Three weeks after the thrashing in Arizona, mystery still shrouds Oklahoma football's newfound bowl malaise.
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How did the Sooners become such January weaklings? Four straight BCS defeats, interrupted only by a Holiday Bowl escape, have raised such questions.
Poor preparation? Over-rated to begin with? Foes too tough? Outcoached? Lack of motivation?
The answer eludes all searchers, hidden in parts of all the above. The plague will dog Bob Stoops until he does something about it. Like wins.
Stoops last week again admitted no clue on a diagnosis. Said he had chatted with Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, whose Buckeyes have been blown out in consecutive national-title games. Tressel told Stoops that Ohio State made wholesale changes in prep work for this Big Bowl compared to last year's. To no avail.
Bowls are funny business. Week-long road trips. Played sometimes six weeks since the most recent game. Usually against unfamiliar foes.
Peculiar situation, and Stoops will carry the burden until the Sooners win a big bowl.
But Stoops can find solace in this: He's not alone. Many a memorable football coach has slumped in bowls.
Georgia legend Vince Dooley lost four straight bowls, including a Cotton and Sugar, from 1974-78. He ended the streak by beating Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl for the 1980 national title.
Jackie Sherrill lost four straight at Mississippi State, Doug Dickey four straight at Florida and Charley McClendon lost four straight at LSU.
John Cooper lost four straight at Ohio State, Mike Bellotti four straight at Oregon and Lloyd Carr four straight at Michigan, including three Rose Bowls.
George Welsh, in the shadows at Navy and Virginia but one of the great coaches of the last 50 years, had two four-bowl losing streaks. But West Virginia's Don Nehlen trumped that, with an eight-bowl losing streak.
Some old Sooner enemies had their bowl troubles. Fred Akers lost four straight bowls at Texas, Bill McCartney lost his first four bowls with Colorado and Texas A&M'sR.C. Slocum went 1-7 in bowls from 1991-00, including four Cotton losses and one Sugar.
A day after West Virginia routed OU, Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer joined Stoops in losing four straight BCS game, though Beamer's four defeats date back to the 1996 Orange Bowl.
But those are just stumbles. Mere oddities in the small sample of bowl games.
Three coaches were masters at bowl bungling. Three coaches were so hapless in bowl stretches, they make Bob Stoops look like Mister January.
Bear Bryant already was an Alabama legend in 1967, with a 5-2-1 bowl record and three national titles. The Crimson Tide lost 20-16 to Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
No big deal. Then came a Gator Bowl loss to Missouri. And a Liberty Bowl loss to Colorado. Finally, a 24-24 Bluebonnet Bowl tie with Oklahoma's wishbone.
Bryant was so taken with that OU offense, and so looking to change up Bama's fortunes, he adopted the ‘bone himself.
The wishbone got Alabama to the Orange Bowl and a national-title shootout with Nebraska. The Huskers won 38-6. Then came a Cotton Bowl loss to Texas, a Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame for the national title and an Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame.
Eight years, 0-7-1 bowl record, including 0-5 in major bowls.
Then, the Bear turned it around. His final eight bowls: 7-1, with two national titles and 5-1 in major bowls.
Schembechler's bowl slump was worse: 0-7 from 1969 through 1978. Michigan was 0-5 in the Rose Bowl, 0-1 in the Orange (losing to OU) and 0-1 in the Gator.
Here's the killer on Schembechler. No blowouts. Average margin of defeat in those seven bowl losses: 4.7 points. Largest margin of defeat: 14-6, to OU in the Orange and USC in the Rose.
On New Year's 1981, Michigan beat Washington 23-6 in the Rose Bowl, and Schembechler returned to normalcy. He became what most coaches will become if given enough time: .500 in bowls. Schembechler was 5-5 in his last 10 bowls.
But while Schembechler remained revered in Michigan and Bryant worshipped in Alabama, another coach's bowl disasters were not so easily forgiven.
In seven straight seasons, 1987 through 1993, Nebraska lost a bowl game. A Fiesta, an Orange, another Fiesta, a Citrus then three straight Oranges.
And Tom Osborne's defeats weren't all that competitive. Losses by 20, 24, 24, 22 and 13 points.
Osborne was the coach who couldn't win the big one. An 8-13 bowl record. No national championships. A good coach, they said, not great.
But the seventh of those seven straight bowl losses was a thriller, an 18-16 loss to Florida State in the 1994 Orange Bowl.
Osborne coached only four more seasons. In those years his teams went 60-2 and won three national titles. The Huskers were 4-0 in bowls, winning 24-17, 62-24, 41-21 and 42-17.
Nebraska went from wretched in bowl games to regal. From woeful to epic.
Better players? Sure. Better coaching? Maybe. Easier teams? No way.
Who can explain it? Bowls produce strange streaks. Some are unflattering. If Bob Stoops wants to get high on that list, he's got some work to do.
