Tulsa World: Miscues Dictate OU's 'What If...'

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Miscues Dictate OU's `What If...'

By Dan O'Kane
Published: 11/26/1995
Last Modified: 2/27/2007 8:12 AM

As Howard Schnellenberger was leaving the field at Nebraska's
Memorial Stadium after Oklahoma's 37-0 loss to the top-ranked
Cornhuskers, a tortilla chip thrown from the stands hit the Sooner
coach in the face.
Talk about rubbing his nose in it.
The Sooners finished their first season with Schnellenberger
5-5-1 overall and 2-5 in the Big Eight. They endured their first
losing conference season since 1965 and had to rally against
Missouri and Iowa State to avoid going winless in the league.
Meanwhile, Nebraska went 11-0 for its third consecutive perfect regular
season and will play for the national championship in the Tostitos Fiesta
Bowl.
Despite the obvious differences of the two programs, Schnellenberger
thinks the two teams are closer than the final score indicates.
The biggest difference is that one team avoids mistakes while
the other makes them about as often as Frito-Lay makes chips.
Schnellenberger knows it's part of the game, but he would love
to have seen what would've happened had the Sooners avoided a
turnover against Nebraska.
Two of OU's three turnovers were returned for touchdowns.
``The two teams that played out there today are a lot closer
than 37 points apart,'' the Oklahoma coach said. ``I would like to
see these two teams play with us taking out all of our giveaways.''
For the year, the Sooners committed 29 turnovers. Actually,
that is one less than last year's 30.
The turnovers this year, however, were more costly.
Factoring blocked punts into the turnover equation, 137 of the
275 points the Sooners gave up this year followed a turnover.
Seven times this year they gave up double-digit points off
turnovers. The season highs were against Kansas and Kansas State,
yielding 21 points in each game.
``If you don't turn the ball over, you can win every game,''
senior quarterback Garrick McGee said. `` We turned it over and you
can't beat teams turning the ball over like we have.''
When it isn't a turnover, the Sooners' offense buried itself
by committing penalties. The bulk of OU's 102 penalties for 876
yards was against the offense.
``We're our own worst enemy,'' Schnellenberger said. ``If it
isn't throwing interceptions or fumbling the ball, it's getting
holding penalties and blocks in the back.''
The mistakes have led to a season of disappointments.
``The first year has been a series of very up times and very
down times,'' Schnellenberger said. ``We should have been able to
compete and we should have been able to win. For whatever reason,
whether it's my head coaching or my assistant coaches or whether
it's the players, we haven't done offensively what you have to do to win.''
It is frustrating, as offensive guard Joe Carolla well knows.
He got into a verbal war with NU defensive tackle Christian Peter
and received a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
``One's on top and one's trying to get off the bottom,''
Carolla said, referring to the status of Nebraska and OU. ``That's
about it. But you can't say we didn't try our hardest every game.
``It's rough to go out 5-5-1, but I guess that's what happens
when you start rebuilding.''
By Dan O'Kane

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