Jacie
6/1/2009, 04:05 PM
1993: OU Makes a Return to the Bowl Scene
By 1993, optimism was starting to dwindle and it became more of a “wait and see” approach. OU opened the 1993 season with a road trip to Texas Christian. This was the debut of some promising young freshmen such as James Allen, Jerald Moore and P.J. Mills. James Allen was the #1 running back prospect in the nation coming out of Wynnewood and after seeing some of the moves he made I anticipated this being OU’s next great runner and potential Heisman winner. Against TCU he ran for 93 yards rushing. The memorable play in that game was OU’s first drive when they marched down the field and James ran from about the thirteen-yard line to the eight before having his helmet ripped off. He proceeded to run for a few more yards after that without the helmet! It was a truly impressive sight, because his neck got pulled straight back and he kept running! Jerald Moore got the ball less than James at this point in time, but displayed decent speed and sensational strength. He could bowl people over with his low center of gravity. Then there was P.J. Mills, a highly regarded receiver out of OKC Millwood, who snagged an 80+ yard reception to get OU in scoring position. Yes, it looked like OU had some great young talent to get the program back on track. OU won the game 35-3 as TCU only had two threats and I believe the QB’s name was Matt Knahke, along with a speedy receiver, which gave Darrius Johnson a run for his money in regards to sheer speed. The second game of the season was a challenging task for a young OU squad so early in the season; OU faced the Texas A&M Aggies. I wasn’t real sure at the time how the game would turn out. But OU surprised the nation with a 44-14 victory over the Aggies and it was highlighted by the sensational one-handed TD grab by James Allen and another reception where P.J. Mills carried an A&M defender halfway down the field before breaking free, only to meet another. Once again OU’s young players were showing flashes of brilliance. OU’s next game of the season came against Tulsa, who always lost to OU decisively. This game was different from years past; as OU and Tulsa went into the half tied 14-14 before OU went on to win 41-20. I assumed at the time, it was nothing more than OU having a little bit of overconfidence after the easy win over Texas A&M. Following the Tulsa game OU faced Iowa St. and kept the undefeated season alive with a 24-7 victory to improve to 4-0. Things got even better as OU went into the Red River War and swatted Texas 38-17 with Cale Gundy having a great day at the office. For the moment then things seemed back on track. OU actually got through the halfway mark of the season unscathed and got past the all-important Texas game. Well, OU didn’t quite make it past the halfway mark as OU received a wake-up and lost to Colorado 27-10 to make it the fourth year in a row that OU had not beaten the Buffs. The month of October has not been kind to OU in the 90s’. I strongly feel, the year that OU makes it through October unscathed, will be the year OU makes its return to the top. The next game OU looked to return some revenge against the Kansas Jayhawks, which embarrassed OU the year before. OU won 38-21 to restore some order. But that didn’t last long because the last second victory that OU got over Kansas St. the year before finally caught up with them as Kansas St. won 21-7 to end yet another several decade winning streak that OU had over an opponent. Following the Kansas St. game OU faced the Missouri Tigers, the only Big Eight team left at that time that did not tie or defeat OU in the 90s’. That trend continued as OU won 42-23. After the shocking tie the year before to OSU, I was curious to see how OU would respond. They responded in grand fashion and defeated OSU 31-0 in a game in which the Pokes had negative total yardage. Things weren’t all bad at this point in the season considering the year before, as OU was 8-2. However, that ended with a 21-7 loss to Nebraska. This was a typical story of OU in the 90s’ in that the defense held strong for most of three quarters, but the offense failed to contribute, so the defense finally cracks and the opponent goes on to win. This problem has been all to common in the 90s’ for OU and even this past season, nothing has changed. So OU closed the regular season with an 8-3 record and while not exceptional, it was nice to see them headed back to a bowl game again. OU faced the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the John Hancock Bowl, which at the time was an intriguing match up. Both teams were pretty equal and Texas Tech, who was led once again by Robert Hall and all-American Bam Morris at running back, was quite solid on offense. OU simply stuffed Morris and the Texas Tech offense as a whole and went on to win 41-10 to finish the season 9-3. 1993 was not a bad season and something to build on for the future.
