Big Game Boob. Yeah, I said it.

So it’s another year, another disputed national champ, and another BCS Bowl appearance that ended in failure for Bob Stoops. Go figure. The guy with an almost 83% winning percentage, year in and year out the best recruiting classes, and the offensive prowess of a damn assassin has yet again finished a season with a loss. On the other sideline, counterpart Urban Meyer has won two of the last three BCS national championships and produced a Heisman winner in Tim Tebow aka your Pastor’s favorite footballer.

To say Bob Stoops has been beaten in his last four BCS Bowl appearances would be too easy. Hey, someone’s gotta lose right? The problem here is that Bob Stoops has been flat out OUTCOACHED in his last four big games. In the ’05 national championship game, his Sooners were led by “I’ll never make it in the league” Jason White and then freshman man-child Adrian Peterson. If not for Ashlee Simpsons horrid halftime performance, this beat down would have stole every headline for the next year. The Sooners were not only destroyed but appeared to have no clue what the other team was doing for the whole game. They couldn’t block, run, pass or tackle. But all the would-be reporters and Sports writers said that was one of the greatest teams of all time… Till OU’s Big 12 south rival Texas closed the book on them the next year.

Their next appearance was the ’07 Fiesta Bowl against then unknown Boise State, a team whose claim to fame was their infamous Blue Turf. Adrian Peterson was still in the mix, as was a ferocious defense and a dominating o-line. As innovative as that Boise State Offense was, they shouldn’t have been able to hang with that much talent. Again, preparation seemed to hurt the Sooners as they were disposed of in overtime. The Sooners returned to the Fiesta Bowl last year and faced West Virginia, the option run team that was a single quarter away from the national championship game. Led by the dual threat of Pat White and Steve Slaton, they were the most exciting spread option team in the nation, and proceeded to roll the Sooners in what was considered to b the upset of the year.

So before we look at this year’s game, let’s run down the last three:
2005 Orange Bowl: Oklahoma 19 USC 55
2007 Fiesta Bowl: Boise State 43 Oklahoma 42
2008 Fiesta Bowl West Virginia 48 Oklahoma 28

So this year’s game was gonna be different right? Heisman Trophy Winner? Check. High Powered Offense? Check. Ball hawking defense? Check. The only problem is, like every other year, the team that shows up in January isn’t the same one that showed up all season. Not to knock any of those teams, especially Florida (CONGRATS!!!) but with the exception of Boise, maybe, they are not playing the same teams they same on tape. Remember the hurry up offense OU ran all year? Disappeared. Remember that balanced running attack that they developed after the Texas game? Went away from it in the second half. Granted, the defense did force a few turnovers, but bonehead mistakes from guys who didn’t make them all year stopped a few drives. How is that nota coach’s fault? HOW? If your kids don’t show up to play year in and year out, eventually it’s on you. Stoops have evolved into the collegiate level Marty Schottenheimer. You can coach, yeah, but when the lights go on, well, you don’t.

Simply put, yeah, dude can coach… for a solid 13 games a season.