Column: OU deserves its shot at Big 12 title

By JJ Stankevitz
Dec. 1, 2008

Longhorns, avert your eyes: Oklahoma deserved to represent the south in the Big 12 Championship game. Yeah, I know Texas beat OU in the Red River Shootout back in October. And, yes, I know, Texas only has one loss, just like OU.

But, let's face it. Oklahoma is really, really good.

Offensively, they're unstoppable, with incredibly good players across the board. Quarterback Sam Bradford (4,080 passing yards, 46 touchdowns to just six interceptions) is likely to win the Heisman Trophy. Running back DeMarco Murray (179 carries, 1,002 rushing yards, 14 touchdowns) gives OU a powerful ground game, and backup running back Chris Brown (168 carries, 988 rushing yards, 17 touchdowns) would be an excellent starter at most other schools.

No defense has been able to cover wide receivers Juaquin Iglesias (60 receptions, 967 receiving yards, eight touchdowns) and Manny Johnson (37 receptions, 677 rushing yards, nine touchdowns) along with tight end Jermaine Gresham (50 receptions, 806 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns), who, unfortunately, is the best tight end in the Big 12.

Protecting this Ferrari of an offense is the Great Wall of Norman, the fearsome offensive line headed by 6-foot-8-inch, 337-pound Phil Loadholt and 6-foot-5-inch, 335-pound Duke Robinson.

The Sooners may have a better offensive line than some NFL teams - at the least, the Lions and Rams. In fact, this OU offense likely could outperform more than a few NFL units, especially when you consider that Bradford, Murray, Brown, Iglesias, Johnson, Greshman, Loadholt and Robinson all will likely have a lot of success on Sundays.

Nobody can compete with OU's offense. Their lowest point output of the year is 35, coming twice (in their 35-10 over TCU and their 45-35 loss to Texas), and they have scored more than 60 in their last four games. They've scored over 50 in eight of their 12 games.

Watching OU's offense makes you wonder if Bob Stoops forgot to change the difficulty level from "freshman" before the season started.

Defensively, OU has holes (mainly at linebacker, where they've been stretched by injuries), and they have had problems with special teams coverage. But as ESPN's Lee Corso put it to Stoops after OU's win over Oklahoma State Saturday, "all you need is one or two defensive stops" for the offense to win the game. Texas may be an upper-echelon team, but the same certainly cannot be said about its team.

And if Texas really wanted to settle this, maybe Blake Gideon shouldn't have dropped that easy interception in the Longhorns' loss to Texas Tech. Despite losing to Texas, OU completely outplayed Texas after the Red River Shootout. While Texas has a legitimate complaint for not making the Big 12 Championship, OU's play down the stretch made me believe that they deserve to play for the Big 12 title.

Normally in these cases, I would support the team that ultimately got ripped — in this case, Texas. But the way Oklahoma played down the stretch convinced me that they deserve to play in the Big 12 Championship — and, again, that is more of a statement on Oklahoma than Texas. I don't think I can say it enough: Oklahoma played at a level comparable to an NFL offense, and because of that, nobody should be all that worked up about them making the Big 12 title game.

Plus, Texas has won a national title more recently than OU. And Barry Switzer never coached at your school. That's consolation, I guess.

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Column: OU deserves its shot at Big 12 title

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