By 1993, optimism was starting to dwindle and it became more of a “wait and see” approach. OU opened the 1993 season with a road trip to Texas Christian. This was the debut of some promising young freshmen such as James Allen, Jerald Moore and P.J. Mills. James Allen was the #1 running back prospect in the nation coming out of Wynnewood and after seeing some of the moves he made I anticipated this being OU’s next great runner and potential Heisman winner. Against TCU he ran for 93 yards rushing. The memorable play in that game was OU’s first drive when they marched down the field and James ran from about the thirteen-yard line to the eight before having his helmet ripped off. He proceeded to run for a few more yards after that without the helmet! It was a truly impressive sight, because his neck got pulled straight back and he kept running! Jerald Moore got the ball less than James at this point in time, but displayed decent speed and sensational strength. He could bowl people over with his low center of gravity. Then there was P.J. Mills, a highly regarded receiver out of OKC Millwood, who snagged an 80+ yard reception to get OU in scoring position. Yes, it looked like OU had some great young talent to get the program back on track. OU won the game 35-3 as TCU only had two threats and I believe the QB’s name was Matt Knahke, along with a speedy receiver, which gave Darrius Johnson a run for his money in regards to sheer speed. The second game of the season was a challenging task for a young OU squad so early in the season; OU faced the Texas A&M Aggies. I wasn’t real sure at the time how the game would turn out. But OU surprised the nation with a 44-14 victory over the Aggies and it was highlighted by the sensational one-handed TD grab by James Allen and another reception where P.J. Mills carried an A&M defender halfway down the field before breaking free, only to meet another. Once again OU’s young players were showing flashes of brilliance. OU’s next game of the season came against Tulsa, who always lost to OU decisively. This game was different from years past; as OU and Tulsa went into the half tied 14-14 before OU went on to win 41-20. I assumed at the time, it was nothing more than OU having a little bit of overconfidence after the easy win over Texas A&M. Following the Tulsa game OU faced Iowa St. and kept the undefeated season alive with a 24-7 victory to improve to 4-0. Things got even better as OU went into the Red River War and swatted Texas 38-17 with Cale Gundy having a great day at the office. For the moment then things seemed back on track. OU actually got through the halfway mark of the season unscathed and got past the all-important Texas game. Well, OU didn’t quite make it past the halfway mark as OU received a wake-up and lost to Colorado 27-10 to make it the fourth year in a row that OU had not beaten the Buffs. The month of October has not been kind to OU in the 90s’. I strongly feel, the year that OU makes it through October unscathed, will be the year OU makes its return to the top. The next game OU looked to return some revenge against the Kansas Jayhawks, which embarrassed OU the year before. OU won 38-21 to restore some order. But that didn’t last long because the last second victory that OU got over Kansas St. the year before finally caught up with them as Kansas St. won 21-7 to end yet another several decade winning streak that OU had over an opponent. Following the Kansas St. game OU faced the Missouri Tigers, the only Big Eight team left at that time that did not tie or defeat OU in the 90s’. That trend continued as OU won 42-23. After the shocking tie the year before to OSU, I was curious to see how OU would respond. They responded in grand fashion and defeated OSU 31-0 in a game in which the Pokes had negative total yardage. Things weren’t all bad at this point in the season considering the year before, as OU was 8-2. However, that ended with a 21-7 loss to Nebraska. This was a typical story of OU in the 90s’ in that the defense held strong for most of three quarters, but the offense failed to contribute, so the defense finally cracks and the opponent goes on to win. This problem has been all to common in the 90s’ for OU and even this past season, nothing has changed. So OU closed the regular season with an 8-3 record and while not exceptional, it was nice to see them headed back to a bowl game again. OU faced the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the John Hancock Bowl, which at the time was an intriguing match up. Both teams were pretty equal and Texas Tech, who was led once again by Robert Hall and all-American Bam Morris at running back, was quite solid on offense. OU simply stuffed Morris and the Texas Tech offense as a whole and went on to win 41-10 to finish the season 9-3. 1993 was not a bad season and something to build on for the future.