KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The best way to get under Bob Stoops' skin is to tell him he can't do something.
The Oklahoma coach bristled in 2000 when it was suggested that a large part of the talent he used to win the national championship had been recruited by previous coach John Blake.
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| Bob Stoops has been sitting on the second two-game losing streak of his OU career.(Getty Images) |
What, really, do you expect from a guy who as a youth in Youngstown, Ohio, played tackle football -- on the concrete streets of his neighborhood?
"We do have a sense of pride," said Stoops of his Sooners, who are favored again to win the Big 12.
If not the pride, then the legend that has become Oklahoma in the 21st century has been nicked. At least on the surface, it looks vulnerable.
That is what is under Stoops' skin in July 2004 during the Big 12 preseason media days.
His team is as loaded as ever (14 returning starters). But it is coming off only the second two-game losing streak of his career (first since 1999). There are significant questions about quarterback Jason White, only the second returning Heisman Trophy winner since Archie Griffin. The running game is a definite problem -- at least in big games.
It's possible that a team that has lost only six times this century has endured the loss of its swagger, too.
During its current run (48-6 since the beginning of 2000), maybe 90 percent of the teams Oklahoma played were probably beaten before they took the field. And that's leaving Texas (four consecutive losses by a combined 123 points) out of it.
Now there are literally game-film blueprints -- the two season-ending games against Kansas State and LSU -- that show exactly how to beat the Sooners.
For starters, beat up White. LSU and K-State did it so well that White required offseason surgery. The cumulative injuries probably swayed the NCAA to allow the quarterback a sixth year of eligibility.
In the two season-ending games White was sacked eight times and intercepted four times.
It had a cascading effect.
As the Sooners became more one-dimensional, two quality defenses were able to zero in. Oklahoma averaged 1.7 rushing yards in the two losses. While All-American receiver Mark Clayton did OK against K-State (eight catches, 104 yards), he was absolutely shut down against LSU (four for 32 yards).
"We knew that they moved him around a lot," LSU cornerback Corey Webster said earlier this summer. "When he came in motion, we kind of figured the ball most likely was coming to him. He was going to be the first read. On third downs, they were looking to give him the ball.
"To me, he wouldn't want the physical (stuff) because he's a smaller, quicker kind of guy. I don't think he really liked to get hit coming off the ball. We saw that in film."
Given all that, it's logical to suggest that the swagger is gone. That doesn't mean OU can't win the Big 12 or play in the national championship game for the third time in five years.
It does mean there is a disturbance in the force (Oklahomans call it "Sooner Magic"). Stoops' Sooners have won almost every big game they have played over the past four years. Really, there was no team better at playing big when the heat was on -- until last December.
Now?
"We must have done something to them," said Kansas State defensive lineman Scott Edmonds on Wednesday during Big 12 preseason media days, "because they didn't play up to their standards in that game."
That game was the 21-14 loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl. It was preceded by a 35-7 beatdown by K-State in the Big 12 Championship Game.
"I think," Edmonds said, recalling postgame handshakes that night, "they were in total shock."
The same team that won 10 of its games by at least 24 points got pounded by a combined 35 in its final two. K-State's Darren Sproles ran for the most yards ever against Oklahoma (235) in the Big 12 title game. That's more than just White being banged up a little bit.
The "Forever's Team" that was being compared to the best ever couldn't even win its conference title. It couldn't cash in on what some considered a BCS snafu allowing it to play for the national championship. The touchdown loss to the Tigers was cosmetic considering how much the Sooners were dominated by LSU's defense.
"When we went against Oklahoma the mindset was, 'They're beating people by 50. They're not going to change anything,'" LSU defensive end Marcus Spears said. "We felt like we weren't going to change anything on defense because we were playing the best defense we could play."
Spears' interception of White for a third-quarter touchdown turned out to be the game's winning points.
"I read it from the drop, actually," Spears said. "You see it in practice all week. You look at a guy, you study his tendencies. It was third-and-5. They were running the slant. I knew it was coming."
Point 1 in the aftermath of last season: LSU now has the nation's best defense until further notice.
Point 2: This is why it's important and OK to have that swagger: These are still young kids. If you're good enough, all the histrionics and cockiness work their way into the young minds of those opponents.
Point 3: For the first time in the Stoops era, it looked at the end of last season like he was being out-coached. He said as much here this week: "I would say they played better than we did and coached better than we did."
It's also important to have perspective. Until Oklahoma is able to start flushing its system beginning Sept. 4 against Bowling Green, the questions will linger.
White looks leaner but will he be able to make better decisions when the pressure is on? Can the offensive line protect him better? The defense is great as always but it looked like it flat-out overran plays against Kansas State. Defensive mastermind/brother Mike then left for Arizona.
"You need to have every year be a new start," Stoops said. "You have to have perspective as a coach."
No one knows the exact math now. All those games that were won in the warmups? It's reasonable to that some of them will actually have to be played this season.
"We have to play them again so ..." said K-State coach Bill Snyder, who wouldn't give up the deep, dark secret to beating his rival. "I don't know where the alarm would come from. I don't think Bobby is going to overreact to it. They know what they're capable of doing. I doubt there is a panic button being pushed."
Nah, no panic button. Just perhaps the momentary(?) loss of supremacy, strut and swagger this century. That's a big deal at a place where every Stoops' team is expected to be "Forever's Team."
