It was a memorable day of college football. On Rivalry Saturday… Ohio State, Oklahoma, and almost Alabama were eliminated from College Football’s Four Team Playoff.
If you include Clemson’s demise this season and the thought Georgia will eliminate Alabama next Saturday in Atlanta—then what the world of college football will have is a four team playoff minus the Big Four of college ball for the first time since the Playoff was created.
That .5 of the 4.5 Vegas spread proved to be prescient for those of us who held out to the last minute as Oklahoma State survived a wobbly almost surreal third period and beat the Sooners 37-33 to advance to their first ever Big 12 Championship Game at Jerry’s World.
The first half ended in a 24-24 tie as OU showed the college football world this O State defense shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath with the one in Georgia, but in the end this Sooner team which never once in this twelve game season showed they could play sixty minutes of football without dismantling itself with an erray of penalties, miscues, and self inflicted wounds… finally killed itself with an Eric Gray muffed punt near its own goaline to hand the Cowboys their first Bedlam win in Stillwater since 2011.
Almost like Alabama did earlier at Auburn in the final minute of regulation—Caleb Williams almost had another miracle to save the Sooners’ season. But in the end it wasn’t to be as the Cowboys held on and the fans stormed the field at Boone Pickens’ Stadium.
To the Cowboys’ credit they didn’t quit after they basically tried to hand the game to OU in the opening minutes of the second half with two fumbles on their own goalline which led to a safety and then a touchdown from former John Marshall Bear Justin Broiles.
The fact OU didn’t fall on both of those fumbles for 14 points versus 9 points in reality was probably key to O State ending the Sooners’ six year run as conference champs.
Some will say O State’s defense stiffled the Sooners’ offense in the second half. I didn’t really see it at that way though. It was the same array of Sooner dysfunction we witnessed all season long beginning with Tulane in Norman and ending with Mike Gundy’s overacheiving Cowboys finally slaying the hated Sooners in the house that Boone built..
I thought the most clever comment of the night came from me to my son Chris on the phone after the game when I asked, “You really think those idiots at LSU are willing to pay $12 million a year for this bullshit?”
Chris didn’t dignify that with a reply instead taking the high ground and ignoring the comment.
Then I amazed myself by adding former OU assistant and current South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer to Joe C’s list while scratching the unstable Mike Leach from our coach search list.
For Mike Gundy the former part-time Boone Pickens tormentor and Mullet King of college football it was a night of human redemption which probably hasn’t been rivaled since Norman Dale played by Gene Hackman in Hoosiers won the Indiana state high school championship.
Word has it a book and then maybe a subsequent Netflix movie could be in the works documenting this magical season for Oklahoma State.
Up next will be Dave Aranda’s Baylor Bears at Jerry’s World. I’d say Vegas will probably have O State as a 6.5 favorite to win their first ever Big 12 Championship since the game was put in place.
As far as me…I’ll be at a watch party with two of my nephews who live in Stillwater. The older one was the one who played with Gavin Gundy. Noah hopefully will keep me somewhat grounded as I redo the final two chapters.
Somewhere up in college football heaven both Boone Pickens and my old friend Dan Jenkins surely have a smile on their faces.
Mike Gundy finally rang the bell.
I love these kids. I never knew it started with American Idol.