NORMAN — Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson just couldn't get his team in the end zone. Midway through Saturday's second quarter, three touchdowns had been scored in the Red-White game, all by defensive players off interceptions.
That's when Shae Farmer stepped in.
Farmer is the Carrollton, Ga., resident who won an auction to call four plays during Saturday's scrimmage. He didn't know exactly what play he wanted to call, but Farmer knew he wanted tight end Jermaine Gresham going deep.
So the call came down from the coaches' box for a play-action pass. Quarterback Sam Bradford laid the ball out perfectly for Gresham to run under it and the tight end beat two defenders to the goal line for the first offensive touchdown of the game.
In fact, it was the only offensive touchdown until a pair of scores in the final three minutes of the game.
"I told him he was the one who called those five interceptions earlier in the game,” Wilson cracked.
More amazing than his touchdown play call was the fact that Farmer was in Oklahoma at all Saturday. A lifelong Sooner fan, he had never been to Oklahoma. His OU passion began with his great-grandfather, John, who was from Muldrow. But he moved his family to Georgia, where he continued to cultivate his love of Sooner football.
Farmer and his wife, Kimberly, had no interest in attending Saturday's game, though they planned to come to Norman at some point, maybe this fall.
After hearing about the SoonerSports.com auction, the two decided to post a bid, joking with each other about how funny it would be if they won. And they did.
But the $2,900 he paid to call four plays was only part of the battle. They still had to get to Oklahoma, a 13-hour drive from their Georgia home.
"I crossed into Oklahoma state lines for the first time (Friday),” Farmer said. "This stadium is gorgeous. It's unreal. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to even get over here and see something like this. You see it on TV, then you get here and it's everything you thought it could be.
"It's well worth it.”
As he saw his play call developing on the field, with Gresham running open down the hashmarks, Framer couldn't control his emotion.
"I knew he was wide-open. I stood up and yelled, ‘Please catch it! Catch it and score!'” Farmer said. "It was just great.”
