More on the Sooners  

I was most surprised by two things last night:

1: Bob Stoops panicky coaching decisions. Really? A two-point conversion that early in the third quarter? You scored nine points in less than nine minutes, and you think you need to go for two? Like you may only have a shot for a field goal to tie? This move perplexed me at the time. Then WVU scored again, and kicked the PAT to go up 12, meaning that the Sooners needed a pair of touchdowns, instead of being down a touchdown, conversion and field goal. Also, a momentum-loser.

That was followed by an even worse decision, the onside kick. You scored nine points in nine minutes. You're forcing three and outs. The crowd is surging, and everything is going right. So you roll the dice and allow your opponent to work with a short field? Did you really think WVU was going to march 80 yards? I have NEVER seen a 7-point favorite kick onsides out of anything other than desperation in the waning moments. That was a surreal call. Would Georgia have done that? Or USC? Or Ohio St? It hit all the wrong notes, seemed desperate, handed momentum back, gave a reeling opponent a short field, and resulted in a touchdown against you. Terrible call. Just terrible.

2: The Oklahoma offensive line. These guys are one of the highest rated units in the country. However, WVU was able to get pressure consistently. Bradford was constantly rolling away from a rush, effectively cutting the field in half. WVU was able to stuff some short yardage plays while giving away an average of 45 lbs on the line. They got sacks, they got pressure, they stifled the run game when it mattered and made the Sooners one-dimensional.

And Oklahoma was holding on about a third of the plays. I saw three or four EGREGIOUS holds that weren't called. Officials rarely blow holding calls, but they let this vaunted unit get away with murder and it still didn't matter. You could probably add another three sacks to the West Virginia total. Apparently this bunch can only block against fat, slow midwest boys, because the Mountaineers ran circles around them. It was a disgraceful performance. Loadholt and company are officially on notice, they may be the most overrated group in the country.