MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Step aside, Ohio State. You're no longer the college football team nobody wants at their party.
The Oklahoma Sooners now are saddled with that dubious distinction, courtesy of the Florida Gators, who beat OU 24-14 Thursday night in a fair and square national-championship game at Dolphin Stadium.
Florida's Ahmad Black (35) intercepts a Sam Bradford pass intended for OU's Juaquin Iglesias (9) next to Major Wright (21) in the fourth quarter during the BCS National Championship college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the University of Florida Gators (UF) on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Florida Gators won, 24-14. PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
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The Sooners' bowl slump? Alive and well; five straight defeats in BCS games, three in crystal-trophy games.
The controversy with Texas? Resurrected. Maybe the Longhorns would have given the Gators a better game. Though OU played tough, it wilted in the end, just as it did that day in Dallas, when the Longhorns won the fourth quarter.
And the Sooners and their fans are stuck with a long winter, spring and summer — and heck, maybe the fall too and who knows how many autumns to come — of being the Atlanta Braves, a franchise that won one World Series and can't seem to win another.
“We didn't end up finishing like we talked about all week,” said OU defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who played magnificently. “We said that we had to finish, and we just didn't finish.”
This was a 14-14 game with 12 minutes left. In those final 12 minutes, OU had one first down, 21 total yards and zero points. The Gators had eight first downs, 183 yards and 10 points.
“It came down to who can win it in the fourth,” said Sooner linebacker Mike Balogun, who was OU's fourth option this year in the middle but actually played pretty well against Florida. “They made more plays than us and that's basically what it boils down to.”
Maybe Texas would have better represented the Big 12, though probably not, because this bowl season, capped by Florida's second-half surge in its downstate paradise, did nothing if not expose the Big 12 as a so-so league in 2008, despite its bevy of outrageous scoring and star quarterbacks.
The quarterback star Thursday night was Florida's Tim Tebow, not Slingin' Sammy Bradford. Tebow's arm wasn't all that much, which is why Bradford will make, by far, the better pro. But on the college gridiron, Tebow's unique blend of running prowess and grit is a tough out.
Play after play, Tebow carried the Gators. Dump passes after scrambles. Quarterback draws. Turn-it-up-inside options.
Give Tebow credit. He clearly won this duel of Heisman Trophy winners.
Bradford played OK but nothing special, if for no other reason than that glaring 14 points on the scoreboard. OU was mathematically eliminated early from extending its stunning five-game streak of at least 60 points.
Bradford's poor decision in the final 10 seconds of the first half let the Gators get to halftime tied 7-7 and set them up for second-half momentum. Bradford threw to Manny Johnson on a slant from the 6-yard line.
Not good. Even if Johnson had caught the ball, he might not have scored, particularly the way the Florida defensive backs bird-dogged OU receivers, and time would have run out, since the Sooners had burned all their clock stoppages.
The bounding ball hit Johnson and three Gators before settling into Major Wright's arms with three seconds left in the half.
Bad decisions didn't solely belong to Bradford.
The Sooners messed up an earlier red-zone possession. On third-and-goal from the Florida 1-yard line, big-time tailback Chris Brown failed to score, so the Sooners tried again on a stretch play, which is not quick-hitting. Better hit quick against the Gators; Brown was popped by Torrey Davis for a 2-yard loss.
More bad decisions came in the third quarter, when OU faced third-and-1 from the Florida 28-yard line. The Sooners tried the same stretch play, with the same result. Four-yard loss.
Then came a worse decision. Bob Stoops ordered a 49-yard field goal attempt on fourth-and-5. Jimmy Stevens, who has been inconsistent this season and has a long of 42 yards, drilled the kick into the Gator line.
And so it was simple why Florida won this game. It had four decent scoring chances, not counting a milk-the-clock possession to end the game. The Gators scored on all four.
The Sooners had five decent scoring chances. They scored on two.
Better score when you get a chance in the Big Bowl.
Despite the fourth-quarter stumbles, OU's defense played solid. This was an offensive defeat. Please, no more talk of greatest-offense ever.
Sure, it was a difficult environment. Dolphin Stadium was probably 2-to-1, Gator fans over OU fans, and the Floridians at times seemed to rival LSU's for obnoxiousness.
But they didn't turn Dolphin Stadium into Florida Field South.
“I didn't notice that at all,” Stoops said. “I don't think that was a big factor.”
The Sooners just got outplayed, pure and simple. They had a chance and didn't strike. They're now batting .250 in national championship games this decade, falling below Ohio State's .333, and who knows how long it will be before the Sooners return?
Berry Tramel: 405-760-8080. Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
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I was at the game, Before During & After, Florida Fans could only be compared to the Morons at Oakland. They didn't have anything to say about their team, but could only scream profanities at the top of their Drunken Lungs about OU and our Student Body. These were easily the most NO CLASS citizens I have ever had the misfortune to encounter during a College Football Game. When I left, some losers who didn't have tickets still had their trash across all lanes of exit row. They left me no choice but to run over their Gator Logo Chairs. Actually I kind of enjoyed it.
most of what berry says is true but ou didn't rank themselves no.2 the bcs,and voters did, texas,usc,utah may have gave fla a better game,comparing them to atlanta braves is way off, no one voted them
into the world series
Jeremy, you crack me up. You tell me what a crap conference the Pac 10 is, and in the same sentence tell me that Oregon beat Oklahoma State because is was a #2/#4 matchup. You can't have it both ways, if the Pac 10 is crap, then their #2 is crap. You easterners are a funny bunch. The Big 12 loses or almost loses all of their bowl games against teams that they were ranked higher than. The Pac 10 wins all of their bowl games against, except USC, teams that they were ranked lower than. Yet you can sit here and tell me that the Big 12 is an elite conference and the Pac 10 is crap. What a dork.
