Stoops' strategy was effective
Coach's calls were conservative, but OU won the game

By Berry Tramel

Published: November 27, 2006

The ink on Oklahoma's Bedlam victory barely dried before the rants began from Sooner fans.

"Run-run-run-punt, then pray," one wrote.

"Bob Stoops has turned into Pat Jones," one said.

"Prevent offense," one offered.

"Living dangerously," one proclaimed.

Personally, I don't think prayer was in the OU playbook, but the rest of it I'd go along with. Stoops did put his offense in a deep freeze. Stoops did turn John Birch conservative. Stoops did go more vanilla than a Braum's dairy.

But we've overlooked one little piece of data. Stoops' strategy worked. And here's betting it's going to get the chance to work again, at least this season and maybe next.

OU beat Oklahoma State 27-21 Saturday despite throwing just one fourth-quarter pass, which made for nice symmetry, since the Sooners made just one fourth-quarter yard.

Stoops' command to offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson became obvious. Run clock. Milk the time. Shorten the game. Put OSU in desperation mode.

The critics are right when they say it almost didn't work. OSU trailed 27-14 but threw a completable pass into the end zone on the final play of the game that, if snared, would have derailed Sooner title hopes.

But "almost didn't" means "absolutely did." Let's review.

Stoops tried to run out the clock, and at the end of the game, OSU ran out of not downs, but time.

Stoops is a coach who plays to win. In the 2000 Big 12 title game, he ran a fourth-down option with Josh Heupel, who was not and never will be mistaken for Jamelle Holieway. In the 2003 Alabama game, up three points and in his own territory, Stoops called a fake punt. At Texas A&M three weeks ago, he rejected a punt on fourth-and-1 from his own 29-yard line, nursing a late 17-16 lead.

But sometimes, playing to win can mean going Pat Jones.

Here's what Stoops rode to the South Division title: 1) a defense that's getting stingier and stingier; 2) a running game that's looking more and more like Burlington Northern, with at least 224 yards on the ground in four of the last five games.

Give Stoops a 13-point lead Saturday night against Nebraska at Arrowhead Stadium, and he'd be a fool to do anything other than what he did against OSU. Give Stoops a 13-point lead on New Year's Night against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, and he'd be a fool to do anything other than send Allen Patrick or Chris Brown or even Adrian Peterson barreling into the line.

Truth is, what we've seen in recent weeks from the Sooners might be what we see even more of in 2007. The '07 Sooners are going to return most of this doberman defense and virtually all of this monster offensive line. But steady-not-spectacular quarterback Paul Thompson is gone, and who knows who will be the triggerman. Sounds like this autumn formula is OU's best script for next fall, too.

In four of the past five games, the Sooners' run-pass ratio is 3:1, including big wins at Kyle Field (12 passes) and Boone Pickens (11) in which Stoops took the air out of the ball. Only against Texas Tech, which did a decent job of stunting the OU running game, did Thompson throw as many as 20 passes or for as much as 200 yards.

What in the name of Woody Hayes is going on? Three things:

1. The running game has been terrific. "With the success we've had running the football, you get a feeling you're going to hit a crease like we have so many other times," Stoops said of his fourth-quarter dedication to the run.

2. The defense has been beyond terrific. "Sometimes I feed off the defense," Wilson said. "As a playcaller, there's a flow to the game."

3. The Sooners have a tendency to play loose with the ball. OU has committed more turnovers (28) than its foes (24). That's living dangerously.

The Sooners beat Tech despite four turnovers and Baylor despite five. Any high-risk thoughts Stoops might have entertained went out the door then. Thompson's 11 passes Saturday were all low-hazard. OU's most exotic play was a straight pitch to the tailback.

Stoops swears he hasn't gone sour on the passing game. Swears he still has confidence in Tall Paul.

"It gets down to what you need to do," Stoops said Sunday. "We were ready to throw it more if we needed to. If we feel the opportunity is there to throw, we're going to throw."

Don't count on it. What would make Stoops veer off this course? Playing in Kansas City, on a December night, against a team that gave up 267 yards rushing to OSU? Playing a team from the WAC, which never has been known for up-front muscle? Sounds like two straight run-the-ball gameplans.

Conservative? Yes. Effective? Yes.

OU had the ball three times in the fourth quarter against OSU and did squat, stat-wise. But the Sooners ran off 6:08 of the quarter's 15 minutes and made the Cowboys burn all their timeouts.

Heck, Stoops might not have been conservative enough. The one incompletion Thompson threw, with a little less than five minutes left, probably cost OU 25 seconds. Drain those ticks off the clock, and OSU quarterback Zac Robinson might not get the Cowboys close enough to throw into the end zone on the game's final play.

Milking clock is not popular. But it works.