The Sixth Time's The Charm

Maybe now Bob Stoops and the Sooners can stop answering questions about their BCS bowl woes after taking down Connecticut 48-20 in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl on Saturday night.  Oklahoma finally lived up to the massive point spread that was expected of them coming into a Fiesta Bowl matchup and won a BCS game after five straight losses.

  Landry Jones had a fantastic night, passing for 429 yards and three touchdowns.  He completed his first 12 passes.  (Actually, he completed his first 13, if you count the pass complete to Connecticut’s Dwayne Gratz, who returned it for a touchdown.)  With this big performance, Jones has surpassed Sam Bradford’s mark for passing yards in a season.

  Jones found six different receivers with his 34 completions.  Ryan Broyles led that group with 13 receptions for 170 yards and touchdown.  Like OSU’s Justin Blackmon, there is much speculation about the receiver’s future in college.

  Senior running back Demarco Murray closed out his Sooner career in style with 25 carries for 93 yards.  Although he didn’t quite reach the 100-yard milestone in this game, he did cross the goal line for a touchdown, which was his 50th career touchdown.

  The Sooners kept the UConn offense out of the endzone.  This extended the Huskies’ offensive struggles, who have now gone over eight quarters without an offensive TD.  UConn got points from Gratz’ pick six and Robbie Frey’s 95-yard touchdown on a kickoff return.

  With as much youth as Oklahoma has returning for the 2011 season, many people are already pointing the possibilities of the Sooners playing for a national title again in a little over a year.

Blackmon May Return

If this is true, OSU fans have a lot to be excited about.
Check out the report from Cowboys Ride For Free.

Bedlam 2010

#1 > Oklahoma Sooners 47, Oklahoma State Cowboys 41 Nov. 27

  We’ve remembered a lot of great games from 2010, but since this site has a specific emphasis on sports in Oklahoma, of course this has to be the top game on our list.

  It was the third of three games from Thanksgiving weekend that really seemed to be worth listing in a Top Ten.  This Bedlam matchup had more pre-game hype than any Bedlam game since OU was No. 2 and OSU was No. 3 back in 1984, although a lot can be said for the amount of talent that was suited up for both teams in 1987.

  The two teams went back and forth with eight scores, four apiece, throughout the first three quarters, with the scored tied at 24-24 at the end of the third period.  It was in the fourth quarter that things really got wild.

  The Sooners really won the game with their ability to convert on third down.  They picked first downs on seven tries on third down late in the third quarter and through the fourth.  This was especially big on the 17-play drive that culminated in a field goal early in the fourth that ultimately gave OU the lead for good.  The two teams would score 40 points in the final period that featured a 76-yard TD pass, an 86-yard TD pass, and an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

  Landry Jones outdueled Brandon Weeden in passing yards, 468-257, but the majority of the stats for the game showed equality for both teams.  (Incidentally, Jones' 468 passing yards is an OU record, tied with Sam Bradford.)  Each team had three interceptions.  Weeden was picked off midway through the fourth quarter, when the Cowboys were still within one score of taking the lead.  But the signature play of the game was when Broderick Brown leapt up at the sideline and knocked an errant pass from Jones back inbounds to Shaun Lewis to complete the interception.

  The Sooner win put both teams at 10-2 and for the season, also tied with Texas A&M.  BCS ranking gave OU the Big XII South championship and the Sooners defeated Nebraska 23-20 in the Big XII title game.  Oklahoma State would go on to dismantle Arizona 36-10 in the Alamo Bowl and claim the school’s first-ever 11-win season.  We’ll find out tomorrow whether OU stop a five game BCS Bowl losing streak in the Fiesta Bowl against Connecticut.

First 11-Win Season

 Quite simply, there was too much Oklahoma State talent on the field Wednesday night.  The Cowboys dismantled the Arizona Wildcats 36-10 in the Alamo Bowl.  Yes, OSU coach Mike Gundy had his team ready to go.  Dana Holgorsen, as usual called a brilliant game. And Arizona coach Mike Stoops couldn’t seem to buy a call.  But the fact is that Oklahoma State, now 11-2, simply outmatched Arizona at every position.

  Cowboys QB Brandon Weeden was 24 of 41 through the air for 240 yards and touchdowns Almost half of those yards (117) went to Justin Blackmon.  Blackmon picked up those yards with nine catches, two of them for the two touchdown passes from Weeden.

  It was the 12^th consecutive game in which Blackmon had at least 100 yards receiving and at least one TD reception.  Blackmon also now owns the single-season records for yards receiving and TD receptions (20).

  The future of both of these players is in question right now as either or both might try to make the jump to the NFL.  And with Blackmon, who won the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top receiver, and who was named the Big XII Offensive Player of the Year, there may not be much incentive to return to the collegiate ranks next season.  Money may be a bigger incentive.

  Gundy would like to see them stay, however.  “I think they both need to come back,” he said.  “Both of them can mature.”

  One future that is not in question is that of Holgorsen.  The Cowboys’ offensive coordinator extraordinaire is headed to West Virginia to fill that position for Mountaineers in 2011 and assume the position of head coach in 2012.  The part he played in the first-ever 11-win season for Oklahoma State really can’t be overstated.

  And senior running back Kendall Hunter suited up for the Cowboys for the final time.  He carried the ball 10 times for 32 yards.  Hunter finishes his career as the fourth leader rusher in OSU history.

  Senior Dan Bailey also capped off his Cowboy career with 12 points.  He had a rare miss on a point-after attempt, but still finishes as the all-time leading scorer in Oklahoma State history with 370 points.  On top of that, this year's Lou Groza Award winner also took over punting duty for the absent Quinn Sharp.

  Arizona fell to 7-6 on the season.  The Wildcats lost their final five games.