PDA

View Full Version : Running up the score? nah....



deweydw
12/9/2008, 08:23 AM
This was in the Houston Chronicle this morning. Good read...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/solomon/6154381.html


Commentary: OU didn’t stoop as low as some feel
By JEROME SOLOMON Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 8, 2008, 11:55PM

Bob Stoops spat out his hot dog, threw his apple pie out the window and told the other Communist Party leaders that the American way of life didn’t suit him.

After setting fire to a Texas flag, he and his evil stepbrother Lucifer concocted a plan to get Oklahoma into the BCS national championship game.

Sportsmanship be damned, they decided, the Sooners needed to score 60 points a game to convince the world it was better than the team it lost to on the field.

That’s the UT fan story — at least the whiny nuts calling radio talk shows and flooding my e-mail inbox — and they’re sticking to it. No matter how ridiculous it is.

Yeah Sam Bradford threw into the end zone with less than five minutes left and OU ahead 55-21 against Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game. But this was a title game with a trip to the national championship on the line, not some early-season tilt against an over-matched, lower-level squad.

“If you can’t get into a championship game and play to the end with all that’s been talked about this week about us, then I’m sorry,” Stoops said, “but we’re going to play to the end.”

Sorry? No need to apologize, coach.

Blame sportswriters. We’re the ones who said you didn’t belong in that game (and you didn’t), yet we’re impressed with your ability to run it up at will.

If you’re not impressed with what OU has done of late, you’re looking at the world through orange-colored blinders.

Do you really believe that Oklahoma scoring points late in a football game is an affront to all humanity, or are you just upset that it wasn’t the Longhorns scoring all those points?

Were you actually disgusted that Bradford was slinging the football downfield with less than five minutes left against Missouri and might win the Heisman, or are you just upset that Colt McCoy wasn’t and might not?

6-1 in Big 12 titles
It’s difficult for you to accept that Stoops has won six Big 12 Conference championships since he arrived in Norman 10 seasons ago, while your sweetheart of an angel do-gooder Mack Brown has won only one, but don’t hate — congratulate.

Oklahoma has scored more points this season than any team in the modern era. Its current run of five straight games with 60 or more points is another modern-era mark.

Those impressive numbers do not mean they are running up scores.

Running up the score is relative. Its definition depends on who you claim as relatives.

You can find instances of Brown running up the score or rubbing opponents’ noses in it that are worse than any-thing Stoops did this season.

He once allowed his quarterback to throw six straight passes with a 40-point lead and less than five minutes left in a game. He once had his quarterback throw and complete a bomb with 1:22 left and a 48-0 edge. Good thing that receiver was tackled on the 5-yard line, forcing a throw into the end zone with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Is that not running it up? Or is that not running it up as long as that is the backup quarterback?

Doesn’t make Brown a bad guy. It is what it is.

But Brown hasn’t said OU has been running up scores, only that he wouldn’t do it to sway the BCS. That is admirable.

Stoops hasn’t been running up scores either, Texas fans.

Before outscoring Missouri 21-7 Saturday, OU had been outscored in the fourth quarter this season.

As for poor sportsmanship during this record streak, the Sooners scored a whopping zero points in the fourth quarter against Nebraska and matched that with another in-your-face zero in the final period against Texas A&M to start the streak with 62-28 and 66-28 wins, respectively.

They matched Tech with just seven points in the fourth period in a 65-21 victory.

Now Oklahoma did score 24 fourth-quarter points against Oklahoma State, but it had only a three-point lead with 11 minutes left on the road against the 11th-ranked Cowboys.

The 60-point streak could easily have been six straight games. The Sooners scored only three points in the entire second half of their 58-35 win over Kansas State just before the streak began.

Sooner, not later
So, again, when did OU run up the score?

Oh, in the first quarter when they have outscored opponents 225-30. Stop it, Sooners.

What is running up the score anyway? Is it when you pass the ball with a big lead? Is it when you throw touchdown passes with a big fourth-quarter lead? Is it when you have your starters in the game with a huge fourth-quarter lead?

I once asked Mike Leach about running up the score, and he answered my question with a question: “What’s that?”

