OU last won a football national championship in 2000 when it opened the season with a 55-14 win over UTEP. It was Bob Stoops’ second season and the Sooners were coming off a 7-5 season in which the Sooners lost to Ole Miss in the Independence Bowl. I was there with my dad, so I remember that New Years Eve well when a near drunken riot broke out in the stands in that piece of junk Shreveport stadium which would be subpar for the upper tier Texas high school programs. None of us had any inkling whatsoever that the Sooners would be twelve months away from winning the national championship.
Obviously, Lincoln Riley and his Sooners have a Herculean task in front of them against the Buckeyes next week in Columbus, but if you look at this team it kind of has that same feel as the no names from 2000 who went on to beat Florida State 13-2 in the national championship game. Back in the opener, not too many took notice of linebacker Torrance Marshall’s suspension, but as the season wore on–Marshall and fellow linebacker Rocky Calmus became the competitive soul of the team.
I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the 2000 opener against UTEP and remember the names of what was basically a blue collar team which had great chemistry and somehow found a way to win it all.
Any real OU fan gets goose bumps when they watch this Torrance Marshall pick six — which basically saved the season in College Station versus the A&M Aggies. Probably the single most defining play in the Bob Stoops era at OU.
Brent with the call.