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OU Notebook
 
By JOHN E. HOOVER, World sports writer
Published: 10/16/2008  2:09 AM
Last Modified: 10/16/2008  3:20 AM

Red River politics: A Democratic nominee has won the presidential election eight out of the last 10 election years (eight of 12 overall) in which Texas defeated Oklahoma.

On the flip side, a Republican won the White House six of the last seven election years (and seven out of 10 overall) in which OU won the Red River Rivalry. So Texas' 45-35 win last week was bad news for both OU and Republicans.

The series dates back to 1900, when Republicans William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt defeated William Bryan and Adlai Stevenson. After McKinley's 1901 assassination, Roosevelt was re-elected in 1904. Texas won both years, but didn't beat OU again in advance of another Republican president until 1968 (Richard Nixon). UT's only other victory prior to a Republican winner was 1980 (Ronald Reagan).

This year's winner may want to reconsider. Among the 18 presidents elected since 1900, six — all elected after Texas victories — had major dilemmas during their presidency. McKinley and John Kennedy were assassinated, Reagan was shot, Nixon resigned, Bill Clinton was impeached and Franklin Roosevelt presided over a world war and died in office.

The teams didn't play in 1920, 1924 and 1928. They tied in 1976 (Jimmy Carter) and 1984 (Reagan). Texas now leads 13-10-2 in election year contests.

All-American list: OU quarterback Sam Bradford and left guard Duke Robinson were named Mid-season All-American by CBSSports.com.

Bradford
ranks second nationally in passer efficiency after leading the nation in that category in 2007. The sophomore from Oklahoma City has completed 72.4 percent of his passes (134-of-185) for 2,052 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. Last week in a loss to Texas, he had his fifth career game of five TD passes, raising his career TD pass total to 59 an NCAA record over freshman and sophomore seasons.

Hold that thought: Carter Whitson, OU's holder on placekicks, accidentally called timeout after the Sooners' fourth-quarter touchdown Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. With his team ahead 34-30, OU coach Bob Stoops elected to go for a 2-point conversion. OU lined up on the left hashmark, but when a false-start penalty moved the ball back 5 yards, Stoops decided to kick the 1-point PAT. Whitson and the kicking unit came on, but Whitson went to the referee and the Sooners were charged with a timeout.

"I really didn't want to call a timeout," Whitson clarified. "I wanted to talk to the ref (and say), 'Hey, move the ball back over to the middle of the field.' I went over to talk to coach Stoops and they went over and talked to the ref, and they said after you have a penalty, you can't move it back to the middle. So, I wasted a timeout. I'm pretty famous for calling timeout forever, I guess. "
By JOHN E. HOOVER, World sports writer

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Shepard, (10/17/2008 12:28:59 AM)
"Selmon" have I seen such "Royal" criticism of a great coach. Sure, he needs to "Tinker" with the running game and there's a "Lott" that needs to be fixed on special teams, but sometimes you have to blame the players, not the "Boz". If you "Watts"ed that game, it "Sims" to me that OU was slicing up UT like a "Wilkinson" razor until the second half when "Reynolds" got hurt. OU is always in the "Hunt" for a National Championship every year, and "Stoops" is a great coach. The coordinators are a "Wiley" bunch and will find a "Way" to fix it all. Oklahomans are not a bunch of "Hicks" but we will drive miles and miles "Overstreet" to see our "Sooners". Anyone who jumps off the "Sooner Schooner" after one loss is a fair weather fan at best. They just need to go out there this week and "Pruitt" to themselves that they are still a great team even with a new Middle Line Backer. Mark it on your calendars, the "Sooners" bowl game will be a couple of weeks after the "White" Christmas. I'd bet a "Clayton" of "Jackson"s on that! So don't go getting all riled up and popping your blood "Vessels" this early. "Owens" you glad you read my post? You "Von Schamman" my popcorn?
 

 
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