Berry Tramel, Sports columnist
No Sam, no Big 12 title, no more magic
Wounded Sooners McCoy’s tackle puts a big dent in OU’s season
By Berry Tramel
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88
Published: October 18, 2009
DALLAS — Brian Jackson snared the interception at his 9-yard line and saw 91 yards of open range.
OU’s Brian Jackson, top, is tripped up by Texas QB Colt McCoy after intercepting a McCoy pass in the fourth quarter. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
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A defensive touchdown, the only possible way the
Sooners could win this kooky game, suddenly seemed possible.
On the other side of the field,
Jeremy Beal saw Jackson jump the pass route and dared to believe that his buddy was about to make one of the biggest plays in OU-
Texas history.
"Hey,” Beal thought, "we’re taking that thing to the house.”
But no. Texas quarterback
Colt McCoy, mad that his receiver had cut behind Jackson, mad that Jackson had grabbed the ball, mad that the Sooner defense was about to ruin his day after already dashing his
Heisman Trophy hopes, didn’t sulk.
That’s how ballgames are won.
McCoy sprinted to the sideline, dove at Jackson’s legs and upended the Sooner cornerback at the 30-yard line.
OU was 70 yards away from victory, which on this afternoon meant the Sooners were at least 350 days away from beating the Longhorns. Seventy might as well have been 700.
Texas beat OU 16-13 Saturday in a game the Sooner defense was going to have to win on its own and darn near did.
The Oklahoma D was sensational. Played about as good as any
Bob Stoops defense ever has. The Sooners turned high-scoring Texas into an offense clawing for table scraps.
Bumfuzzled McCoy and his army of receivers.
Six times the Longhorns took over in OU territory. They got two field goals out of those locations. McCoy called the Sooner defense the nation’s best, and maybe it is.
But on a day when another shoulder injury almost surely ended
Sam Bradford’s college career, OU couldn’t take advantage of such defensive prowess.
The Sooner offense, which has been playing on fumes and the delicate hope of Bradford’s health, went splat. After the Sooners forged a 13-13 tie on
Landry Jones’ 35-yard touchdown pass to
Ryan Broyles with 4:39 left in the third quarter, OU never reached Texas territory again.
Jones threw two fourth-quarter interceptions and muffed a handoff with
DeMarco Murray in the second quarter, accounting for three of OU’s five turnovers.
Would Bradford have made the three-point difference? Of course, just like he would have against
Brigham Young and
Miami. But the time has passed for what-ifs.
These fife-and-bugle Sooners
are the 2009 Sooners. No Bradford, no
Jermaine Gresham and no telling who’s next.
Which means defense has to carry Oklahoma to however it can salvage the rest of the season and had to carry the Sooners on Saturday.
Which brings us back to Jackson.
Torrance Marshall once saved a Sooner season by evading tacklers after an interception.
But in case you haven’t noticed, Sooner Magic has left the building. McCoy desperately derailed Jackson’s hero jaunt with 6:03 left in the game, Jones threw an interception six plays later and OU never got the ball back.
"I knew I had to go make a play,” McCoy said. "I was frustrated. I was mad.”
McCoy once was a safety in high school days in Tuscola, Texas. He’s beaten the Sooners with his passing and running. No reason to be surprised he beat the Sooners with his tackling.
"I was looking in the end zone ... saw a chance to score ... and I kind of saw him out of my peripheral,” Jackson said of McCoy. "He’s an athlete. Not many quarterbacks in the nation can run like he did.”
And across the field, Beal’s hopes were dashed.
"I thought he was going to make McCoy miss,” Beal said. "Colt made a hell of a tackle on BJ. Saved the game for ‘em.”
Now the 3-3 Sooners have to try to save a season that is void of Sam Bradford, void of legitimate
Big 12 title hopes and most definitely void of Sooner Magic.
Berry Tramel: 405-760-8080; Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
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Oh and Jim (from Wichita), Gresham and Bradford can't do much if the o-line never bothers to block people. At least Gresham was smart enough to have surgery. I admire Sam's competitive nature, but its obvious now that he needed surgery from the get-go.
And Tim from Yukon, I don't know if you realize this but Bradford is far less mobile than Jones. Had he stayed in it would have been far from a "guaranteed win" without the scrambling ability to stay alive that Jones displayed. Bradford met turf three times in only 8 plays, a far worse ratio than Jones. Landry is actually a pretty good quarterback... Here is to three more years of him losing to Texas!