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Gameday Instant Analysis: An historic Bedlam and TU's tumble
Published: 11/25/2012 1:52 AM
Last Modified: 11/25/2012 1:52 AM

I'm always struck by the fine line between winning and losing.

If Oklahoma State stops Blake Bell on fourth down or generates a little more offense in overtime, we're talking about how the Cowboys are narrowing the gap with Oklahoma for state football dominance.

Instead, Sooners fans are prepping for another BCS bowl and planning statues in honor of Landry Jones.

The 2012 edition of Bedlam was fantastic theater for a neutral observer. The first overtime game in series history didn't disappoint -- unless of course you're an OSU fan.

So here's what we learned from another fun weekend of college football.

1. Landry Jones cost himself a lot of money, but finally earned the respect of OU's fan base
By most accounts, Landry Jones would have been a first-round pick in a quarterback-hungry NFL draft had he left OU after last season.

These days, NFL draft experts consider Jones a second- or third-round selection. The quarterback likely did considerable damage to his wallet. But in the process, Jones finally earned the respect of the Oklahoma fan base. Back-to-back fourth quarter comebacks and back-to-back 500-yard passing games may allow Jones to add one more important designation to his name -- fan favorite.

Jones threw a terrible interception early in the game Saturday, but rebounded by setting OU records for passes attempted and completed. It had to be especially satisfying for Jones, who truly looked out of his league in last year's Bedlam game.

Never has a quarterback been so decorated, yet so maligned. But finally Jones seems to be winning over the fans the way he has the record books.

2. Should OU fans care what it looks like as long as the Sooners win?
I've been pretty surprised how much the OU defense has struggled the last three weeks. A week after giving up a school-record number of yards to West Virginia, OU was gashed for nearly 500 more by Oklahoma State.

Teams run at will on OU -- OSU's Joseph Randle became the latest with 113 yards and four TDs. But they say winning cures everything, and that may be the case for the Sooners. Still, it looks like the new Mike Stoops era at defensive coordinator is a work in progress. And the next level of progress may only occur on the recruiting trail.

3. Should OSU fans feel good about the progress their team has made?
"The Cowboys are oh so close."

It's a theme you'll see some in Sunday's edition of the Tulsa World.

So OSU fans, at what point is being close not good enough? I've said several times this season -- the current edition of the Cowboys is better than I expected it would be. Throw in the revolving door at quarterback, and Mike Gundy deserves a lot of credit for keeping this team together.

But if OSU wants to make Bedlam a truly competitive rivalry, it's going to have to start winning these kinds of games and stringing series victories together. Next year's game in Stillwater figures to be an important one for the Cowboys if they want to maintain the program's momentum.

4. Can OU and OSU avoid a Bedlam hangover?
Rivalry games can take a lot of out of a team, especially games as hotly contested as the 2012 version of Bedlam.

But both OU and OSU still have to play Big 12 opponents next week. Avoiding a letdown will be key. Losses would take the Sooners out of BCS bowl consideration and turn a promising Cowboys season into a disappointment.

With that in mind, here are a couple of figures to ponder:

* 8-0: That's Bob Stoops record as OU coach when the Sooners have played a game the week immediately following Bedlam.

* 10: That's consecutive losses by OSU in games played the week immediately after Bedlam. That streak stretches to 1990.

5. The TU football team didn't do its marketing department any favors Saturday
When you're trying to drum up support for next week's Conference USA championship game among a lukewarm fan base, the last thing you need is the performance Tulsa threw out Saturday.

Through three quarters, I may have never seen a poorer effort from a championship-caliber team.

The Hurricane made a nice comeback, but it was eventually doomed by the kind of mistakes that had this team living on the edge much of the Conference USA season.

Bill Blankenship has done a nice job of rallying his team from difficult losses this season, so I feel like you'll see a much better effort from Tulsa on Saturday against Central Florida in the C-USA title game.

But there's little question this weekend's trip to SMU was the most disappointing loss so far of the Blankenship era.

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amron warrior (3 months ago)

TU has been living on the edge all year, frequently tempting the football gods. How can it pile up such an impressive record without a good, reliable quarterback, with a black hole at kicker, and with a predictable, unimaginative offense which so frequently can be easily defended by a motivated team with good personnel?

And the shame of it all is that the Hurricane has so many gifted players. Can you imagine how great this team could have been with David Johnson or Paul Smith at QB, and Jarod Tracy or Kevin Fitzpatrick as kickers?

Let's hope TU does well in its next two games.

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Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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