2008 #1 Oklahoma vs. #5 Texas
For a couple days, I just couldn't deal with the thought of having to write anything about this game. I was devastated (I can't even imagine how the players and coaches must feel). I didn't watch ESPN or read a sports page until Tuesday. I had a really good time the entire weekend, but that final score sat in the pit of my stomach like a 7-11 burrito...It wasn't until yesterday that I started to come around a little bit.
Begrudgingly, I will admit it was a great game. This was my 25th straight Red River Rivalry, and if there was one with more intensity, drama, big plays, questionable calls, key coaching decisions and shifts in momentum...well, I cant remember it. I also would say this...I wish that anyone who ever felt like this game should be played on a home and home basis instead of neutral site, would have been in attendance last Saturday. The intensity of the momentum swings and the deafening reaction by one end of the Cotton Bowl or the other...was exhibit A as to why this is the greatest spectacle in college sports.
Usually I have very little to draw on from the actual game itself...but this one had so many things to talk about, comment on, second guess, relive, try to forget that it became over whelming when I sat down at the computer to blog it out. My first rough draft was longer than War & Peace and I was only at halftime. Since even my mom wouldn't even read that much of my b.s., I decided to narrow the focus. It is still kind of long, but at least it is no longer an Oliver Stone film.
I decided to concentrate on what I felt were the three biggest game changing moments on the field....and with an attempt at some humor, give you a feel for how those manic momentum shifts on the field were effecting those in the stand. Rarely do I comment on my blogs...but I laughed harder writing this one than I have in a while...this was truly therapeutic for me...hope you can find a chuckle or two for yourselves.
(AOL no longer has a blog site, so this is a new format and link. I am still working out some kinks on things like pictures. At the end of the blog, there is a link you can cut and paste. That will take you to a picture album. The pictures and captions are pretty good this week IMO)
Big Moment #1...Ship-ley Sets Sail Coast To Coast
13:14 remaining in the second quarter, ¾ crown left in the flask. Ryan Broyles scores with an assist from Jermaine Gresham. Sooner side: New Years Eve in Times Square. Longhorn side: Church. Red side: momentum; Orange side: degradation. Bradford is finding his groove. Ryan Reynolds can still walk. I have not even come close to offending anyone yet…Life is good. Score: Oklahoma 14 Texas 3.
What could of happened next: With the wind at his back, the Sooners kicker does his job and kicks the ball out of the end zone…the defense holds them like they had since the first drive…the offense gets the ball back in decent field position because the Horns were forced to punt into the wind…Bradford throws for another score…The band plays Boomer Sooner…OU fans watch as half the Longhorn fans go drink beer with Big Tex…I am the happiest, funniest and most popular guy in section 203.
The only problem with that scenario is that our kickoff team sucks. They are the worst in the country, ranking 107th out of 107. How can the #1 team in the country possess the worst kickoff unit in the country…especially when they get to practice it 7 or 8 times a game? Well, I’m glad you asked.
To begin with, our “kick-off specialist” is just plain bad. Sorry to criticize a 20 year old kid, but hey…the guy has one job on this team: kick the ball far. Direction is of no concern. Even though it lists him as a kicker in the program, he is not going to kick field goals or extra points…we have another dude for that. His job is pretty simple….go out to the 30 yard line and place a football on a tee…when the TV network has returned from peddling Ford trucks and feminine hygiene products, the referee will point at him…at which point he is now free to kick the shit out of it.
What did happen next: I truly don’t think you can over estimate the significance of what happened next. It changed the game, the season and more than likely the title hopes of both schools…and it all happened in a span of 13 seconds.
The kick was short and the Sooner coverage was nonexistent…the result was sudden and painfully predictable. Jordan Shipley broke right and went untouched through a massive hole in the Sooner kickoff coverage…that left only one person between him and the OU end zone...our kicker…yeah, like that’s gonna happen.
The Longhorn band plays Texas Fight, Longhorn fans chant OU Sucks. Red Side Reaction: the kind of reaction a man would have if he suddenly realized the woman in the porno he is watching is his wife. Ecstasy turns to anger instantly. Orange Side Reaction: Like watching Kurt Cobain turn into Zig Ziegler. 46,500 Horn fans go from suicide watch to highly motivated maniacs.
