Jacie
5/28/2009, 08:05 PM
A repost . . . not mine.
1990: The “Tough” Non-Conference Schedule
Going into the 1990 season, OU looked to have a formidable non-conference schedule largely in part to facing two Top 20 teams. As I recall, UCLA was ranked around 13th in the pre-season polls and Pittsburgh was ranked about 19th. While OU was still ineligible for a bowl game, they were allowed to be on television in 1990. It started out with a bang. OU defeated UCLA 34-14 and ran up and down the field on them. Tommy Maddox did not have one of his better days in a Bruin uniform! Following the shocking margin of victory over UCLA, it got even better the next week as OU pummeled a Pitt team that was led by a pre-season all-American QB, Alex Van Pelt. 51-10. For the time being, things were looking very good considering that OU just pounded two Top 20 opponents in a row. It appeared that 1989 was indeed an aberration and that OU was back on track in 1990. Life would indeed go on without Switzer. OU’s third and final non-conference game came against Tulsa who OU traditionally pummeled every four years. This time was no different as OU won by a score of 52-10 for a second week in a row. This wasabout the time that OU started garnering national attention and moved briskly up the polls. OU entered the conference schedule with what was going to be the typical easy “auto-win” of KU. While OU won, it was only by a margin of 14 points with the final score being 31-17. You see, this was a sign of things to come for the KU ball club; we just didn’t know it yet. They had a young guy by the name of Dana Stubblefield who was really dominating at the line of scrimmage. It was evident that KU decided to focus on trench development as opposed to skill position development under the direction of then head coach, Glen Mason and it paid off just a few short years later. Just a little note on what it takes to going from the bottom of the heap and working your way up. It always starts in the trenches in regards to personnel! Without knowing what the future held for KU, I just shrugged it off as OU getting a little overconfident and would regain their focus the next week against the OSU Cowboys. Well, OU wasn’t totally focused, but did win 31-17, which once again, repeated the same score as the previous week. So things were looking great at this point in time. OU was 5-0 and the closest game was still a two-touchdown difference. With OU decisively defeating two Top 20 opponents and starting out 5-0 and looking at the rest of the schedule, I KNEW that OU was going undefeated. I didn’t think that, I didn’t feel that, I KNEW it. OU was loaded with backs that could all get 5 yards a pop and the trenches were solid. Well, what I knew came crashing down the following week as OU fell to Texas once again. Once again, a Cash brother got the best of Charles Franks for a game winning TD. It was certainly déjà vu of the worst kind. OK, losing to Texas hurt, but we had to look at the bigger picture, OU was 5-1 on its second year of probation. So things couldn’t get any worse right? Wrong, they got much worse. This is a game I will never forget, as it might have been the worst display of NOT making adjustments that I have ever seen in a football game at any level. Chris Pederson, of Iowa State, ran QB draw after QB draw on OU all day long and finished with about 150 yards I reckon. They say football is a team sport, but that was truly a day when one player won the game. Yes, Iowa St. defeated OU, which ended an unbeaten streak against the Cyclones that spanned over 25 years. It was then that I truly got concerned and wondered where OU would be heading under Coach Gibbs. Yes, OU was 5-2, but greedy fans’ attitudes can change so quickly! OK, so OU lost two in a row, but that was going to be it I thought. Once again, I was wrong. For the second straight year, the Colorado Buffaloes defeated OU. The score was 32-23. I could only take solace later on knowing that Colorado would be the eventual co-national champion along with Georgia Tech.
As a side note, I have those two teams tied for second for worst national champions of all-time. I still have the 1984 BYU as #1. Don’t get me wrong, Colorado was very talented that year, but with one loss, a tie to Tennessee in the kick-off classic and also factoring in the infamous 5th down against Missouri, I did not feel they were very deserving as most of the nation felt. But my feelings on co-national champions are not popular ones as I feel neither is good enough to be labeled as such if they can’t separate themselves from the pack. Yes, even if they are both undefeated. Nebraska would have hammered Michigan in my blunt opinion, but I will say the Washington vs. Miami match up of 1991 would have been interesting!
But enough of that, let’s move one to good ol’ Missouri. Ah yes, Missouri fielded some competitive teams under Bob Stull, uh sometimes. But for this game, it was not competitive as OU won 55-10 rushing for over 400 yards to Missouri’s 8. Following the Missouri game, OU faced KSU again, but OU’s defense was better this time around and OU won 34-7. Not a typical OU domination of KSU, so I was still worried about something, I didn’t know what, but I think we all know now. In the final game of the season OU faced a sub-par Nebraska team, which was probably Tom Osborne’s worst of the 90s. Good question to ask is why? There were a variety of reasons, but the #1 reason would have to be Osborne alternating two QB’s, Mike Grant and Mickey Joseph. Yes, trying to decide between two different QBs’ by alternating them can make a season very unstable. OU fans know all about that. Actually, we know what alternating three and sometimes four QBs’ can do to an entire season! The quarterback platoon system has worked before, but it is certainly not the case for everyone, but much more importantly the majority. Anyway, OU won this game in dominating fashion with a 45-10 pasting. The game will be remembered for many when Mickey Joseph slid into the sideline bench and his calf was lacerated. Nebraska came back later and purposely put a late hit on Cale Gundy for a little revenge action. Personally, the only aspect I plan on remembering is 45-10, but that’s just me. Well, what started out to be an undefeated season on probation and winning the national title without even playing a bowl game ended up being an 8-3 season. Unfortunately, the Top 20 Pittsburgh and UCLA teams that OU faced earlier both wound up with losing records that season. Even though the season was another disappointment, we could always look towards the future because in 1991, OU was going to be eligible for bowl games again and would have something to shoot for.
