Exclamation Point, Not Asterisk Needed For This Rivalry
By Tom Layberger
July 29, 2009
Irving, Texas -- Let’s revisit: Texas beat Oklahoma by 10. Three weeks later, the Longhorns lost in the final second to Texas Tech, which was blown out by the Sooners, 65-21, on the next-to-last week of the conference’s regular season.
UT coach Mack Brown didn’t care for the how parameters were laid out to begin with. Do you think he cared for them after a fifth tiebreaker scenario was required to determine who would represent the Big 12 South in last year's conference championship game, where Oklahoma went on defeat Missouri?
At the Big 12 Conference media session Wednesday, Brown took the high road, preferring to highlight the gut-wrenching loss in Lubbock.
“If we had played better at Tech and won the game, we’d have been in the conference championship game,” he said. “We need to learn from that and move on, quit talking about the system and just go play. The tiebreaker was voted to stay, so it’s going to stay.”
On the field, the Longhorns were able to move on with it just fine, posting a 24-21 win over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. The victory capped a 12-1 campaign, one that was a mere tick of the clock removed from a possible date with something bigger and better.
Off the field, there apparently was a need to let everybody know what they accomplished. That was most evident during the spring when an asterisk appeared next to “2008” on an athletic complex wall noting the team’s Big 12 titles. When this was reported, Oklahoma fans couldn’t burn up the blogs fast enough. UT officials would explain there was a communication issue blah, blah, blah and that the asterisk would be removed. Indeed, there is no such not of 2008, asterisk or otherwise, of last season being of the championship variety in the team’s new media guide.
(You can see it now Oct. 17 during the rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl: OU fans holding placards with an asterisk.)
When Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops had his chance to chime in Tuesday, he simply said: “I know you guys would love for me to have a little quip about that and throw it all over the place. I don’t want to take away from the players and the programs. I don’t have anything to say about it.”
The heat is on and it’s hotter than ever in this rivalry. If the teams were not close enough in their battle for Big 12 South supremacy, consider that each received 174 points in the conference’s preseason media poll.*
* Texas received 17 first-place and Oklahoma 15.
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July 28, 2009
It is no surprise through the first two days of the of the three-day Big 12 media conference that Bob Stoops, Sam Bradford and the Oklahoma contingent attracted most of the attention from the several television, online and print outlets on hand. After all, the Sooners played for the national championship last season, losing to Florida, and Bradford became the fifth Sooner to win the Heisman.
While Bradford will take a shot at joining Archie Griffin (’74-’75) in becoming the second two-time winner of the prestigious award, the focus starting with fall practice next week will be on clearing the final hurdle and winning the last game of the college football season.
“We have to find a way to keep the identity of the team during the layoff between the last regular season game and the bowl game,” said Bradford, aware it will be a chore to return to the title game. “I feel that we just weren’t quite ourselves in the national championship game last year. We just weren’t quite the team we were all year and if we can find a way to maintain the level of play, and that includes a lot of the little things you take for granted, then we have a great chance to get over that hump.”
It’s hard to imagine Bradford equaling let alone besting the season he had a year ago. The 6-foot-4 junior obliterated several single-season team records, including establishing new standards for yards passing (4,720), TD passes (50) and efficiency rating. One of the keys to returning the title game and winning it is making sure Bradford does not have to be as dominating a force as we was last season.
“Hopefully, with a better defense, he won’t have to (improve upon last season’s stats),” said Stoops, whose defense yielded 28-plus points on six occasions, including 45 in a loss to Texas. “To me, just manage the game and make the smart plays, avoid turnovers. Hopefully, we can rely on the defense in certain situations. So it’s just about managing the game. That’s all we want him to do.”
That’s fine with Bradford, who is not too concerned about statistics and the Heisman hype that will follow him right into the Sooners’ September 5 opener against BYU in the Dallas Cowboys’ massive new facility in Arlington, Texas.
“I really try not to pay much attention at all,” said the QB of the Heisman chatter. “It is something I am not worried about at this moment. It is an individual award, but it’s given to a team, in my opinion.”
It is also the opinion of Stoops that playing a solid non-conference schedule is the way to go. The Sooners kickoff the season with the aforementioned BYU affair Labor Day weekend and also travel to Miami to do battle with what should be an improved Hurricanes squad on October 3. No matter how you slice and dice it, BYU and Miami is strong non-conference scheduling. That leads into a Big 12 slate that includes the annual battle with Texas looming on October 17 and trips to Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma State highlighting the season's second half.
"Joe Catiglione, our athletic director, and I have made a point to play a challenging non-conference schedule," said Stoops. "Once we got over the hump and won the national championship in 2000 and felt the program was back to where it should be, we felt we should play that type of schedule. If all things are equal, the BCS ramifications are there. Even though they have devalued the reason to play a difficult schedule -- you don't quite get the credit you used to -- it still matters to some degree."
Bottoming Out
Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman and his Aggies certainly aren’t concerned about title games and Heisman talk. Far from it. A&M pulled up the bottom of the Big 12 South in the preseason media poll for the first time. With heavyweights Oklahoma and Texas along with Oklahoma State and Texas Tech plus a very improved Baylor program also occupying the division, it is hard to imagine the Aggies doing much better than 4-8. Alas, it is that time of year when optimism is high and everybody is undefeated.
“I feel like we had a very profitable off-season,” said the former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Sherman, whose first season at College Station last year proved to be a rough transition from the Dennis Franchione era. “I think the biggest improvement I’ve seen is in the most important room on campus, our locker room. I see a greater chemistry, a brotherhood, a unity of being on a mission together. It’s a very difficult road we’re on right now. But we’ll be better than we were a year ago. I promise you that.”
On the Rise?
As with Texas A&M, Baylor must attempt its ascension against formidable South Division foes. Both programs finished 4-8 overall and 2-6 in conference play last season. Yet, they are so dissimilar at this stage in that there is a buzz surrounding the Bears. A lot of that has to with the scintillating play of quarterback Robert Griffin, who earned Freshmen All-American honors last year and has fans in Waco anxiously awaiting 2009. That’s saying something for a program that has not had a winning season since 1995, a year before the Big 12 was formed.
“Last season we lost a lot of close games and challenged teams people didn’t think we can challenge,” said Griffin. “Based on our talent and the confidence in our abilities, we know we can go out and win against anybody and win every game when we step on the field. We feel that we started to learn how to win.”
Texas-size Issues
Oklahoma State worked its way into the top 10 last season thanks to a 7-0 start. But the Cowboys finished a dismal 2-4, including yet another loss to Texas. The Pokes have lost the last two to the South Division rival Longhorns by a combined seven points. While that is certainly better than 71-14 (1996) and 55-16 (’03) blowouts, the fact is that OSU is 1-12 against UT since the formation of the Big 12 and 2-21 all time against the ‘Horns.
“We have had an opportunity to win, but we haven’t finished,” said OSU coach Mike Gundy of the last two outings. “You tell your team that if you keep pushing forward and you keep working hard and you keep preparing, the ball will bounce in our direction at some point.”
New Home
Those attending the Big 12 media session Tuesday were offered to opportunity to tour the new Cowboys Stadium, the world’s largest sporting venue and boasting a seven-and-a-half story tall scoreboard 90 feet above the playing surface. The faciltiy will host five college games this season. In addition to the Sept. 5 OU/BYU game, Texas A&M renews its rivalry with Arkansas on Oct. 3, Texas Tech and Baylor do battle Nov. 28 and the Big 12 championship is Dec. 5. The stadium will also host the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2.
Position questions throughout the conference
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