Jacie
5/31/2009, 12:02 PM
When you look at a list of OU seasons over time, this one sticks out with that unlikely 5-4-2. It wasn't pretty and was a harbinger of worse things to come.
1992: A New Era at OU
1992 was not a new era at OU in regards to a head coach, just a philosophy. With OU’s newfound passing attack and several returning starters on both sides of the ball, big things were expected from OU in 1992. OU opened up the season against an improving Texas Tech team that featured a versatile QB named Robert Hall. He had a favorite receiver he always threw to that put up some big time numbers the year before, but the name escapes me. Anyhow, OU was not that impressed and won 34-9. OU’s second game of the season was against lowly Arkansas St., who was in the first year of switching to D-1A so had to play a quite a few solid 1-A ball clubs as initiation to the new division. It wasn’t pretty as expected and OU won 61-0. The third game of the season came against a great USC program that was running into similar troubles as OU. USC really had troubles recruiting since the drive-by shooting incident that occurred back in ’90 or ’91. To this day, recruiting has not been what it used to be at USC. Then again, neither has coaching, which is something we are familiar with. I thought this would be one of those games if OU would win; they would be back on track to restoring its short term lost glory. Well, for three-quarters of the game, almost everything went right. OU dominated defensively and USC struggled to even cross mid-field for most of the first half. OU had a 10-0 lead closing in on the 3rd quarter, but a Cale Gundy fumble and Curtis Conway burning William Shankle before the end of the quarter made it a 10-7 game. Things went down hill from there as Shankle got burnt yet again and USC went on to win the game 20-10. The way the game played out and the emphasis I personally had on that game made for one of the toughest drives back to Tulsa I had after a game in the 90s’. USC was looking so ineffective on offense; I didn’t think OU needed to score more than ten points to win. It was one of those games where you just sat in the stands after the game had ended and tried to figure out just what in the heck happened. OU’s next game was against Iowa St. and it was a wake-up call game and the first game I was truly, truly concerned about the current coaching regime regardless of probationary effects. The reason I say that is, OU was only able to muster 14 points on a terrible ISU defense. Nevertheless, OU went on to win the game 14-3 in unimpressive fashion. Granted, the USC game was a heartbreaker and perhaps OU was looking ahead to Texas, but struggling to score fourteen points against ISU was a serious concern. The next game as mentioned, OU faced the Texas Longhorns. Well, things didn’t get any better as OU lost 24-34 and the Peter Gardere legacy or fallacy depending on which way you look at it continued to grow. If I recall, this was the game that some loser poured beer on Gary Gibbs after the game after he was walking out the ramp. I will be the first to admit, after the ISU game and based on what transpired the first three years, I wanted Gibbs gone after the ISU game. However, I rallied behind the game after that beer incident, because that kind of garbage is NOT necessary and never will be. Peter Gardere never played exceptional throughout his career, EXCEPT when he played OU. Till this day and 50 years from now, I still won’t have figured out how and why Gardere did it. I must say he is probably one of the most popular Longhorn players ever, even though he didn’t lead them to many regular season wins or bowl games. After yet another tough Longhorn loss, OU faced the Colorado Buffaloes who were struggling that season compared to the previous two years, so it looked like an opportune time for OU to beat them for the first time since 1988. Well, things were going great as OU had a 24-21 lead, while running out the clock with less than four minutes or so to go. Unfortunately, OU was too conservative and had Kenyan Rasheed running down the middle and eventually he fumbled the ball. It should be noted that OU moved the ball just fine on that possession, but it finally caught up with them with this horrible incident. Colorado was able to move the ball, but not much. They had to settle for roughly a 52- yard field goal and with the conditions; the kicker would have to be darn lucky for it to go in. Well, the kicker was lucky, the ball bounced on the bottom upright before going in and the game ended in a tie. OU’s bad luck continued. I have a serious problem with coaches that decide to go for ties when they are at a point in the season where a bowl game is in doubt. If things aren’t too promising, then you go for the win, as the tie does not prove beneficial. Perhaps, I am just saying that because of the outcome of that game? I doubt it very seriously as noted later. There’s the old saying of “when Hades freezes over”. Well, the same could be related to the day that the Kansas Jayhawks would beat OU again. Well, that day came and I thought Hades froze over because KU defeated OU 27-10. This was the game where Gundy insulted Dana Stubblefield, which you pretty much have to consider NOT smart, and