Surprised by OU's loss, and by what OU's coach said afterward
Published: 11/20/2011 10:53 PM
Last Modified: 11/20/2011 10:53 PM
When Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech Oct. 22, Bob Stoops was an angry football coach.
He didn't rip one of his players, didn't stomp around the interview room looking for a trash can to kick. But you knew within 10 seconds of his postgame media session that he was seething.
Saturday night at Baylor, the Sooners fell again. They blew both a game they were expected to win, handily, and a shot at a national championship (even if that chance had diminished since the Tech loss).
This time, when Stoops reported for postgame questions, the tone was very different.
It was also very puzzling.
Bob Barry Jr. of KFOR TV in Oklahoma City asked Stoops if he was stunned that the preseason No. 1 team in the country now had two losses.
"No," the coach replied.
No?
"It's difficult to go through the year. You look around the country, there aren't many teams that are undefeated," Stoops continued. "Every week, you can be beaten. Baylor played an excellent game and did that tonight."
It was a completely fair point.
It was also worth recalling, however, that Stoops' expectations heading into this season were higher than most everybody else's. Thus his early August assertion "it's about time" OU won a national title.
More specific to OU's 45-38 loss Saturday night, I also found it strange that, when asked about his defense's effort against Robert Griffin, Stoops said: "Really, I thought, until the last drive we did do a really good job. The last drive is what counts, and we didn't do it."
Before that last drive, Griffin had thrown for 433 yards and 3 touchdowns. Baylor had scored 38 points.
As marvelous a player Griffin is and as astounding as his performance Saturday was, if Stoops truly believes his defense did a "really good job" most of the game, OU's defensive standards have plummeted. Don't know how else to say it.
Many have piled on to Stoops' decision to call time out with 46 seconds left in regulation, awarding Baylor the opportunity to reconsider its strategy, affording Griffin the chance to be a hero. I'm not going there so quickly.
More mysterious to me isn't what Stoops did during the course of the game. Rather, it's what he said afterward.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