The OAS has a meltdown. On a scale of 1-10, this one was about a 7. I incurred 1 point deductions for the following: I did not accidentally harm myself, no decorative accessory and or window treatment was destroyed, and I was still allowed to remain in the Cotton Bowl.
The above average rant did results in about half my cocktail relocating onto the back of the chick in front of me… the whisky that defied gravity and returned to my cup, was quickly power pounded. The chick is wet, smells like booze and not happy. A guy who only seconds earlier was high 5-ing me, now seems to have a problem with a few of my adjectives choices and my inability to juggle whisky. My response to his comments put an end to any future friendship reconciliation. No doubt my popularity in section 203 has taken a hit. F-ing kicker.
Score: OU 14 Texas 10…Game on
Big Moment #2...Sooners in Knee-d
Evidently whatever suggestions the coaches offered at half-time were well received…Sooner D forces Texas to go three and out to start the second half. The Horns punt and the subsequent Broyles return has the Sooners setting up shop at mid-field.
11:45 left in the 3rd quarter, Bradford hits Manuel Johnson, who takes it the final 14 yards for the score. The momentum had been all Texas since the Longhorn Invitational Track Meet Kickoff return that happened early in the second quarter. This early 3rd quarter TD gives it back to the Sooners. Red Side: Frat Party. Orange Side: Root Canal.
The OAS mood: Due to the stress, my first cocktail of the second half is going down faster than the Dow Jones. I have also noted that this is a very unforgiving group here in section 203. Besides Molly, the only person who is still willing to high five me is the blue haired lady down a row and to my right. She has to be living in God's waiting room cause she is old enough to be Bud Wilkinson's grandmother. She has a hearing aid the size of a softball…which explains why she still likes me...Clearly, she just can’t hear me. Molly suggests that I not high five her hand so hard next time because she is still shaking it. “I didn’t cause that” I said, "father time did"...I know, I'm going to hell, but its not like I won't know anyone when I get there.
Score: OU 28 Texas 20
Again, prosperity would not last long. During the next possession, the Sooners would suffer a devastating loss. Ryan Reynolds goes down with his 23 torn ACL when a Longhorn player inadvertently rolled up the back of his leg (OK, its his 3rd, but sure seems like more for the poor kid). Reynolds, a luckless junior linebacker from Vegas, moves past Jason White to become the all-time school leader in torn ACL’s. (In a serious note…you have to feel for this kid…he has spent his entire career in the rehab room. With this being the third, you wonder if he will ever play another down…I wish him the best…God Speed Ryan.)
Reynolds has been the heart and sole of the Sooner defense so far this season…never was that more apparent than after he left the game: (A) The Horns would drive 83 yards over the next 11 plays to pull within one. (B)The Horns averaged 4.6 yards per play before the injury, 8.3 after. (C) Texas outscored OU 25-7 after he left (D) I drank my crown at 3.6 sips per minute before, 8.6 after. (E) My Tourettes kicked in at an average of once per 10 plays before, every other play after the injury.
When it comes to recognizing a player by their jersey number, I am like Rain Man. #40: no problem. That is red-shirt freshman, 5th string fullback Buck Buchanan; a walk-on from Putnam West. Buck likes to sing in the church choir and take long walks at dusk. Buck is a Libra, who spends his free time volunteering down at the senior citizens center. But when I look up from watching Trapper John and Marcus Welby work on Reynolds knee and see number 48 in the game…I had a big bag of nothing. I had to throw ice at the blue hair because she couldn’t hear me ask to borrow her program…but finally on page 53…Brandon Crow, Sophomore linebacker from Comanche, OK. One minute witness protection program, the next, he is trying to play linebacker in the biggest game of the year.
It was not pretty…I haven’t seen the stats, but I am willing to wager that Brandon Crow had the same number of tackles as: The Black Crows, The Counting Crows, The Scarecrow, Velcro and Cheryl Crow. I think we can all agree that Mr. Crow is not the answer at middle linebacker. Where was Austin Box? Balogun? Bryant? Buehler? Buehler, anyone Buehler?
