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Attitude change for Sooners
Sooners stress team effort in preparation for Florida.

OU's Nic Harris poses with Obie, the Orange Bowl mascot, as the Sooners arrive in Miami, Fla., on Friday. J. Pat Carter/Associated Press

 
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 1/3/2009  2:25 AM
Last Modified: 1/3/2009  2:32 AM

 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Oklahoma hasn't won a Bowl Championship Series game since 2002. The freshmen on this year's team were in seventh grade when OU beat Washington State in the Rose Bowl.

How do this year's Sooners clear that mental hurdle?

With back-to-back defeats in the 2003 and 2004 national championship games, and back-to-back defeats in the Fiesta Bowl hanging over every step the players take in South Florida, what's different about this year's approach?

"We're gonna win," said OU senior Nic Harris. "We're gonna win."

Mind you, that's a shift in attitude, not a brash guarantee. Or is it?

"Getcha popcorn ready. Getcha popcorn ready," Harris said in his best Terrell Owens teaser. "It's extremely different. The chip we've had on our shoulder is that nobody believed in us all year. No one. No one believed in us. All year. No one still believes in us. At the end of the day, we've got to come out and prove it — to everyone, as well as to ourselves."

The No. 1 Sooners (12-1) and No. 2 Gators (12-1) meet next Thursday at Dolphin Stadium in the BCS title game. Florida is a three-point favorite, more a product of OU's past BCS failures than a reflection of this year's teams.

These Sooners have more at stake than just the 2008 championship of college football. They have a big-game reputation to rebuild, national respect to regain.

"I think there's a lot on the line," said Harris, a co-captain. "It's bigger than any of the players that are playing. I feel it has a lot to do with the stigma that's placed on OU in big games. We just pretty much want to silence anybody that has anything to say and come out and take care of it to the utmost."

Before last year's Fiesta Bowl meltdown, coach Bob Stoops reminded his players of what everyone nationwide already knew — courtesy of the information crawl rolling repeatedly across television screens — that OU's BCS losing streak had reached three games. This year, players say, Stoops has made that less a point of emphasis, even though the streak now has grown to four.

"We don't care about that little ticker that you see on the bottom of ESPN when it's talking about Oklahoma and Florida," said junior Chris Brown. "I mean, this is a different team. We really don't talk about being the underdog. But you can't help but see it on TV, guys talking about Oklahoma's this-point underdog, that-point underdog."

OU players want to make two things clear: this year's game is not the Fiesta Bowl, and this year's seniors are not the '04 seniors who got embarrassed the last time OU played in the Orange Bowl (a 55-19 loss to USC).

"This is as big as it gets," said senior Juaquin Iglesias.

"It's what everybody works for," said senior Phil Loadholt.

"Not just us, but everybody. When you start out in winter conditioning, spring, summer workouts, whatever, this is what they talk about playing in, and the fact that we're playing in it is definitely a great feeling."

Stoops has said of the '04 team's Orange Bowl implosion that too many seniors from that team were too much on their NFL future and not enough on their opponent. He has made that a major point of emphasis to this year's senior class.

"He said this is our final game here, and the biggest game of our career," Loadholt said. "Florida has our full attention. It's all about the legacy you leave here. No matter what we've done up to this point, people are going to remember this game. I mean, that '04 team blew everybody out, but they remember that 55-19. They've definitely got our full attention and that's what we're focused on."



John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS 
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10 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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Report Comment
Graybeard, Tulsa (1/3/2009 8:08:27 AM)
Go Big Red! Bring home that crystal trophy and #8 NCAA win!
Report Comment
SoCal Fan, Broken Arrow (1/3/2009 8:11:03 AM)
"We're gonna win," said OU senior Nic Harris. "We're gonna win."

Let's hope you do. It would be embarrassing if you lost for all your cocky fans.
Report Comment
Big Harp, Florida (1/3/2009 8:40:06 AM)
BOOMER SOONER!!
Report Comment
Dr. Strangelove, Tulsa (1/3/2009 10:49:40 AM)
Good luck OU- I think it's going to be a tough game, Big 12 hasn't looked good against the SEC
Report Comment
Aggie, (1/3/2009 2:55:44 PM)
I hope OU wins! I understand why players who are looking forward to an NFL career might not want to risk their futures on a last game, though. The colleges and coaches get millions. What do the players get?
Report Comment
SoCal Fan, Broken Arrow (1/3/2009 4:13:52 PM)
The Sooners looked good this season. I think if they stay focused, the can pull off another great win.
Report Comment
Soonerkat, Broken Arrow (1/3/2009 7:44:55 PM)
Aggie, the players get the satifaction of silencing all of their critics, the satisfaction of achieving an enormous goal that each player has had through all the workouts and the 2008 season, & the satisfaction that if they play well and win a national title, their stock in the NFL draft goes up considerably.
Report Comment
GrannyTazzy, Tulsa (1/3/2009 11:13:57 PM)
Go SOONERS!
Report Comment
cbehles, Tulsa (1/5/2009 10:21:56 AM)
WOW....WHO IS THIS SO. CAL FAN AND WHO IS HE TO CALL OU FANS COCKY....
USC FANS ARE THE WORST!
Report Comment
soonerchic, (1/5/2009 12:28:17 PM)
amen to that cbehles!!!

BOOMER SOONER
 

 
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