, where we didn't get the breaks we used to get, and I wondered where they had all gone. In the Texas game last weekend, I thought about it even more, because with one break our way, we might have turned the momentum around and won the game. I watched Sooner defenders slapping at the football and trying to strip it with every bit of contact they made with a Texas ball carrier. In past years, at least one of those slaps would've resulted in a fumble; this year, though, there were none. I watched two or three plays where potential interceptions hit OU defensive players but weren't gathered in, for various reasons. OU had 4 turnovers in that game, and Texas had none. Where are those breaks, and when are we getting one again? It almost seems as though OU is somehow cursed.
Ladies and gentlemen, this brings me to the point of my post. We ALL need breaks in life, from time to time. In fact, when you go for a long stretch without getting one, or worse, when you go for a long stretch of getting BAD breaks, as OU and I have over the past two years, you begin to wonder if life is just set against you, and you really start to lose hope. Think about how often you get good breaks or bad breaks. Everyone talks about handling adversity, but you can only do it for so long before your eternal spring of hope runs dry. I wonder where the Sooner Nation is, and I wonder where I am.
May your breaks be more good than bad. Thanks for reading along.
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