By MICHAEL PETERS Sports Editor on Jan 5, 2013, at 2:08 AM Updated on 1/05 at 3:55 PM
THE EDITOR'S DESK
Sports teams throughout the Tulsa area are finding ways big and small to help the Moore tornado relief effort.
John ...
Oklahoma City made its last stand Monday night.
But as is often the case with last stands, this one proved futile.
What ...
This time last year, we were planning a trip to Illinois to write a story about new Oklahoma State starting quarterback Wes ...
For Oklahoma fans who haven't seen Texas A&M play this season, that might have been the Aggies' best performance.
It was likely A&M's best second-half effort and its best defensive game against an elite opponent. And, oh by the way, Johnny Manziel is pretty good.
But such is the state of Sooners football these days -- the best you can do is thank goodness for moral victories.
The good news in this 2012 season -- such as it is -- is that Oklahoma's three losses were to teams that entered bowl season ranked first, fifth and ninth. The bad news -- the Sooners lost to the best three teams they played, two of those games were at home, and two weren't very close.
Less than 17 months since starting the 2011 season ranked No. 1, OU has rarely seemed farther from being a national title contender than it was Friday night.
The Cotton Bowl ended a five-game stretch where OU allowed less than 34 points only once. And while Friday was the only loss in that stretch, each defensive performance seemed even more embarrassing than the next.
The final blow -- allowing Manziel a signature Heisman moment in front of a nationally-televised audience.
It looked for a while that the return of Mike Stoops and his simplified approach had solved some of Oklahoma's defensive woes.
But by the end of the season, the Sooners' defense looked outmanned, out of position and out of ideas.
Bob Stoops said after Friday's game he believes this 10-win team is better than last season's. I agree with that assessment. But despite this year's back door co-Big 12 championship, these Sooners are still lacking.
And you have to wonder how far away OU really is.
The Sooners return eight starters on offense, plenty of weapons to help Blake Bell take over as starting quarterback from Landry Jones.
Jones was admirable in defeat Friday, but was clearly the second-best college quarterback on the field at Cowboys Stadium.
Then there is the defense, which already lacks talent, doesn't have a lot of help on the way and loses five seniors.
So where do the Sooners go from here? They need to hit the recruiting trail hard and redouble their efforts as a defensive coaching staff.
OU certainly took a step forward in 2012, but another national championship hasn't gotten any closer.
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