Tear Down This Wall
6/21/2012, 12:35 PM
I don't know if these squads should have been national champions, but the Top Two Stoops' squads that wasted great defenses were the 2001 and 2009.
2001 was his best defense, giving up only 169 points the entire season; 2009 squad gave up only 189. Both lower than the 194 given up by the 2000 National Championship squad.
2001 squad went 11-2, 2 losses were:
-Nebraska, 20-10: Jason White's first freak knee injury game
-Oklahoma State, 16-13: We squander three first half turnovers by the Pokes in our territory; they throw the winning TD pass with 1:36 left in the game.
2009 squad went 8-5, 5 losses were:
-BYU, 14-13: After throwing a TD pass to Ryan Broyles in the 1st quarter, Sam Bradford is knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury. BYU throws winning TD with 3:03 left in the game. OU drives down to the BYU 32 with 1:38 left on the clock. Instead of running two more plays up the middle to make BYU use their final timeouts and kill clock, Stoops' offensive brain trust opt to throw to passes. Our offensive line draws a 5 yard false start penalty. Jimmy Stevens misses a 54-yard field goal. Stupid offensive coaching plus the injury to Bradford waste a great defensive effort.
-Miami, 21-20: OU's offense dick-bones the defense several times. In the second quarter, leading 10-7, OU drives form it's 18 to the Miami 42. A nine-yard completion to the 33 is erase by a holding call. Offense dicks around, gaining two yards on two pass plays and a rush; turns the ball over to Miami with 2 second left in the half.
Third quarter, OU coughs up the lead for good early in the second half. Mosis Madu takes the second half kickoff to the...15. Two plays later, Landry Jones is sacked, and fumbles the ball. Miami recovers at the 11, then throw the go ahead TD pass on the next play.
Fourth quarter, Miami gets the ball back at their 27 with 4:18 left. They drive down to our 18 and run out the clock. Stupid.
-Texas, 16-13: Sam Bradford returned the week before against Baylor. In this game, Bradford's shoulder is reinjured less than four minutes into the game. Texas generally sucks, but not enough on this day; they eke out a 3 point win.
At this point in the season, we fall to 3-3, losing to BYU, Miami, and Texas by a combined 5 points. But, we kicked the hell out of Idaho State, Tulsa, and Baylor. Woo-hoo. Who really gives a crap.
-Nebraska, 10-3: Nebraska's offense generates a whopping 180 yards against our defense, 63 of it on one run by Roy Helu. Yes, our defense dominated the game to that degree. Our offense puts up 325 yards, not great, but not as horrible as the Huskers on that day. Our probem - Landry Jones throws 5 interceptions.
-Texas Tech, 41-13: Just stupid. Giving up 187 yards to Tech...on the ground? Easily one of the worst prepared teams in the Stoops era, rivaled only by the 2005 Texas and 2002 Oklahoma State game. Just a fat egg laid all the way around.
So, four losses by a combined 12 points...and a heinous egg laid at deplorable Texas Tech. The 2009 season was nothing but a nightmare. That and 2005 as a whole were awful. But, the 2001 and 2009 defenses had the ability to get us to the championship game. Our offense and some boneheaded coaching on the offensive side of the ball did us in...and people were pissed-off at Venables at times? Stupid.
Morals of the story:
(1) Have a freaking backup quarterback ready AT ALL TIMES.
(2) Do not turn the ball over
(3) Be smart about clock management and field position
(4) Have teams prepared for EVERY game
In the Switzer years, the 1986 defense:
-gives up only 81 points all season
-produces 5 shut outs
-hold two more opponents to just a field goal
-holds Arkansas to 8 points in the bowl game
-gives up 20+ only once - the season's only loss: a 28-16 bomb to Miami. Awful.
The most heartbreaking seasons for me have been 1986 and 2001. So much wasted in those two seasons. Throw in 1994 after we had been given false hope by a 9-3 finish in 1993. I really thought Gary Gibbs had turned the corner after that season and was excited about 1994. Horrible season, 1994.
