Just a few thoughts on the game.

[SoonerBK]

I put the family on a plane back to OK this morning. I have to stay out here for a few more days on a bidness trip.
Of course it was frustrating to lose. I would have felt a lot worse had we not climbed back in. BSU seemed to be kind of a team of destiny this year. When dealing with teams who are going through experiences that the program has never done before (1st BCS, undefeated season) anything can happen. A team like that with nothing to lose can be quite dangerous as we found out. I don't think that Texas or Nebbish would have faired any better. It looked like the football gods were finally smiling when we scored and then intercepted and scored again. At that point I was hugging strangers.
There should be no backlash on the coaching staff. They have done an unbelievable job this year. I say if we had someone else as our coach, we would not be having these discussions b/c we would not have made it here. It sucks to lose, but....well nothing it just sucks to lose.



Oh yeah, at halftime in sec. 132 a 50 year old lady almost fought a young BSU fan. He walked up the aisle flipping off everyone and dropping F-bombs. She went after him but he slipped into the crowd. The look on here husband face was priceless.

[OUinFLA]

was she hawt?


I guess Im about over it.

[cvsooner]

My thoughts:

I hate the color orange and the teams that use it as one of their colors.

I hate trick plays. Unless the Sooners run them.

Paul Thompson is still my hero, God bless him. He overachieved virtually the entire season and really turned it on in the first drive in the first quarter and the fourth quarter.

I'm disappointed we didn't play as well as we could, and have. I'm proud that we played well enough to win. We made mistakes, they took advantage. They made mistakes, we took advantage.

I'm sick and tired of Bozo State milking the "underdog" angle. "Underdog" my foot...those guys have careers ahead of them as politicians. Talk about trick plays.

I said it before the game, they were a good team. They were ranked ahead of us in the BCS and only two spots down in the polls. They were unbeaten, 12-0. We had at least one legitimate loss. If anything, we were the underdog.

I know we'd have gotten no credit for the comeback even if we had won the game.

Jared Zabransky made a great play on the one touchdown pass. Man, we had him...just a great play, at the end of the first half. He's also an arrogant jerk.

The stadium was awesome. Parking was a disaster...or at least leaving the parking lot was.

Section 433 had three Bozo State "fans" in our section who were drunk, obnoxious, gangsta wannabes. Security made sure they didn't come back for the second half, fortunately.

Highlight of the trip: running into AD in the airport. He graciously autographed my son's hat. Talking to him, along the lines of, "how you doing this morning and what did you think of Bozo State," he answered, "Last night they were one point better than we were."

I think that pretty much sums this game up for me. I can't buy the hype that it was one of the greatest games ever. That's impossible, since the Sooners didn't win.

One thing is clear to me this morning: I'm an Oklahoma Sooner, and they're still Bozo State. Enjoy it while you can, Broncs: when you were playing junior college ball we had three national titles. Next time we meet you're going down.

The 2006 Sooners were better than we had much hope to expect them to be. They showed a lot of heart in coming back time and again this season. I thought we had it won with 62 seconds to go. Just came up a little bit short. Bozo State couldn't play our game and they were able to get us to play their game. We play ten times I say we win eight or nine of them.

Stoops and his folks have got to learn to better prep a team for a bowl game.

The 2007 Sooners should be an awesome team.

[SoonerBK]

Apparently zabransky "guaranteed" a win at some Boise pep rally during the week. Isn't that nice.

[TUSooner]

My thoughts:

***
I'm sick and tired of Bozo State milking the "underdog" angle. "Underdog" my foot...those guys have careers ahead of them as politicians. Talk about trick plays.

I said it before the game, they were a good team. They were ranked ahead of us in the BCS and only two spots down in the polls. They were unbeaten, 12-0. We had at least one legitimate loss. If anything, we were the underdog.

I know we'd have gotten no credit for the comeback even if we had won the game.

***
I can't buy the hype that it was one of the greatest games ever. That's impossible, since the Sooners didn't win.

***

Stoops and his folks have got to learn to better prep a team for a bowl game.

The 2007 Sooners should be an awesome team.

Yeah.

