Tech pregame: Stoops is perfect (or should be) following A&M week
Published: 11/21/2009 11:16 AM
Last Modified: 11/21/2009 11:16 AM
CLUBBOCK, Texas — We're an hour from kickoff at Jones Stadium, and like some kind of football psychic medium, I've gotten a vibe.
I've already predicted in your printed edition of the Tulsa World that Oklahoma will lose to Texas Tech today. I picked a one-point Sooner loss. Just trying to stay with the trends, you know.
Then this strange feeling came over me that Oklahoma would win. Here's why I think that.
They played Texas A&M last week.
That in itself isn't enough to send OU to victory on the thin-crust plains of West Texas. The Sooners, as everyone knows, have had some kind of voodoo hex working against them their last two trips here.
But in the context of Bob Stoops' tenure as head coach at OU, beating Texas A&M usually portends good things to come. Stoops is now 9-1 in games immediately after playing the Aggies, with the only loss a controversial setback in 2005. It's not quite as good as being 11-0 the week after playing Texas, but it's pretty good.
Here's a recap:
* 1999: The Sooners had started fast in Stoops' first year, and did so against Notre Dame and Texas. But losing both games sent a shiver of doubt that the 3-0 start might be a mirage. But the next game, a home affair against No. 13 A&M, was a 51-6 Sooner blowout and showed that good times were, indeed, on the way. OU did lose three more games away from home that season, but still, pounding the Aggies into the Owen Field turf like a big maroon tent stake served notice of things to come.
* 2000: OU rolled back to national powerhouse prominence with a stunningly good Red October run against Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska. But the national championship season could never have happened if not for a dramatic, 35-31, come-from-behind victory in College Station. Sooner fans are still celebrating Torrance Marshall's interception return.
* 2001: After losing at Nebraska, the Sooners were working their way back into the national championship picture, in part thanks to 31-10 win over the Aggies. A week later, OU routed Tech 30-13. Of course, things unraveled two weeks later against Oklahoma State.
* 2002: No. 1-ranked OU was stunned at A&M. But the Sooners did bounce back with a 49-9 route at Baylor the following week.
* 2003: Think about it. If the Sooners hadn't pulverized the Aggies 77-0, they probably wouldn't have survived losing to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game to get to the Sugar Bowl. The next week was a 41-3 win over Baylor.
* 2004: Another trip to College Station, another close call. Jason White skipped practice to attend his grandfather's funeral, then rallied the Sooners from behind with five touchdown passes against the No. 2-ranked Aggies. That 42-35 decision was the closest game OU played in November or December. A week later, OU hammered Nebraska 30-3.
* 2005: The Sooners got out to a quick lead, but were shaken by an Aggies rally. Still, OU held on to win 36-30. That was the fourth game of what should have been a seven-game winning streak to end the season. Instead, a week later, a peculiarly Texas-based Big 12 officiating crew and its witness-protection-program replay official stole a 23-21 win for the Red Raiders. Technically, this is the only time under Stoops that the Sooners have lost the week after playing A&M, though Sooner fans know that Taurean Henderson still hasn't crossed the goal line.
* 2006: OU led the Aggies 17-0 and had to hold off another rally, this time 17-16 in College Station. The Sooners — reeled in another controversial loss at Oregon, and rocked by a 28-10 setback to Texas — won their last seven games, including 34-24 over Tech the next week in Norman, to overtake the 'Horns for the Big 12 South, then beat Nebraska to win the conference.
* 2007: Routing A&M at home was a simple matter of 42-14. The following week was a win over Baylor, another snoozer. Then came another trip to Tech, wherein Allen Patrick inexplicably fumbled and Duke Robinson fell on Sam Bradford. Red Raiders win 34-27.
* 2008: After another loss to Texas, OU needed to make up some ground. It did by scoring 60 points or more in its final five games, including a 66-28 victory in College Station. That was the second of the 60-pointers, and winning so convincingly on the road gave the Sooners confidence to finish on a surge and overtake the Longhorns. The week after drubbing A&M, OU mashed the No. 1-ranked Red Raiders 65-21 in Norman. That, and a 61-41 win in Stillwater, pushed OU past Texas.
* 2009: Oklahoma crushed the Aggies 65-10 last week. There will be no overtaking Texas this time, and certainly no Big 12 or national title game appearances. But beating A&M so soundly last week, playing so flawlessly — in stretches — may be just what this young, unsteady team needs to know it can play at a high level, even in challenging road venues.
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
