ARLINGTON, Texas -- "Life Without Sam" came a lot Sooner than expected for Oklahoma.
A Heisman-winning quarterback who turned down millions to come back to school for a shot at a national championship went down with an injury and surrendered the spotlight to the nephew of Danny White in the new home of the Dallas Cowboys as third-ranked OU fell to the latest BCS-buster from the Mountain West.
|
|
| Sam Bradford's hopes for a second Heisman and Oklahoma's title hopes are murky. (AP) |
Sam Bradford exited stage left with seven seconds left before halftime with a sprained shoulder and Max Hall rallied No. 20 BYU to a 14-13 victory at Cowboys Stadium.
Bradford watched Hall dissect OU's zone defense while directing the Cougars to a game-winning drive in the final five minutes.
• Recap: BYU 14, Oklahoma 13
"To come to this stadium, to open this stadium, to play Oklahoma with a Heisman Trophy quarterback, with one of the best defenses in the country was unbelievable," said Hall, who had 329 yards on 26 of 38 passing. "For us to come out and pull off a win is a special night. I'll never forget it."
Bradford stood on the sidelines with his arm in a sling after absorbing a clean hit from linebacker Coleby Clawson. The extent of the injury was unknown and he's scheduled for an MRI exam Sunday.
How much time he'll miss is anyone's guess.
How far back in the Big 12 pack the Sooners will be by then is also debatable. Depending on what happens in Sunday's Colorado-Colorado State game, OU could be the only Big 12 team to lose on opening weekend.
With Idaho State and Tulsa up next, Bradford ostensibly has two weeks to get healthy before a road trip to Miami. The Big 12 opener looms on Oct. 10 before the Red River showdown with No. 2 Texas on Oct. 17.
• Freeman: This is why you go pro
That's six weeks before facing the Longhorns.
"Guys get hurt in this game," said OU defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. "When someone goes down, everyone has to pick up the slack."
Bradford's backup, Landry Jones, was a storyline waiting to happen in the palace outside Dallas. However, penalties and other offensive miscues kept Jones from leading Oklahoma to victory. He ended up 6 of 12 for 51 yards in relief.
However, it's not as if the sloppy Sooners were necessarily lighting it up. Ten points and 164 yards at halftime? OU usually has that much offense before most of the faithful have found their seats. Bradford had completed 10 of 14 for 96 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown pass, before departing.
How much OU can count on Jones is up in the air.
The redshirt freshman looked shaky at best, potentially costing the Sooners a touchdown in the third quarter. Jones took a delay penalty on fourth down from the BYU 1-yard line, leading to a field goal that gave OU a 13-7 lead with 11:41 remaining.
"I loved what he did," OU coach Bob Stoops said. "He handled the situation as well as he possibly could of. In the end, he needed some more help around him."
For Hall, the opposite was true.
Coming off a self-described disappointing season, the senior signal-caller spread the ball around to seven different receivers and made critical throws down the stretch.
None was bigger than his game-winning TD pass to Dallas native McKay Jacobson.
It was redemption for Jacobson -- whose muffed first-quarter punt led to OU's first touchdown.
"Really, things didn't go to plan, but things don't always go to plan," said Jacobson, who was recruited by OU as a senior at nearby Carroll High School in the Dallas suburb of Southlake.
"There are different levels of recruiting," Jacobson said with a grin. "But I kind of wanted to go to BYU."
So let's see, in the last eight months, the Mountain West has slain a pair of Goliaths from BCS conferences. First it was Utah's whipping of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. And now, BYU, a three-touchdown underdog, pulls off the season's first stunner. Maybe we should have seen this coming. Stoops' only two season-opening losses have come to MWC teams. The other was in 2005 to TCU.
"[Playing in] this game was questioned," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Where might we compare and how far away might we be -- those were questions."
Saturday's contest had the feel of a bowl game.
And the loss raises more eyebrows about the Sooners, who some perceived weren't worthy of even participating in the national championship game a year ago -- their fifth straight bowl loss.
Three months from now, the Big 12 championship will be held here under the gleaming spectacle known as "JerryWorld." Will the Sooners be here? Will Bradford? Stay tuned.
