Posted: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 6:00 pm
Bob Stoops begs to differ with the man he replaced as Oklahoma's football coach.
In Monday's Journal Star, Nebraska defensive line coach John Blake said he had the Sooners on track for success at the time he was fired following a 5-6 season in 1998.
In Tuesday's editions of The Oklahoman, Stoops strongly hinted the situation he inherited was far from ideal.
"It was alarming, the lack of self-esteem, the lack of self-confidence," he said. "The negative perception our team had, our school had, the community had I was shocked."
That changed in a hurry, in large part thanks to Stoops hiring Kentucky's Mike Leach to be his offensive coordinator. Leach then attracted quarterbacks Josh Heupel, Nate Hybl and Jason White to Oklahoma. The Sooners won the 2000 national championship with Heupel running the offense. White won the 2003 Heisman Trophy while leading OU to last year's title game and, at 9-0, has them primed for another shot at the crown this year.
PERSEVERENCE: Oklahoma's 42-35 win against Texas A&M last week marked the first time that the Sooners won a game after giving up at least 28 points in the first half. OU had been 0-8 in those situations prior to Saturday.
SENIOR SALUTE: Saturday's game will be the final one in Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for the Sooners' 23 seniors. That class includes All-Americans Jammal Brown (offensive tackle), Mark Clayton (wide receiver), Antonio Perkins (return specialist) and the sixth-year senior White, plus All-Big 12 performers Vince Carter (center), Dan Cody (defensive end) and Trey DiCarlo (kicker). Another senior who's been an all-league defensive tackle, Dusty Dvoracek, was suspended earlier this season. And two-time All-America defensive tackle Tommie Harris would have been part of the class had he come back for his senior year. "You look at the very few problems we've had with any of them. It has been a model class with the way they have worked, their attitude and their leadership," Stoops said. "It has probably been, overall, the strongest class we've had."
Curt McKeever