Sooners Trip to Lubbock a Rare Treat

 OKLAHOMA 63 TEXAS TECH 28

A night game in Lubbock. On Halloween. At Jones Stadium, aka … The Haunted House on the Plains. A rare Blue Moon. The Masked Rider. Tortillas Tossed and Guns Up. What could possibly go wrong?  Well, if history is any indication – a lot.

I was in Lubbock for the game in 2005. To say it was an officiating disaster would be like calling the year 2020 ‘a little different.’ The refs botched two calls that allowed the Red Raiders to score on their final drive and win the game 23-21.  Botched wasn’t just my opinion btw – my opinion wasn’t fit for print.  But the calls were bad enough that the Big 12 issued an apology three days later. The Sooners hadn’t been robbed of a game like that since … let me think … oh that’s right … three weeks earlier in Eugene, Oregon.

I didn’t make the trip to Lubbock in 2007 – and for all he remembers, neither did Sam Bradford.  That’s because Sam got knocked out in the first quarter when he tried to tackle the truck who picked up an Allen Patrick fumble. Down big early, the #3-ranked Sooners tried to mount a late comeback, but ultimately came up short 34-27.  On a side note: The Red Raiders wide-receivers coach that night was a guy named Lincoln Riley. The QB who came in for Bradford that night you didn’t ask? “Alex, I’ll take Forgotten Sooner QB’s - for $500 please.” Who is Joey Halzle.

In 2009, it seemed as though the entire OU team didn’t bother to make the 342-mile trip to the south plains. With Landry Jones and his porn stash at QB, the Sooners got trampled 41-13.

And who can forget the Mayfield & Mahomes show in 2016 … certainly not the two defensive coordinators I’m guessing. In his return to Lubbock, Baker passed for seven touchdowns and 545 yards to help the Sooners beat Texas Tech 66-59 in a game that broke the NCAA record for combined offensive yards with 1,708. An easy win for the Sooners in the hometown of the late Buddy Holly? “That’ll be the Day.”

Then Saturday night, Tech takes the opening kickoff and promptly goes 75-yards in 7-plays. I guess abusing OU cornerback Tre Brown through the air for 3-straight plays got a bit boring, so they decided to hand it off to running back SaRodorick Thompson.  SaRodorick, promptly SaRan the ball down the Sooners throat for 30-yards on 3-carries ... and before you could say ‘pretty, pretty, pretty, Peggy Sue’ – it was 7-0 Red Raiders.

But there was no need to panic. Obviously, it was very early in the game … and besides, now the OU offense would get a turn.  Three-plays, a Robinson holding penalty, and a Mundschau punt later – that turn was over.  Okay, maybe time for a little panic. 

To describe the first 5:00 minutes of the game in Trick or Treat terms: Tech’s bounty featured Snickers and Reese’s, while the Sooners pillow case contained a box of raisins, dental floss, some loose change and a ball of lint.  Not good.

But on the ensuing Tech drive, the game changed faster than the west Texas weather. 2-plays that included a sack, a false start and a personal foul-penalty – left the Red Raiders facing 3^rd and 45 from their own 9 yard-line. Yes, you read that correctly - 45-yards. Hell, some people don’t go that far for vacation … and neither did the Tech punt that followed their unsuccessful third-down play.

What came next for the Sooners over the next 3-hours was … well, truly a treat. When the dust settled (as if that ever actually happens in Lubbock), the final score read 62-28 … but to be honest, it really wasn’t that close. 

Did the Sooners finally put an end to the Lubbock curse? Well … Maybe baby, we’ll have to wait and see.  But on this particular full moon, Halloween night in Lubbock – the Sooners – brought us joys to share with those who really care. And we know why, just you and I, know true love ways.

Tidbits, Snippets and Shit I Believe to Be True

Convicted? The Sooners were called for only 2-penalties for 15-yards Saturday night. If that’s not a record, then in addition to being too lazy to research that fact, I’d also be surprised.

Welcome back. Saturday night marked the return of Ronnie Perkins and Rhamondre Stevenson. The stats will show Perkins finishing with 4-tackles, 2-of which were for a loss, and a QB hurry, but those numbers don’t do justice to the way he continually disrupted things defensively.  As for Stevenson, he is simply a beast.  He looked like a man among boys running the football – and that stiff arm of his could stop a Buick in its tracks. Just sayin.

Front-Runners. The Sooners have now outscored their opponents 89-10 in the first quarter this season.  I’d point out the same stat for the 4^th quarter of games this season, but don’t want to ruin this positive run I'm on.

Just a Streakin’. The Sooners have now scored 28-points or more in 58-consecutive games. The second longest streak belongs to Alabama, who has 19-straight.

Dos for Tre. Safety Tre Norwood had both interceptions for Oklahoma, becoming the first Sooners player with two in a game since 2016. The last player to do so for the Sooners? That would be linebacker, Jordan Evans.

More Treat Than Trick. For whatever it’s worth, the Sooners have now won eight consecutive games played on Halloween and are 12-3-2 all-time on All Hallows’ Eve. The last time the Sooners lost a game on 10/31 you didn’t ask? Hint: It was so long ago the Great Pumpkin was just a small Gourd. The last time OU lost on Halloween, was 1959 when the Sooner were squashed by the Cornhuskers 23-21. (Nothing funnier than Cucurbita humor, right mom?)

Next up: The Jayhawks

Just the Opinion of One Mildly Interested Guy

Buddy Putty – The Overweight Armchair Sooner