Intriguing rematch is possibility
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
6/6/2005
It's a stretch to think Oklahoma and Louisiana State could play in the Rose Bowl next January for the national football championship. It's also a smile.
The Sooners and Tigers will be top 10 contenders in 2005. LSU is loaded, but asking a young OU squad to make its third consecutive national championship appearance might be too ambitious a request.
If not Pasadena, Calif., then how about Dallas and the Cotton Bowl, which matches Big 12 and Southeastern Conference teams?
It's not a rematch of the 2003 national title game that interests me. Although watching the Sooners attempt to avenge that bitter 21-14 Sugar Bowl loss to the Tigers would be entertaining.
Bob Stoops vs. Les Miles is what intrigues. Especially with Miles now coaching at Louisiana State instead of Oklahoma State.
Why Stoops vs. Miles? Well, to quote Kevin Bacon's character in the movie "Diner," because "It's a smile."
It should be noted that Timothy Fenwick Jr., made that comment in "Diner" when asked what had prompted him punch out several windows at his old high school.
One often had the feeling that Stoops and Miles would have enjoyed the opportunity to punch each other's OU-OSU lights out.
In the four seasons he coached the Cowboys, Miles' friendship with Stoops took a plunge. It went from cool to downright frigid.
A lot of it was the result of Miles having the audacity to defeat Stoops the first two games they went mano a mano in the OU-OSU Series. But Miles really turned up the heat on his frosty relationship with Stoops with some controversial comments.
Five months into his new job in Baton Rouge, La., Miles is at it again. It happened last week in Thibodaux, La., when Miles was asked about a confrontation he had with Stoops after No. 1-ranked OU blasted OSU in the 2003 game, 52-9.
Earlier that week, Miles made a comment that long will hold a special spot in OU-OSU history: "Next Saturday, two teams are going to play. One is maybe the best team in college football and the other one is a darn good football team, and we're going to figure out which one is which."
After the Sooners poleaxed the Pokes, Stoops didn't hang around to hear what Miles wanted to say when they met at midfield. He was still miffed the following week when he accused Miles of aiding and abetting media members, whom he believed had taken a sarcastic and negative approach to the game.
"I think there was some sarcasm in that (comment)," Stoops said. "We are one of only two undefeated teams in the whole country and virtually everybody was putting us that way, but not them (Cowboys)."
OU, of course, went on to lose two games that season. Kansas State shocked the Sooners in the Big 12 title game, followed by the national-title loss to LSU in the Tigers' back yard.
It was that Sugar Bowl game Miles recalled when a booster asked him last week about his 2003 verbal battle with Stoops.
"When you guys were playing Oklahoma, and I was representing another school, I watched every play and I was so damn happy that LSU won," said Miles, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate. "I look forward to meeting that team again and that coach."
Whoa. "That" team and "that" coach?
Stoops vs. Miles rekindles memories of Barry Switzer vs. Jimmy Johnson.
Johnson went 0-5 against Switzer and OU the five seasons he coached at OSU. But the man with the magnificent 'do often said he'd love a shot at Switzer when they he had comparable talent.
Johnson proved his point when he left OSU for Miami (Fla.) He faced Switzer and the Sooners three times while coaching the Hurricanes, winning all three, including the 1987 national championship in the Orange Bowl.
Miles has already done a better job than Johnson. He split in four OU-OSU meetings and came tantalizingly close to making it 3-1 against Stoops when the Pokes pushed the Sooners last October before losing, 38-35.
Conventional wisdom suggests Miles left a good team for an even better one. While he had upgraded the Cowboys' talent, he inherited an LSU team loaded with blue-chip players recruited by former coach Nick Saban.
So if Miles could more than hold his own against Stoops with a team that didn't match OU's talent level, how would he do if given the opportunity to compete with equal or superior talent?
An OU-LSU series is in the works down the road. Be it the regular season or a bowl, if the Stoops-Miles rematch happens, it'll be a smile.
Dave Sittler 581-8312
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