Tulsa World: Day of Infamy Hid Sooner 'D'

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Day of Infamy Hid Sooner `D'

By BILL CONNORS
Published: 11/3/1996
Last Modified: 2/27/2007 8:51 AM

NORMAN -- No one would have blamed Oklahoma's defensive players on
Saturday if they had invited their offensive teammates to drop football.
In perhaps the most unusual football game ever played at
Memorial Stadium, OU's defense dominated Nebraska for most of three
quarters in a manner reminiscent of a time two decades ago when the
Selmon brothers anchored a Sooner fortress. But Oklahoma's offense
was so sorry that what might have gone into the books as a
defensive masterpiece became a game of infamy.
It figured that the impressive improvement OU's offense made
in recent games would be stalled by the first strong defense the
Sooners faced. But they did not stall; they crashed.
They allowed the game to get away on a fumbled punt, four
interceptions, two missed field goals and an inability to make a
first down when they had two chances to get in the game. Their
ineptness might have had a psychological effect on the defense. Its
tenacity waned in the second half when a gorgeous day became OU's
darkest ever in this stadium.
Consider: When Nebraska's lead reached 52-0, the Sooners had
six first downs and only 81 yards of total offense! When the
Cornhuskers led 45-0 at the conclusion of the third quarter, they
had but 206 yards and had averaged only 3.4 yards per play! OU was
that generous and ragged to the delight of approximately 12,000
Nebraska fans (record for a visiting team in Norman?) in the
capacity crowd of 75,004.
DeMond Parker prevented a shutout for OU and softened the
pain by running through Nebraska's reserves for three touchdowns in
the fourth quarter, when the Sooners gained 194 yards on nine
plays, mostly by Parker.
But by then it resembled an intramural game and no one on
either side seemed to want to make a tackle, as the Cornhusker
reserves responded to each OU touchdown with three of their own.
Their 73 points were the most ever scored against OU and their
52-point winning margin the widest ever against OU.
The loss, OU's seventh straight at home, assured the
Sooners of their first losing season in 31 years and was a sobering
demonstration of how far they have to go to threaten the Big 12
Conference's superior program.
The consolation for Oklahoma is that no other Big 12 team
appears to be in Nebraska's class. The disturbing thing is that the
Sooners defended sufficiently that with any kind of offense they
might have led at halftime. Instead, they lost yardage or had zero
Gains on 19 of their 29 plays and trailed 17-0.
The No. 5 ranked Cornhuskers, hopeful of getting a chance to
play in the Sugar Bowl for an unprecedented third straight national
championship, do not have the kind of offensive weapons they had
the two preceding years. Quarterback Scott Frost is merely
adequate. His receivers make his task more difficult with drops.
The linemen are not dominating. They do not have a workhorse tailback.
Their offense has been prolific in four home games but
Saturday was their fourth straight unimpressive performance on the road.
However, their defense is magnificent and, Tom Osborne says,
better than ever. Their kickoff and punt coverages were sensational
Saturday. If they play the Florida-Florida State winner for the
championship, their offense will have to get much better. But their
defense will give them a chance to make history.
``I think this is the best defense we've ever had,'' said
Osborne. ``We are pretty quick and strong and experienced.''
And proud.
Strong safety Mike Minter and tackle Jason Peter were angry
when Parker ran wild against the reserves. Those were the first
touchdowns by rushing against Nebraska in six games.
``We did not want Oklahoma to score and we wanted to make
a statement to the country (via television) that we are the best
team in the country,'' said Minter, who is from Lawton and was more
taxed to get 34 tickets for relatives and friends than he was by
OU's offense. ``It was upsetting to us for Oklahoma to score. We
got on the reserves, especially after the first one.''
Peter said, ``We understand that the reserves have to get
playing time but we expect them to not give up points. I didn't get
on those guys today but we will next week in practice.''
For all of Nebraska's defensive domination, OU's defensive
performance in the first half was more remarkable. Nebraska started
five of its first six possessions at midfield but scored zero
points and made only one first down and was forced to make 6 of the
first half's 14 punts.
Osborne credited OU's switch to a scheme that Arizona State
used to shock the Cornhuskers 19-0 in the second game of the season.
``It took us a quarter to figure out what Oklahoma was
doing,'' Osborne said. ``They had been a 4-3 defense that played
zone pass defense. Suddenly, we are looking at a 5-2 and
man-to-man, with a lot of blitzing, very much what Arizona State did.
``We threw deep more than we like. I was not comfortable
with what we were doing and we didn't do a good job communicating
to the players what we wanted to do. I thought we did better in the
second half. But we never did really pile up a lot of yards (387).
But Oklahoma has an outstanding defense, with excellent talent in
their front.''
Osborne said he was not aware Nebraska's point total and
margin of victory were records. He said, ``This was one of the most
unusual games we've had. Considering we did not score in the first
quarter or move the ball very well, it is amazing that we scored 73
points.''
Nebraska scored 52 before Osborne removed the starters with
9:02 left. He did not feel he should have to apologize. (He might
have remembered that OU kicked a field goal with nine seconds left
for its final points in a 45-10 victory over Nebraska in 1990.)
``But,'' he said expressing surprise the issue was raised, ``if
someone thinks we ran it up, I apologize.''
With the teams in different divisions, they will play next
year at Lincoln and not play again until 2000. By then, the Sooners
hope they have undergone a lot of healing from their day of infamy.
By BILL CONNORS

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