As much as I don't want to it's time to move on from the Oregon. My official stance is that Oklahoma played in a way in which they deserved to win and the officials literally took the game and gave it to Oregon on that onside kick. Many may disagree with me but there are many who agree as well. You can look a few posts down for verification on that. Besides the biggest official's blunder in the history of college football there were other things that went wrong for the Sooners as well.
The officiating was bad but so was the Oklahoma defense. There are serious breakdowns in the secondary that will cost the Sooners more games this season if the problem isn't fixed. Dennis Dixon passed for 341 yards and two touchdowns, most notably to a wide open Brian Paysinger for the winning score.
Another issue with the Oklahoma defense is absolutely no push up from the middle from the line. In my opinion this is a worse issue than the defensive backs. Improvement here would equate to improvement in the secondary as well. Opposing offenses are running at an incredible pace against the Sooners and there is no pressure on the quarterbacks.
I also believe that Oklahoma got too passive on offense as well. Instead of going for the kill and putting the Ducks away Oklahoma played to run the clock and set up a field goal on two consecutive possessions. After taking a 27-20 lead, Nick Harris intercepted Dixon's pass on first down. Oklahoma got the ball to the Oregon three yard line but couldn't score in three tries that included two runs up the middle and one pass. There was no bootleg with Thompson nor an option or pitch to get the ball to the outside. Oklahoma settled for a field goal instead on going for it on fourth and goal from the two.
On the next Oregon possession Nick Harris intercepted Dixon again setting up the Sooners one more opportunity to put the game away. Beginning at the Oklahoma 38 yard line the Sooners ran the ball six consecutive times to the Oregon 5 yard line setting up another field goal. A touchdown on either possession gives the Sooners a win and a gutless, inadequate, incompetent referee couldn't take it away.
On the other front the Oklahoma offense played really well. The Sooners had over 400 yards and on a normal day 33 points should be enough to win. Paul Thompson was effective and efficient. He passed for 174 yards and a score with no turnovers. I also feel that Adrian Peterson inserted himself as the Heisman frontrunner with 211 rushing yards, 68 return yards and one touchdown.
The Sooners are still 2-1 with anything possible. If Oklahoma can get past Texas and run the table they can still find themselves with a conference championship and in a BCS bowl game. Here at the machine we are moving on and the Oklahoma football team is as well. Middle Tennessee State is up next for the Sooners before an off week to prepare for Texas. The season moves on.
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