in the 3rd quarter I believe, Dana pounced Gundy to the turf and was out for the game with a concussion. Things were not good as OU was sitting at 3-3-1 and on the verge of touching losing record for the first time in many, many decades. The following week, OU played the lowly Kansas St. Wildcats. Well, things were lowly because OU had to kick a field goal late in the game to win 16-14. OU struggling against the Kansas teams would be equivalent to Michael Jordan struggling to get a shot attempt, it just doesn’t happen. Well, unfortunately in our case it did happen and things got worse down the road as we all know. The next game, things restored to order as OU pummeled Missouri 55-17, but that was short lived considering what happened in the next game. OU faced Oklahoma St. in Stillwater in a game that I rate as one of my worst experiences as a Sooner fan. Both teams looked pretty ugly in this game and the end came down to OU having four downs inside the five-yard line. Better yet, make it pretty darn close to the goal line. First down, OU went down the middle on a QB sneak I believe for no gain. Then a time-out was called because Gundy was kind of nicked up and the story goes that Gundy asked Gibbs to put Collins in to try to win the game since he was healthy and Gibbs declined. Gundy went back in and in the end it was 4th and goal and Gibbs called a play where I totally lost respect for him. Gibbs sent Scott Blanton in for the game tying field goal, which OU made. I attended the game with my dad and we were just stunned at the call. I think most of the crowd was to, including the OSU fans. Even though they didn’t lose for the first time in many years, they didn’t feel satisfied with the tie. Neither were we, but for more obvious reasons. OU doesn’t tie games when it has a chance to win them. What Gibbs did was totally “un-Switzer” like and was unacceptable. I would have to say that the Gibbs/Gundy/Collins incident sparked the team’s lack of unity and then the player walkout, which occurred that week. That was an incident boiling over in the OSU game after being an issue throughout the season. Half the team wanted Collins, half the team wanted Gundy. That is an issue that the head coach HAS to address, and unfortunately it was not. OU closed the season with an embarrassing 33-9 defeat at the hands of Nebraska, which was OU’s worst loss to the Huskers in a number of years. OU closed the season with its worst record in several decades at 5-4-2. Most fans at this time no longer cared about probationary effects and wanted Gibbs gone. My thought on the job status of coaches is they need to go when they lose the control and respect of the team. That was something that had certainly happened.
1992: A New Era at OU
1992 was not a new era at OU in regards to a head coach, just a philosophy. With OU’s newfound passing attack and several returning starters on both sides of the ball, big things were expected from OU in 1992. OU opened up the season against an improving Texas Tech team that featured a versatile QB named Robert Hall. He had a favorite receiver he always threw to that put up some big time numbers the year before, but the name escapes me. Anyhow, OU was not that impressed and won 34-9. OU’s second game of the season was against lowly Arkansas St., who was in the first year of switching to D-1A so had to play a quite a few solid 1-A ball clubs as initiation to the new division. It wasn’t pretty as expected and OU won 61-0. The third game of the season came against a great USC program that was running into similar troubles as OU. USC really had troubles recruiting since the drive-by shooting incident that occurred back in ’90 or ’91. To this day, recruiting has not been what it used to be at USC. Then again, neither has coaching, which is something we are familiar with. I thought this would be one of those games if OU would win; they would be back on track to restoring its short term lost glory. Well, for three-quarters of the game, almost everything went right. OU dominated defensively and USC struggled to even cross mid-field for most of the first half. OU had a 10-0 lead closing in on the 3rd quarter, but a Cale Gundy fumble and Curtis Conway burning William Shankle before the end of the quarter made it a 10-7 game. Things went down hill from there as Shankle got burnt yet again and USC went on to win the game 20-10. The way the game played out and the emphasis I personally had on that game made for one of the toughest drives back to Tulsa I had after a game in the 90s’. USC was looking so ineffective on offense; I didn’t think OU needed to score more than ten points to win. It was one of those games where you just sat in the stands after the game had ended and tried to figure out just what in the heck happened. OU’s next game was against Iowa St. and it was a wake-up call game and the first game I was truly, truly concerned about the current coaching regime regardless of probationary effects. The reason I say that is, OU was only able to muster 14 points on a terrible ISU defense. Nevertheless, OU went on to win the game 14-3 in unimpressive fashion. Granted, the USC game was a heartbreaker and perhaps OU was looking ahead to Texas, but struggling to score fourteen points against ISU