BIG PLAY #3...”KNALL & VOID”
4th quarter. While the Sooners are clinging to a one point lead on the field; my nerves and sobriety are getting run ruled in the upper deck. Unable to pick up a first down to keep their drive going, the Sooners faced 4th and 6 near mid-field. Unwilling to leave my seat for fresh ice, I am imbibing what looks and tastes like warm dirty gold fish water…As you can see, Bob and I are facing similar dilemmas.
For Stoops the safe call, the one that 98% of the coaches in the country would make, is to punt the football. But even the safe call can bring consternation. Do you have confidence in your punter and his ability to pin the Horns deep? More importantly, once the ball has left your punters foot, do you feel confident enough in your defense that the next time you see it you won’t be down by 2, 3, 6 or even 7 points?
For the OAS, the safe call, the one 98% of adults would make, would be to set down the cup. But even the safe call can bring insecurity. Do I have the confidence in my ability to handle this stress without my liquid binki? More importantly, once it left my hand and rested on the ground, was I confident enough in my ability to not kick it over....the result being no whisky for the final six, seven, even eight minutes?
Evidently, Bob looked over at the bench and saw Ryan Reynolds talking to the entire staff of Gray's Anatomy...Venables introducing himself and the defensive scheme to Lamont Robinson... and Brandon Crow still talking to himself…"Screw that" he must have thought, "I’m faking it".
Evidently, The OAS looked over and saw…oh hell, who am I kidding, I could have looked over and saw Elvis talking to Marylin Monroe...but there was never a chance I was going to set the whiskey down...I'd just be faking it.
For Stoops and the Sooners, it almost worked. In fact, if All-American TE Jermaine Gresham holds his block another nano-second instead of turning around to see where Knall was, then Knall probably doesn't run into him and come up inches short. If.
Honestly, I thought that the call seemed a little desperate, and not just because it didn't work. The Sooners were winning the game at the time...with the ball at mid-field logic says kick it deep and hold them. The decision to fake it spoke LOUDLY...Stoops had little or no trust in his defenses ability to hold Texas…and justifiable so since Venables had yet to find a way to adjust to the four receiver set that the Longhorns were using for the first time all year. If Venables did suddenly have an answer...any adjustments made at this point would have to be done with a Lamont and a Crow in the lineup.
I realize he was going for the element of surprise…but I would love to know if he ever considered having the offense go for it. Maybe use a play that they had worked on all week for just this type situation…then again maybe that was the play they worked on all week.
I am just a second guessing over served fat guy sitting in the upper deck, but I think I take my chances with Bradford, Iglesias, Gresham and Johnson over a punter who looks like he is on the same dietary plan as I am.
The OAS: I swear I almost shot the dirty gold fish water I was drinking out my nose when I saw Knall "take off". I will say that he was kinda shifty for a guy who had never run more than 2.5 steps with the football before...that is until he ran into Gresham. It was a good effort, but in the end, like our other kicker...he left the ball short of where we needed him to get it.
The play has left me discombobulated. Just the fact that I just watched a guy that looks like Wally Cleaver try to carry our National Championship hopes 6 yards has left me feeling dizzy. My gut feeling, along with the entire Longhorn bench tells me he came up short...but going postal would be premature at this point. Molly has already gone into full alert crisis mode by trying to talk me back in off the ledge before I have even stepped out on it. It was short of course. Molly went to get me more ice, probably because she didn't want to witness any violence...but I just stood there. I needed a hug...but I couldn't get the blue-haired lady's attention.
The Horns would go score...and hold the Sooners...(with field position being about the same, why was Stoops willing to go for it when he was up by one...but not when they were down by three?)...and then the Horns iced it on a 62 yard run by Obiwankanobi...or what ever his name is. Ball Game....Texas 45 Oklahoma 35...The OAS 2.5
The post game fair in never as fun when you lose. You deal with the Texas fans, just like they have to deal with us when they lose...its part of the deal...you know how it is going to go, so you just suck it up. Good time was actually had. I was proud of how many Sooner fans stuck around at the fair.
Dinner Friday night was great...the pregame party at the picnic tables...as always was entertaining...
There is a lot of football left to be played....Time to Rock the Jayhawks
PICTURES
Cut and paste the following link to visit the OU-Texas Photo album
Just The Opinion of One Mildly Interested Guy
The Oveweight Armchair Sooner
Buddy Putty