2001 was his best defense, giving up only 169 points the entire season; 2009 squad gave up only 189. Both lower than the 194 given up by the 2000 National Championship squad.
2001 squad went 11-2, 2 losses were:
-Nebraska, 20-10: Jason White's first freak knee injury game
-Oklahoma State, 16-13: We squander three first half turnovers by the Pokes in our territory; they throw the winning TD pass with 1:36 left in the game.
2009 squad went 8-5, 5 losses were:
-BYU, 14-13: After throwing a TD pass to Ryan Broyles in the 1st quarter, Sam Bradford is knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury. BYU throws winning TD with 3:03 left in the game. OU drives down to the BYU 32 with 1:38 left on the clock. Instead of running two more plays up the middle to make BYU use their final timeouts and kill clock, Stoops' offensive brain trust opt to throw to passes. Our offensive line draws a 5 yard false start penalty. Jimmy Stevens misses a 54-yard field goal. Stupid offensive coaching plus the injury to Bradford waste a great defensive effort.
-Miami, 21-20: OU's offense dick-bones the defense several times. In the second quarter, leading 10-7, OU drives form it's 18 to the Miami 42. A nine-yard completion to the 33 is erase by a holding call. Offense dicks around, gaining two yards on two pass plays and a rush; turns the ball over to Miami with 2 second left in the half.
Third quarter, OU coughs up the lead for good early in the second half. Mosis Madu takes the second half kickoff to the...15. Two plays later, Landry Jones is sacked, and fumbles the ball. Miami recovers at the 11, then throw the go ahead TD pass on the next play.
Fourth quarter, Miami gets the ball back at their 27 with 4:18 left. They drive down to our 18 and run out the clock. Stupid.
-Texas, 16-13: Sam Bradford returned the week before against Baylor. In this game, Bradford's shoulder is reinjured less than four minutes into the game. Texas generally sucks, but not enough on this day; they eke out a 3 point win.
At this point in the season, we fall to 3-3, losing to BYU, Miami, and Texas by a combined 5 points. But, we kicked the hell out of Idaho State, Tulsa, and Baylor. Woo-hoo. Who really gives a crap.
-Nebraska, 10-3: Nebraska's offense generates a whopping 180 yards against our defense, 63 of it on one run by Roy Helu. Yes, our defense dominated the game to that degree. Our offense puts up 325 yards, not great, but not as horrible as the Huskers on that day. Our probem - Landry Jones throws 5 interceptions.
-Texas Tech, 41-13: Just stupid. Giving up 187 yards to Tech...on the ground? Easily one of the worst prepared teams in the Stoops era, rivaled only by the 2005 Texas and 2002 Oklahoma State game. Just a fat egg laid all the way around.
So, four losses by a combined 12 points...and a heinous egg laid at deplorable Texas Tech. The 2009 season was nothing but a nightmare. That and 2005 as a whole were awful. But, the 2001 and 2009 defenses had the ability to get us to the championship game. Our offense and some boneheaded coaching on the offensive side of the ball did us in...and people were pissed-off at Venables at times? Stupid.
Morals of the story:
(1) Have a freaking backup quarterback ready AT ALL TIMES.
(2) Do not turn the ball over
(3) Be smart about clock management and field position
(4) Have teams prepared for EVERY game
In the Switzer years, the 1986 defense:
-gives up only 81 points all season
-produces 5 shut outs
-hold two more opponents to just a field goal
-holds Arkansas to 8 points in the bowl game
-gives up 20+ only once - the season's only loss: a 28-16 bomb to Miami. Awful.
The most heartbreaking seasons for me have been 1986 and 2001. So much wasted in those two seasons. Throw in 1994 after we had been given false hope by a 9-3 finish in 1993. I really thought Gary Gibbs had turned the corner after that season and was excited about 1994. Horrible season, 1994.