[cvsooner]

Interesting analysis from Matthew Zemek of collegefootballnews.com:

"A few core realities emerge from Boise's 43-42 overtime triumph, and they all show that the Broncos--in a one-shot situation--were a legitimately elite team that belonged with anyone in college football this season. These same realities suggest that with a break here or there, Boise State could take Ohio State down to the wire, and maybe even win.

"The first thing one needs to realize about the Fiesta Bowl is that without one very unlucky break, the Broncos would have crushed the Sooners by double-digits. Had it not been for a freak accident on a punt that hit the ankle of a Boise State player, the Broncos would have gained possession with a 28-10 lead with just 5:16 left in the third quarter. Given that Oklahoma's offense was being stymied at the time by Boise's stout and physical defense, there was little reason to think the Sooners could have made a credible comeback attempt without a lightning bolt of luck. Boise didn't just "hang in" against the Big XII champions (and let's remember who won the Big XII in 2005--the national champion Texas Longhorns); the Broncos, all things considered, slightly outplayed the Sooners in the trenches.

"This doesn't mean that Boise has the better physical specimens, or that the Broncos--if competing in the Big XII on a weekly basis--would go undefeated (they probably wouldn't). What it does mean, though, is that in a one-shot bowl game, a combination of emotion, motivation, preparation, rest and adrenaline gives any talented team a shot against an opponent from a big-name conference. As Charles Davis, FOX's TV analyst, said during the Fiesta Bowl broadcast, "Want to know something about speed? Everyone in America (not just the SEC) has it." Barry Alvarez, a co-analyst along with Davis, chimed in with the thought that "It's not like they're recruiting slugs."

"Indeed: the elite teams in America all have considerable talent. Mental toughness--if cultivated and sustained by a team--can lift an underdog to victory in a one-shot bowl game, and Boise State offers a perfect example of that reality. When Boise quarterback Jared Zabransky suffered from anxiety at Georgia in 2005, the Broncos were humiliated... which is why the national media understandably gave BSU little chance against Oklahoma. But against the Sooners, Zabransky put his anxiety attacks behind him, and the result was predictably different. In one hugely-hyped game, it just takes a handful of plays to transform the emotional calculus, and when this happens in favor of the underdog, all bets are off.

"Another reason why Boise State--clearly not a shrinking violet at the line of scrimmage, as a physical Oklahoma team found out on New Year's night--could push Ohio State is play calling. Bronco head coach Chris Petersen displayed the best coaching clinic this columnist has ever seen in a single football game. By using unrivaled creativity, drilling his players perfectly, and putting matters in his own hands (going for two to win the game with your offense, when you call the shots and therefore have more control), Petersen showed what can happen when a coaching staff and a team do everything right in one 60-minute event. In his first season as a D-I head coach, Petersen--when given his shot in the Fiesta Bowl (forget about his team for a second) thoroughly humbled Bob Stoops, a man who has reached three BCS title games and won one of them. Boise State's superb execution under pressure was reminiscent of Villanova--in one 40-minute game, not a best-of-seven series, remember--shooting 78.6 percent to beat mighty Georgetown for the 1985 NCAA basketball championship. It's not just the emotions and speed (plus one or two lucky breaks early in a game) that can even out a seemingly lopsided matchup in a hurry. Play calling can also serve as a huge equalizer in a one-shot deal.

"Just about every intangible element--which, remember, only needs to exist for one 60-minute stretch, not for a full SEC or Big Ten regular season--points to a shrinking gap between a WAC champion and the Big Ten champion in a one-shot scenario. In a ten-game series, Ohio State would easily dismiss Boise State in eight meetings, possibly nine. In a Big Ten regular season, the Broncos would get dinged twice or thrice, as mere attrition (not deficient quality; the Broncos have sensational frontline players at every position) would do them in. But in one game on one night, anything is possible, and THAT is the true lesson provided by Boise State's win over an Oklahoma team that, while not as good as the 2003 or 2004 squads in Norman, was still a major conference champion led by an elite coach.

"The idea that a WAC team would lose twice or three times in the SEC (which is probably correct) over the course of an eight-game regular season conference schedule is not the argument that prevails in a postseason that involves bowl games and not playoff rounds. The operative question is, "Can Boise State win in a one-shot situation?" After the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, it is impossible to ever again answer that kind of question in the negative."