How does it go? Like pornography, you know it when you see it? (We’ll take John Jenkins for a thousand, Alex.)

I guess with Stoops, if you look hard enough through certain colored glasses you can see it too.

[email protected]

Hot Rod
12/9/2008, 08:30 AM
So, again, when did OU run up the score?

Oh, in the first quarter when they have outscored opponents 225-30. Stop it, Sooners.

How dare us play in the 1st quarter! This guy must have only watched one OU game this year and it was probably last Saturday. Maybe he should take off those orange colored glasses himself. I hear they make you see things that aren't true (i.e. 39-33).

soonerbrat
12/9/2008, 08:54 AM
i think he was being facetious

GrapevineSooner
12/9/2008, 09:08 AM
I know he was being facetious.

I also know there are some people in our fanbase that apparently don't know how to read entire columns.

Boomer_Sooner_sax
12/9/2008, 09:10 AM
That was a great read and a slap to the UT fans base...he called them out on wishing that they were us. The best part is reading the comments and the UT fans trying to justify themselves. Priceless.

fossil
12/9/2008, 09:23 AM
:) Which one of you brave folks, who currently post on the Hornfans.com board, has the nads to post this piece there. I suspect there are several of you who are willing to do that. Give me a big Christmas present please by doing exactly that. I am not a poster on that board, or I would be most happy to do the posting myself. Thanks.

BoulderSooner79
12/9/2008, 09:29 AM
I don't think that was intended as an insult slap in the face. More of a "snap out of it, people" slap in the face.

soonerbrat
12/9/2008, 09:29 AM
:) Which one of you brave folks, who currently post on the Hornfans.com board, has the nads to post this piece there. I suspect there are several of you who are willing to do that. Give me a big Christmas present please by doing exactly that. I am not a poster on that board, or I would be most happy to do the posting myself. Thanks.

i'm not a poster on that board and I don't think they are allowing sooners to become members right now.

deweydw
12/9/2008, 09:31 AM
A slap none the less. :cool:

fadada1
12/9/2008, 10:08 AM
let's get something straight here, asshat longhorn fans - in the final 5 games in which we scored 60+, 3 were ranked in the top 20 (2, 11, 19), one probably should've been (nebraska), and one sucks (a&m) but is alwaysa tough game away. so, let's just say that 4 of 5 were ranked.

HEY, YOU F-ING A-HOLES!!!! IF YOU'RE RANKED AND CAN'T HOLD SOMEONE UNDER 60, YOU SHOULD BE DROPPED TO 1AA.

A Sooner in Texas
12/9/2008, 10:09 AM
I just posted this before looking to see yours, deweydw. This column appearing in the whorn loving Chron just may be a sign of the apocalypse.:D

deweydw
12/9/2008, 10:25 AM
I just posted this before looking to see yours, deweydw. This column appearing in the whorn loving Chron just may be a sign of the apocalypse.:D

You're right. It's a rare to see a positive OU article in the Chronicle.

KingBarry
12/9/2008, 10:46 AM
You're right. It's a rare to see a positive OU article in the Chronicle.

Was it a pro-OU article? They guy said OU didn't belong in the Big XII Championship, which is tantamount to saying we don't belong in the BCS Championship.

Yeah, he congratulates us on 6-1 in the Big XII CG, but it's mostly a "Texas fans, it's over, STFU, please" piece than a pro-OU piece.

deweydw
12/9/2008, 11:22 AM
For the Houston Chronicle, it's a positive piece. But you're right. Get over it whorns....

