Oklahoma’s game with Tulsa this Saturday could be a turning point for Sooner fans. After this game fans will either start to think about winning out and hoping other teams lose in order for Oklahoma to make it back to the BCS championship game or they will start calling for some coach’s heads. In Oklahoma, you either win every game or you start taking some heat. Sooner fans aren’t used to seeing their team lose two games before conference games begin. Bob Stoops will have to get his team to show some real improvement in order to keep that from happening. Especially now that Miami has proven to be a real threat.
If you are wanting to know what to expect from this team, just take a look at the past decade. Since Stoops has been in Norman there have been a few times when things were looking pretty dark for the Sooners early in the year. However, this coaching staff has always found a way to turn things around.
After Oklahoma lost to TCU in 2005 the Sooners may have finished with an 8-4 record, but that was also the last time they won a bowl game. The difference this year is that Stoops and Kevin Wilson can look forward to getting a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback to return to the roster in the next couple of weeks.
The very next year after Rhett Bomar was dismissed from the team before the season started, the Sooners lost to Oregon and Texas. Don’t forget that it didn’t take too long for Adrian Peterson to suffer his injury and fans were wondering how the Sooners would even make it to a descent bowl game. However, Stoops turned things around and won his fourth Big 12 championship.
The bottom line is that the Oklahoma coach’s have proven theirselves over and over. The difference between Oklahoma suffering a few setbacks and a team like Oklahoma State suffering a few setbacks is that the Sooners consistently recruit the best football players in the country and have the talent to cover up a lot of the holes left by injuries. College football is still all about coaching and recruiting and Oklahoma has not slacked off in either of those two areas.
My bet is that the Sooners find a way to shore up the offensive line this week, prove that they can stop a dynamic offense like the one Tulsa will bring, and will get Sam Bradford back during the off week. Therefore, it’s not too much of a stretch to think that the Sooners could find a way to lose no more than 1 or 2 more games this season. They still have to be considered the number 2 favorite in the Big 12 and anything can happen in the game against Texas.
Don’t be surprised if Oklahoma finds a way to win another confernece title or even make it’s way back into the BCS championship. They still have championship caliber talent on the field.