Okiechokie. Not defending our comical bowl record (although, OU did lose to the NC's, and TX Tech lost to Ole Miss who beat UF at UF and LSU at LSU). There really isn't much to applaud in the Big XII, but I wouldn't rank us below the Big East or the ACC, or the Pac-10 for that matter.
Poor Jeremy bitter because the Big 12 "significant victories" came over Ohio State, Clemson, Minnesota, and Northwestern. By your argument the Big 12's bowl record of 4-3 isn't significant either. Other than pointing out just how overrated the Big 12 was.
Okiechokie, Chokelahoma City - Jan 10, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Dana from Tacoma. There is ONE good team in your conference. So what, USC beat a mediocre Big Ten team and Oregon (your number two team) beat an OK Okie State team(Big XII number four). Cal barely beat Miami. Seriously, there could not have been more than a few hundred people who watched Oregon State play Pitt. The Pac-10's perfect bowl record really doesn't mean anything significant. It certainly doesn't rank them above the Big XII.
Keith, I don't know why you're obsessed with middle eastern wars. I'll win the one here, and if you're on the other side, too bad. Now, getting to football, the Big 12 is a sub-par conference, and showed it off this bowl season. Those of us that think that the Big 12 are par to the Big East and ACC were not proven otherwise. Oklahoma would have been about mid conference in the Pac 10.
ND has a better chance next year of making it into a BCS bowl and winning it than Chokelahoma. 6.1 Million dollars that is a lot of wasted money!!!!!!!
But hey OU buy a piece of history in 2008 it cost the entire school 6.1,million
ND has a better chance next year of making it into a BCS bowl and winning it than Chokelahoma. 6.1 Million dollars that is a lot of wasted money!!!!!!!
But hey OU buy a piece of history in 2008 it cost the entire school 6.1,million
Matt,
I like your comments since they are the FACTS and OU will wake up tomorrow and still be losers and known as Chokelahoma and Bob Stoops a 6.1 million dollar mistake and LOSER!!!!!!
Hook'em Horns
Matt,
I like your comments since they are the FACTS and OU will wake up tomorrow and still be losers and known as Chokelahoma and Bob Stoops a 6.1 million dollar mistake and LOSER!!!!!!
Hook'em Horns
3 Million dollar mistake!! BOB STOOPS his coaching skills aren't as good as they are in the regular season against good teams. He lost to Texas this year and was beaten again in the BCS game. Boise, Florida, Texas and let's not forget USC. Stoops' performance at Oklahoma has made him the frequent subject of head coach searches by several NFL teams as well as other college programs, which he has repeatedly turned away. He was reportedly the top-paid coach in Division 1-A football with annual compensation in excess of $3 million until Nick Saban was signed by the University of Alabama for $4 million per year beginning in 2007. However, Stoops will receive a "longevity bonus" of $3,000,000 at the end of the 2008 season (his 10th), making his annual salary in 2008 3 Million dollar mistake!! I don't know much about anything but I do know that is one EXPENSIVE mistake. Eventually the boosters, alumni and administration are going to want something like a BCS title for approx. $6,100,000.00. Chokelahoma and Bob Stoops can be known as the 6.1 Million dollar losers and ask the government for a bailout too on their loses. Hook'em Horns and be a man and comment on this one Chokelahoma!!!!!!
If you want to follow Matt's logic, just ignore choking away your last 5 bowl games.
Just ignore that your coach is an arrogant ass!
Just ignore that Boise State Loss and the West Virginia Loss, and the USC beat down, the LSU Beat Down....especailly ignore those silly little losses to Texas...
Just ignore the jobless rate!
Just ignore the credit crisis!
Just ignore your taxes?
its 6:49 pm CST boys and girls and guess what? OU still Sucks!
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into the world series
Please keep Big Game Bob, I've done well in Vegas fading him in big games.
Death, Taxes, and Big Game Bob losing a BCS Bowl Game.
But hey OU buy a piece of history in 2008 it cost the entire school 6.1,million
But hey OU buy a piece of history in 2008 it cost the entire school 6.1,million
I like your comments since they are the FACTS and OU will wake up tomorrow and still be losers and known as Chokelahoma and Bob Stoops a 6.1 million dollar mistake and LOSER!!!!!!
Hook'em Horns
I like your comments since they are the FACTS and OU will wake up tomorrow and still be losers and known as Chokelahoma and Bob Stoops a 6.1 million dollar mistake and LOSER!!!!!!
Hook'em Horns
Question? If you ignored the two times OU was 1st and goal and didn't score, does that mean OU still didn't score?
6:51 pm CST and OU still sucks!
If you want to follow Matt's logic, just ignore choking away your last 5 bowl games.
Just ignore that your coach is an arrogant ass!
Just ignore that Boise State Loss and the West Virginia Loss, and the USC beat down, the LSU Beat Down....especailly ignore those silly little losses to Texas...
Just ignore the jobless rate!
Just ignore the credit crisis!
Just ignore your taxes?
its 6:49 pm CST boys and girls and guess what? OU still Sucks!
I'm ignoring your comments.... but I wanted to remind you
its 6:43 pm CST and OU still Sucks!
its 6:30 pm CST and OU Still sucks!
Hi Bob, welcome to the group!