Collier11
12/9/2008, 12:19 PM
How dare us play in the 1st quarter! This guy must have only watched one OU game this year and it was probably last Saturday. Maybe he should take off those orange colored glasses himself. I hear they make you see things that aren't true (i.e. 39-33).

wow

Collier11
12/9/2008, 12:40 PM
Can someone who posts on the ut fan sites please remind those idiots who are calling Bob classless and saying he runs up the score that Mack scored 70 on CU in the Big 12 title game just a few short yrs ago. It is amazing how forgetful people are when they are trying to prove a point

mseaton
12/9/2008, 01:38 PM
Here are the FACTS:

Oklahoma "blow-out" games:

Chattanooga (57-2), 4th quarter points - 0
Cincinnati (52-26), 4th quarter points - 10
Washington (55-14), 4th quarter points - 7
TCU (35-10), 4th quarter points - 0
Baylor (49-17), 4th quarter points - 7
KState (58-35), 4th quarter points - 3
Nebraska (62-28), 4th quarter points - 0
A&M (66-28), 4th quarter points - 0
Tech (65-21), 4th quarter points - 7

Total OU 4th quarter points: 34 (3.7 points per game)

Texas "blow-out" games:

Florida Atlantic (52-10), 4th quarter points - 10
UTEP (42-13), 4th quarter points - 14
Rice (52-10), 4th quarter points - 14
Arkansas (52-10), 4th quarter points - 7
@Colorado (38-14), 4th quarter points - 3
Missouri (56-31), 4th quarter points - 14
Baylor (45-21), 4th quarter points - 3
Kansas (35-7), 4th quarter points - 0
A&M (49-9), 4th quarter points - 21

Total Texas 4th quarter points: 86 (9.5 points per game)

Texas is scoring almost 3 times as many points, on average, in the 4th quarter of blow-out games

OU has scored 0 4th quarter points 4 times - Texas has only done that once

OU's "worst" sportsmanship win? 10 4th quarter points over BCS bowl team Cincinnati.

Texas' worst sportsmanship win? 21 4th quarter points over unranked A&M.

Even with 52 more "bad sportsmanship" points, the Texas margin of victory over its opponents (304) is still less than OU's margin of victory over its opponents (342).

In the 9 blow-outs, Oklahoma scored 499 points and Texas scored 421 points... However, Texas got a much higher percentage of their points late in those games.

OU's 1st half/2nd half scoring is 71%/29% with only 7% of the score total in the 4th quarter.

Texas' 1st half/2nd half scoring is 55%/45% with 20% of the score total in the 4th quarter.

Here is it quarter by quarter:

OU 1st quarter: 39%, 2nd quarter: 32%, third quarter: 23%, 4th quarter: 7%

UT 1st quarter: 22%, 2nd quarter: 32%, third quarter: 25%, 4th quarter: 20%

Those numbers are clear. In blow-outs, OU has been scoring early (71% of points are in the first half), and then easing off in the 2nd half.

Texas, on the other hand, has been scoring almost as many 4th quarter points as they have 1st quarter points during blow-outs.

Now, let's look at the quarterback playing time. During the 9 blow-outs, Bradford has sat the entire 4th quarter 4 times (Chattanooga, Washington, Nebraska, & A&M). McCoy has sat the entire 4th quarter only twice: Rice and Arkansas.

Bradford has more 4th quarter minutes: 34 minutes, 9 seconds (3.8 4th Q minutes per game) vs. McCoy's 24 minutes, 7 seconds (2.7 4th Q minutes per game), but they had the exact same number of 4th quarter possessions (9), and McCoy's drives resulted in more scoring (34 points) than did Bradford's (27 points).

Since Bradford got benched in the 3rd 4 times, and McCoy only twice, McCoy actually had more overall playing time in Texas's 9 blow-outs. Bradford sat for 17 minutes 43 seconds of 3rd quarter time, and McCoy only sat for 5 minutes and 26 seconds, so overall, McCoy actually played 1 minute 34 seconds more than Bradford - basically even

Boomer Mooner
12/9/2008, 02:03 PM
Jerome Solomon has been writing for the Chronical for quite awhile and is one of the better sports writers IMO. He used to cover college ball and every week he would have a Big 12 piece.

He left the Chronicle for a couple years and then came back last year. While he was gone they replaced him with a UT homer named Joseph Duarte. I've been hoping they would give the assignment back to Solomon, but he mostly just writes on pro ball nowadays it seems.

I used to pick up the Wednesday (or was it Thursday?) Chronicle just to read Solomon's Big 12 stuff. Haven't bought one in 2 or 3 years now. Duarte is a doosh.