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It was a long and tough road for Bob Stoops but his latest accomplishment has once again separated himself from the rest of the college football coaching world. The coach who had received a harsh amount to criticism for previous BCS failures will now be known as the only coach to have won all four BCS bowls and a championship.
The Sugar Bowl had been the elusive jewel in Stoops' BCS crown but alas, by way of an impressive victory over Alabama, he has finally run the gauntlet and notched his historical place in the final year of the current BCS system. How sweet was Oklahoma's win over Alabama on Thursday night? Most Oklahoma fans rank it right up there with Stoops' first ever BCS win, when the won the championship over Florida State in the Orange Bowl, following the 2000 season.
Ranking Oklahoma's BCS Bowl Wins
Under Bob Stoops, the Sooners won BCS bowl games in the order of Orange, Rose, Fiesta and Sugar. However, placing those wins in order of significance certainly rearranges them in a different order.
#4 - Fiesta Bowl, January 1st, 2012: Oklahoma 48 - UCONN 20 - Bob Stoops shook the monkey of losing five consecutive BCS bowls off his back by way of Landry Jones passing for school bowl-record 429 yards. However, the win game against an unranked Connecticut team that qualified for the Fiesta Bowl by going 8-4 in the regular season.
#3 - Rose Bowl, January 1st, 2003: Oklahoma 34 - Washington State 14 - In Oklahoma's first, and only, appearance in the "Grandaddy of them All" they were completely dominant over their Pac-10 foes. Washington State didn't score until the final six minutes of the game and Oklahoma's Quentin Griffin ran for 144 yards and a score on 30 carries.
#2 - Sugar Bowl, January 2nd, 2014: Oklahoma 45 - Alabama 31 - Redshirt freshman quarterback Trevor Knight sparked a shocking Oklahoma offensive surge by leading the Sooners on five consecutive scoring drives in the first half. Knight set an Oklahoma bowl-record by becoming the first quarterback to throw for four touchdowns in the post season.
#1 - Orange Bowl, January 3rd, 2001: Oklahoma 13 - Florida State 2 - This one still has to top the chart, but just by a slim margin, because it brought Oklahoma their seventh national title. Quentin Griffin only ran for 40 yards on the night but ten of those yards came on a fourth quarter touchdown run that all but sealed the win for the Sooners.
Defense Reigns Supreme In The BCS
One of the things that all of Oklahoma's BCS wins have is an outstanding defensive performance. In the Orange Bowl the Sooners held a high-powered FSU offense scoreless by harassing quarterback Chris Weinke all night, resulting in two interceptions and a fumble. In the Rose Bowl the Sooners sacked WSU quarterback Jason Gesser six times. It was Tony Jefferson and Jamell Fleming returning interceptions for touchdowns in the Fiesta Bowl. And the seven sacks of AJ McCarron and five turnovers is still fresh on the minds of OU fans from last Thursday night.