1990: The “Tough” Non-Conference Schedule
Going into the 1990 season, OU looked to have a formidable non-conference schedule largely in part to facing two Top 20 teams. As I recall, UCLA was ranked around 13th in the pre-season polls and Pittsburgh was ranked about 19th. While OU was still ineligible for a bowl game, they were allowed to be on television in 1990. It started out with a bang. OU defeated UCLA 34-14 and ran up and down the field on them. Tommy Maddox did not have one of his better days in a Bruin uniform! Following the shocking margin of victory over UCLA, it got even better the next week as OU pummeled a Pitt team that was led by a pre-season all-American QB, Alex Van Pelt. 51-10. For the time being, things were looking very good considering that OU just pounded two Top 20 opponents in a row. It appeared that 1989 was indeed an aberration and that OU was back on track in 1990. Life would indeed go on without Switzer. OU’s third and final non-conference game came against Tulsa who OU traditionally pummeled every four years. This time was no different as OU won by a score of 52-10 for a second week in a row. This wasabout the time that OU started garnering national attention and moved briskly up the polls. OU entered the conference schedule with what was going to be the typical easy “auto-win” of KU. While OU won, it was only by a margin of 14 points with the final score being 31-17. You see, this was a sign of things to come for the KU ball club; we just didn’t know it yet. They had a young guy by the name of Dana Stubblefield who was really dominating at the line of scrimmage. It was evident that KU decided to focus on trench development as opposed to skill position development under the direction of then head coach, Glen Mason and it paid off just a few short years later. Just a little note on what it takes to going from the bottom of the heap and working your way up. It always starts in the trenches in regards to personnel! Without knowing what the future held for KU, I just shrugged it off as OU getting a little overconfident and would regain their focus the next week against the OSU Cowboys. Well, OU wasn’t totally focused, but did win 31-17, which once again, repeated the same score as the previous week. So things were looking great at this point in time. OU was 5-0 and the closest game was still a two-touchdown difference. With OU decisively defeating two Top 20 opponents and starting out 5-0 and looking at the rest of the schedule, I KNEW that OU was going undefeated. I didn’t think that, I didn’t feel that, I KNEW it. OU was loaded with backs that could all get 5 yards a pop and the trenches were solid. Well, what I knew came crashing down the following week as OU fell to Texas once again. Once again, a Cash brother got the best of Charles Franks for a game winning TD. It was certainly déjà vu of the worst kind. OK, losing to Texas hurt, but we had to look at the bigger picture, OU was 5-1 on its second year of probation. So things couldn’t get any worse right? Wrong, they got much worse. This is a game I will never forget, as it might have been the worst display of NOT making adjustments that I have ever seen in a football game at any level. Chris Pederson, of Iowa State, ran QB draw after QB draw on OU all day long and finished with about 150 yards I reckon. They say football is a team sport, but that was truly a day when one player won the game. Yes, Iowa St. defeated OU, which ended an unbeaten streak against the Cyclones that spanned over 25 years. It was then that I truly got concerned and wondered where OU would be heading under Coach Gibbs. Yes, OU was 5-2, but greedy fans’ attitudes can change so quickly! OK, so OU lost two in a row, but that was going to be it I thought. Once again, I was wrong. For the second straight year, the Colorado Buffaloes defeated OU. The score was 32-23. I could only take solace later on knowing that Colorado would be the eventual co-national champion along with Georgia Tech.
As a side note, I have those two teams tied for second for worst national champions of all-time. I still have the 1984 BYU as #1. Don’t get me wrong, Colorado was very talented that year, but with one loss, a tie to Tennessee in the kick-off classic and also factoring in the infamous 5th down against Missouri, I did not feel they were very deserving as most of the nation felt. But my feelings on co-national champions are not popular ones as I feel neither is good enough to be labeled as such if they can’t separate themselves from the pack. Yes, even if they are both undefeated. Nebraska would have hammered Michigan in my blunt opinion, but I will say the Washington vs. Miami match up of 1991 would have been interesting!
But enough of that, let’s move one to good ol’ Missouri. Ah yes, Missouri fielded some competitive teams under Bob Stull, uh sometimes. But for this game, it was not competitive as OU won 55-10 rushing for over 400 yards to Missouri’s 8. Following the Missouri game, OU faced KSU again, but OU’s defense was better this time around and OU won 34-7. Not a typical OU domination of KSU, so I was still worried about something, I didn’t know what, but I think we all know now. In the final game of the season OU faced a sub-par Nebraska team, which was probably Tom Osborne’s worst of the 90s. Good question to ask is why? There were a variety of reasons, but the #1 reason would have to be Osborne alternating two QB’s, Mike Grant and Mickey Joseph. Yes, trying to decide between two different QBs’ by alternating them can make a season very unstable. OU fans know all about that. Actually, we know what alternating three and sometimes four QBs’ can do to an entire season! The quarterback platoon system has worked before, but it is certainly not the case for everyone, but much more importantly the majority. Anyway, OU won this game in dominating fashion with a 45-10 pasting. The game will be remembered for many when Mickey Joseph slid into the sideline bench and his calf was lacerated. Nebraska came back later and purposely put a late hit on Cale Gundy for a little revenge action. Personally, the only aspect I plan on remembering is 45-10, but that’s just me. Well, what started out to be an undefeated season on probation and winning the national title without even playing a bowl game ended up being an 8-3 season. Unfortunately, the Top 20 Pittsburgh and UCLA teams that OU faced earlier both wound up with losing records that season. Even though the season was another disappointment, we could always look towards the future because in 1991, OU was going to be eligible for bowl games again and would have something to shoot for.