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Let's see. Unfounded rumor. Finger pointing. OSU and other trolls. Blaming a weight coach.Claiming players don't play hard if it isn't the National Title Game. People that play grammar, spelling and punctuation police. The monster of jealousy. Yep. It’s the off season and we talk about “Don’t mean nothing. Not a thing” articles by Barely Legitimate Tramel. When the heck is kick off????
hmm - heres one where you could have gone negative (like you would have with ostate)- but you decide to compare stoops to dooley - bear bryant - schembechler etc. You cannot tell me you guys are not the biggest sooner sunshine pushers around
The hardest thing to acept is, truth hurts. When you run around every year beating you chest yammering the Sooner mating call "we won the mighty big xii" only to have reality slap you in the face by being whipped by the pac 10 / sec / or the wac champs. Ouch that has to sting a little. I think it all starts by the consistant over rating. This year for instance, who else gets a top 3 pre-season ranking when nobody even knows who the QB is. This helps bolster the BSC rankings through the year, but just like American Idol when those sad parents tell the kids that couldn't carry a tune in a bucket how wonderful they are, it leads to humiliation on national TV. Even the players fall victom. All I heard about was the mighty Lardhold, man this guy can sure push people around and he's even better at holding,but he looks about as graceful Walrus if he has to back up and stay with an end on a speed rush. That's another thing, I thought the Sooners had the lock on speed since the early 70's. That's another sorry excuse. Last time I looked that fullback they couldn't keep up with ws about 240 lbs and ran about a 5 sec 40. I think the Stooper could have caught him from behind.The safety must have got dirt kicked in his eye.Yeah I guess the Sooners are still the bully at the nursery, just to go out and get slapped around by their little sister when they get home. Well next year I'm sure Stoops will pry their tail out from between their legs and they 'll be ranked top 3 prior to the season again, them who know maybe they fall victom to ,... Hawaii.
I agree with M from okc. I will take stoops and his staff over anyone. 5 of 6 big 12 1 national. I have been an OU fan for 35 years. seems weird saying that long. since I was just a baby. Keep on winning, keep on playing the bowl thing will change. Can't win them all so I am glad we win the ones that count.
I am a long time Sooner Club member and ticket holder, losing is not so bad but not being competitive while losing is. Of the 4 losses only the game with LSU was a competitive one. It appears the players have a tendency to read too much about how good they are and are not prepared to compete when game time comes around.
I'll take it every year. Big XII champs and take on the best of the best in the BCS. Longhorns, Raiders, Aggies, and Cowboys have fun at your second-class, pathetic, low tier bowls. You don't like OU's performance in the BCS, rise up and take their crown. Say what you want, Stoop's program is currently dominating you're team and it's not even close!
Sorry Howard. Do your homework. Feretz at Iowa w/incentives is at 4.6 mil, Saban is at 4 mil. Miles makes as much as Stoops, Carroll 2.9. If 2.9 is "not even close" to Stoops' 3.45, then my mistake. What's a couple hundred thou when you're talking 4 mil. Yes, we all want Bob to "earn" it and win a NC. Easier said than done.
Just gives the daily wipe something to write about! Young men who want a million dollar payout now instead of later? Gee, they are definately different than every kid I know! (tounge in check) Guess the daily ran out of chicken stories and so they recycle stories from a month ago. That's why I read this junk online and save the money for the subscription....
Hey, you jug heads. There are alot of teams that would like to win the Big 12 every year and get into a multi-million dollar payout, win or lose. Bob will get it going and you all will be only to happy to say "remember when". Once again Sooner Fans = Spoiled Fans.....
Your comments are insulting to the coaches and players at OU. You are suggesting that they would take the field and not really care whether they win or lose just because the game is not for the national championship. How ridiculous.
Your comments are insulting to the coaches and players at OU. You are suggesting that they would take the field and not really care whether they win or lose just because the game is not for the national championship. How ridiculous.
Regardless, losing Smith and Lofton to the NFL when it is pretty clear they would have benefitted, both experience-wise and financially, from staying their Senior seasons, is troubling. Something is not quite right. Its one thing when AD left for a certain Top 12 NFL selection, its another when guys are bailing with only the prospect of a Round 2 selection, and maybe lower than that.
Stoops is a GREAT coach and we are lucky to have him. That said, he also gets paid $3 million per year, so if he loses 4 BCS games in a row, he's fair game for criticism. Bob is a big boy and he understands this is the bargain he's made: lots of money and fair game for criticism from knuckleheads.
James, Chandler, I planned on answering you, but couldn't get my tongue out of my cheek. Last time I looked, the only coach paid better than Stoops was Miles. None of the others you mentioned come close. I would like to see him EARN his money. I think the Sooners had better personel than the teams who beat us in the bowl games, with the exception of USC. That goes back to coaching. In Oklahoma, where we have a whole state recruiting for us we'll always have the people. The coach should do his job too.
Are u friggin kidding me? I hope that was meant as sarcasm... All the higher tiered coaches are making millions; Carroll, Miles, Tressel, Spurrier, Mack Brown. Stoops isn't the only 2-3 million dollar coach.
Yeah, others have stumbled, but how many of the other coaches are either the number 1 or 2 highest paid coach in America? Stoops isn't earning the kind of money Oklahoma's paying him.
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Your comments are insulting to the coaches and players at OU. You are suggesting that they would take the field and not really care whether they win or lose just because the game is not for the national championship. How ridiculous.
Your comments are insulting to the coaches and players at OU. You are suggesting that they would take the field and not really care whether they win or lose just because the game is not for the national championship. How ridiculous.