The Maestro
11/27/2007, 01:35 PM
…WIN! And I want it to be with a last second field goal or touchdown, not a defensive stand…for once--something that has been noticeably absent from the Stoops era. I was talking with some friends and we talked about how this season is really kind of a bummer with the way we lost our two games and we need some memorable moment to make it a great one. And we also talked about how a lot of the dramatic wins in the Stoops era did not include late scores by offense and really relied on the defense to make plays. No team has suffered as heart-breaking of losses as we have over the past few years…Stoops’ Sooners have lost 5 times over 9 years on the last play of the game…Ole Miss in 99, Texas Tech in 05, Oregon in 06, Boise in 06 and Colorado in 07. Stoops teams have ZERO wins on the last play and that is thanks in large part to killing a bunch of teams. But how awesome would it be to see us engineer a memorable “drive” to win the game? How about a last second field goal, circa Syracuse way back when? So it got me thinking back to the most dramatic Stoops wins and what fueled it…very little memories as far as offense making it happen late. Most of it was defense…and a double overtime win over the likes of Baylor does not count! It was Baylor! I am talking about decent teams! Not OSU in 2000, either...
The first close win was at Texas A&M in 2000…defense made the TD and the late stop. KSU in 2000 at the Big 12 title game…had a 10 point lead and KSU scored late, meaningless touchdown. Orange Bowl win…game winner came with 7 minutes left…KSU in 2001…one point win, but blew a 28-14 lead and only 3 points in the fourth quarter…Texas in 2001…Roy and the defense made the play…probably the most dramatic win under Stoops where offense scored late to take the lead was Alabama in 2002. The game winner came with 2:11 left and the defense still sealed the win with Bassey’s return. NO SIGNIFICANT TOUCHDOWNS FOR A STOOPS TEAM AT OU IN THE FINAL 2 MINUTES OF ANY GAME!!! Kind of strange to realize, but it is the truth. Ironically, the win at Missouri by 7 came on the fake field goal with 6:30 to play in 2002…Win at Bama in 2003…no points for OU in 4th quarter…win at OSU in 2004…blew 35-21 lead and only 3 fourth quarter points…win at Texas A&M in 04…scored game winner with 6:43 left and defense held on…7 point win at Nebraska in 05…blew 24-3 lead and held on late…win over Texas A&M in 05…blew 28-7 lead after 1st quarter and held on for win…win over Oregon in Holiday Bowl…no fourth quarter points and defense made the game winning play…win at Texas A&M in 06…14 points on first two drives and 3 points the rest of the game…win at OSU in 06…no fourth quarter points…and win vs. Texas this year…game winner came with 10:42 left.
I have watched SEC games all season that come down the last second. You see drama each and every week. We got sick last year of seeing the Oregon finish and the Boise State finish…now I want us to go out there and, if we have to, rally late and come from behind. All of our rallies when we are down by 10 or more come up short, it seems...from LSU in the Sugar Bowl to Boise last year to Tech this season. We don’t have a highlight type win. Wouldn’t you love to see Sam hit Malcolm with about 15 seconds left for a game winner that reminds you of the 18-17 Orange Bowl win over FSU with Forrest Valora getting the two point conversion? A field goal kick by Hartley that brings back thoughts of Tim Lashar breaking Nebraska’s heart in 1986? How about a long TD run like Little Joe or Patrick Collins? Without miracles from on high we are out of the national title race, so how about we claim the Big 12 title and head to the Fiesta Bowl with the biggest win of the day in the most dramatic fashion as possible? I know the game would be grueling, but the results would be incredible and a lot of fun! Stoops has not had a team make very many late minute offensive plays to win games, if any. Hell, you could argue that John Freaking Blake had more dramatic wins at OU than Stoops does...Texas-96, TCU-97 and Syracuse-98. Those were all heartstoppers!
Oh, and don’t get me started on how this speaks to Stoops getting VERY conservative, taking the gas of the pedal with a lead and letting teams back in games and forcing the defense to win so many of them!!!
Boomer Sooner and here’s hoping for a great Sooner win!
(sorry for the double post...the site was acting screwy!)
The first close win was at Texas A&M in 2000…defense made the TD and the late stop. KSU in 2000 at the Big 12 title game…had a 10 point lead and KSU scored late, meaningless touchdown. Orange Bowl win…game winner came with 7 minutes left…KSU in 2001…one point win, but blew a 28-14 lead and only 3 points in the fourth quarter…Texas in 2001…Roy and the defense made the play…probably the most dramatic win under Stoops where offense scored late to take the lead was Alabama in 2002. The game winner came with 2:11 left and the defense still sealed the win with Bassey’s return. NO SIGNIFICANT TOUCHDOWNS FOR A STOOPS TEAM AT OU IN THE FINAL 2 MINUTES OF ANY GAME!!! Kind of strange to realize, but it is the truth. Ironically, the win at Missouri by 7 came on the fake field goal with 6:30 to play in 2002…Win at Bama in 2003…no points for OU in 4th quarter…win at OSU in 2004…blew 35-21 lead and only 3 fourth quarter points…win at Texas A&M in 04…scored game winner with 6:43 left and defense held on…7 point win at Nebraska in 05…blew 24-3 lead and held on late…win over Texas A&M in 05…blew 28-7 lead after 1st quarter and held on for win…win over Oregon in Holiday Bowl…no fourth quarter points and defense made the game winning play…win at Texas A&M in 06…14 points on first two drives and 3 points the rest of the game…win at OSU in 06…no fourth quarter points…and win vs. Texas this year…game winner came with 10:42 left.
I have watched SEC games all season that come down the last second. You see drama each and every week. We got sick last year of seeing the Oregon finish and the Boise State finish…now I want us to go out there and, if we have to, rally late and come from behind. All of our rallies when we are down by 10 or more come up short, it seems...from LSU in the Sugar Bowl to Boise last year to Tech this season. We don’t have a highlight type win. Wouldn’t you love to see Sam hit Malcolm with about 15 seconds left for a game winner that reminds you of the 18-17 Orange Bowl win over FSU with Forrest Valora getting the two point conversion? A field goal kick by Hartley that brings back thoughts of Tim Lashar breaking Nebraska’s heart in 1986? How about a long TD run like Little Joe or Patrick Collins? Without miracles from on high we are out of the national title race, so how about we claim the Big 12 title and head to the Fiesta Bowl with the biggest win of the day in the most dramatic fashion as possible? I know the game would be grueling, but the results would be incredible and a lot of fun! Stoops has not had a team make very many late minute offensive plays to win games, if any. Hell, you could argue that John Freaking Blake had more dramatic wins at OU than Stoops does...Texas-96, TCU-97 and Syracuse-98. Those were all heartstoppers!
Oh, and don’t get me started on how this speaks to Stoops getting VERY conservative, taking the gas of the pedal with a lead and letting teams back in games and forcing the defense to win so many of them!!!
Boomer Sooner and here’s hoping for a great Sooner win!
(sorry for the double post...the site was acting screwy!)