was a serious concern. The next game as mentioned, OU faced the Texas Longhorns. Well, things didn’t get any better as OU lost 24-34 and the Peter Gardere legacy or fallacy depending on which way you look at it continued to grow. If I recall, this was the game that some loser poured beer on Gary Gibbs after the game after he was walking out the ramp. I will be the first to admit, after the ISU game and based on what transpired the first three years, I wanted Gibbs gone after the ISU game. However, I rallied behind the game after that beer incident, because that kind of garbage is NOT necessary and never will be. Peter Gardere never played exceptional throughout his career, EXCEPT when he played OU. Till this day and 50 years from now, I still won’t have figured out how and why Gardere did it. I must say he is probably one of the most popular Longhorn players ever, even though he didn’t lead them to many regular season wins or bowl games. After yet another tough Longhorn loss, OU faced the Colorado Buffaloes who were struggling that season compared to the previous two years, so it looked like an opportune time for OU to beat them for the first time since 1988. Well, things were going great as OU had a 24-21 lead, while running out the clock with less than four minutes or so to go. Unfortunately, OU was too conservative and had Kenyan Rasheed running down the middle and eventually he fumbled the ball. It should be noted that OU moved the ball just fine on that possession, but it finally caught up with them with this horrible incident. Colorado was able to move the ball, but not much. They had to settle for roughly a 52- yard field goal and with the conditions; the kicker would have to be darn lucky for it to go in. Well, the kicker was lucky, the ball bounced on the bottom upright before going in and the game ended in a tie. OU’s bad luck continued. I have a serious problem with coaches that decide to go for ties when they are at a point in the season where a bowl game is in doubt. If things aren’t too promising, then you go for the win, as the tie does not prove beneficial. Perhaps, I am just saying that because of the outcome of that game? I doubt it very seriously as noted later. There’s the old saying of “when Hades freezes over”. Well, the same could be related to the day that the Kansas Jayhawks would beat OU again. Well, that day came and I thought Hades froze over because KU defeated OU 27-10. This was the game where Gundy insulted Dana Stubblefield, which you pretty much have to consider NOT smart, and in the 3rd quarter I believe, Dana pounced Gundy to the turf and was out for the game with a concussion. Things were not good as OU was sitting at 3-3-1 and on the verge of touching losing record for the first time in many, many decades. The following week, OU played the lowly Kansas St. Wildcats. Well, things were lowly because OU had to kick a field goal late in the game to win 16-14. OU struggling against the Kansas teams would be equivalent to Michael Jordan struggling to get a shot attempt, it just doesn’t happen. Well, unfortunately in our case it did happen and things got worse down the road as we all know. The next game, things restored to order as OU pummeled Missouri 55-17, but that was short lived considering what happened in the next game. OU faced Oklahoma St. in Stillwater in a game that I rate as one of my worst experiences as a Sooner fan. Both teams looked pretty ugly in this game and the end came down to OU having four downs inside the five-yard line. Better yet, make it pretty darn close to the goal line. First down, OU went down the middle on a QB sneak I believe for no gain. Then a time-out was called because Gundy was kind of nicked up and the story goes that Gundy asked Gibbs to put Collins in to try to win the game since he was healthy and Gibbs declined. Gundy went back in and in the end it was 4th and goal and Gibbs called a play where I totally lost respect for him. Gibbs sent Scott Blanton in for the game tying field goal, which OU made. I attended the game with my dad and we were just stunned at the call. I think most of the crowd was to, including the OSU fans. Even though they didn’t lose for the first time in many years, they didn’t feel satisfied with the tie. Neither were we, but for more obvious reasons. OU doesn’t tie games when it has a chance to win them. What Gibbs did was totally “un-Switzer” like and was unacceptable. I would have to say that the Gibbs/Gundy/Collins incident sparked the team’s lack of unity and then the player walkout, which occurred that week. That was an incident boiling over in the OSU game after being an issue throughout the season. Half the team wanted Collins, half the team wanted Gundy. That is an issue that the head coach HAS to address, and unfortunately it was not. OU closed the season with an embarrassing 33-9 defeat at the hands of Nebraska, which was OU’s worst loss to the Huskers in a number of years. OU closed the season with its worst record in several decades at 5-4-2. Most fans at this time no longer cared about probationary effects and wanted Gibbs gone. My thought on the job status of coaches is they need to go when they lose the control and respect of the team. That was something that had certainly happened.