Bedlam 2010

Sooners Claim Bedlam Victory, Await BCS

Stillwater - On a chilly, late November evening in Stillwater, OSU Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy sought his first Bedlam victory as the man at the controls for the Pokes. A win would mean many things for OSU. As already mentioned, it would give Gundy his first Bedlam victory, would give the Cowboys their first ever Big XII south division title and title game berth, would send the team to Arlington to seek revenge against their only loss thus far to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, give the program their first ever 11 win season in the history of the football program and, among others, give the Cowboys just their seventh victory at Stillwater against the Sooners in 48 attempts. 

On the other side of the ball, Bob Stoops and his Sooner team would be looking for their  10th win this season and extend their dominance of the recent series to 8 straight victories regardless of venue. The Sooners also played for a berth in what will be the last Big XII championship game the current conference will hold. The Sooners also looked to extend their overall series lead of 80-17-7 in this 105th meeting of the two in-state rivals. 

The story lines abounded as the two teams waited all day to face one another: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso graced the Stillwater campus for ESPN’s College Gameday earlier in the day; Justin Blackmon’s ankle injury in the Kansas game a week earlier had many Cowboy and Sooner fans clamoring about the nation’s yardage and touchdown leader for wide receiver’s talking; Mike Holder’s ticket policy of not selling single-game tickets to the match-up ate up local airways; OU’s recent road woes were still a point of contention for both sides even though the Sooners beat up on Big XII south division foe Baylor the previous week; whether or not linebacker Austin Box and running back Roy Finch would be able to play; and the list goes on and on. 

A crowd of 51,164 showed up to T. Boone Pickens stadium to watch the 2010 edition of this game and the 105th Bedlam game ended up being nothing short of an up-and-down roller coaster of emotions for both schools and their fans, one that will surely be ranked as one of the most memorable match-ups between the two rivals in the all-time series.

After opening 3-and-outs by both offenses, the Sooners drew first blood at the 6:50 mark as they marched 82 yards in just over 3 minutes to score on a 6 yard touchdown run by freshman fullback Trey Millard. 

With 4:57 remaining in the first quarter, Sooner quarterback Landry jones stepped up and attempted to simply throw away a pass and get the Sooners to a 4th down to punt. But OSU senior defensive tackle Chris Donaldson applied the pressure, causing the ball to float and was intercepted by soph. cornerback Brodrick Brown. A Jeremy Smith 28 yard run to the OU 8 set up OSU’s first score of the game, a 23 yard Dan Bailey field goal. 

OSU would then commit their first turnover with 47 seconds to go in the first quarter as freshman safety Tony Jefferson tipped Weeden’s pass and senior safety Quinton Carter intercepted the ball and returned it to the OSU 31. OU would take that drive into the opening moments of the second quarter and score on a 2 yard pass from Jones to junior wide receiver Ryan Broyles. At the 13:29 mark, OU led 14-3 and looked to be taking control of the game.

On the ensuing possession for the Cowboys, Weeden retreated away from pressure by junior linebacker Austin Box and lazily tossed a pass over the middle that was intercepted again by Quinton Carter. Weeden looked noticeable hobbled after the play and OU looked to put a nail in the coffin of the Pokes; however, after the Sooners gained a mere 3 yards on the following two plays from scrimmage, Landry Jones once again tossed an interception, this time to freshman linebacker Shaun Lewis who returned the pick 52 yards for a touchdown, cutting into the Sooner lead 14-10. 

The Sooners got a little help in their next drive from the OSU defense as the Cowboys held OU to a 4th and 10 at their 35 yard line. After OU took a 5 yard delay of game penalty, OSU freshman cornerback Justin Gilbert was called for roughing punter Tres Way, giving the Sooners a fresh set of downs at the Poke 25. Jones hooked up with senior wideout Cameron Kenney for passes of 16 yards to the Cowboy 8 and 6 yards for the Sooners third touchdown of the game. With 6:44 remaining, the Sooners lead was extended to 11, 21-10.

After an OSU 3-and-out and punt, poke cornerback Brodrick Brown would make the best defensive play to date in the 2010 college football season. On first and ten from the   Cowboy 42, Landry Jones rolled out of the pocket and once again looked to throw the ball into the sidelines and set up the Sooners for a second down play. Jones’ pass came out flat and the 5’ 8” Brown leaped from in-bounds toward the Sooner bench and tipped the ball back into the field of play where Shaun Lewis awaited the ally-oop and intercepted Jones once again, returning the ball to the Sooner 48. 

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, their offense could not produce any points after committing 2 offsides penalties and punted the ball back to the Sooners. After a 3-and-out by OU, the Cowboys took the ball at their own 41. Weeden took a a first down snap and hit a streaking Justin Blackmon on a 45 yard pass to set up the Pokes at the 14. Three plays later, freshman running back Jeremy Smith scored from 2 yards out to take the score to 21-17 with 1:08 to play in the half. 

The Sooners offense was not quite done and after a short kickoff, a 20 yard pass to Cameron Kenney, 3 more passes for 18 yards and a final 18 yard strike to junior tight end James Hanna, OU kicked their first field goal of the game from 29 yards out by Jimmy Stevens. As the teams entered halftime, OU held a touchdown lead 24-17.

At halftime, OSU was winning the turnover battle 2-3 as Weeden tossed two ints while Jones had three. One area that glaring stood out for the entire game was offensive plays. At half, OU had 60 snaps while OSU’s offense tallied almost half of those with 32. OU racked up 267 yards, while the Pokes managed just 164. Another area of concern for the Cowboys were third down conversions. Bill Young’s defense allowed OU to convert 8 of 14 third down attempts while OSU was only able to convert on 2 of 8 chances. 

Despite his 3 interceptions, Landry Jones did have 2 touchdown passes and racked up 195 yards on 20 completions. Brandon Weeden’s numbers weren’t quite as good at the half as he completed only 10 passes for 114 yards, 2 interceptions and no touchdowns. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the inability of the Cowboys to get any type of running game going. All-American candidate Kendall Hunter had 13 yards on 6 rushes. Conversely, Demarco Murray had 51 yards rushing on 11 attempts and added 4 receptions for 28 yards. 

When the second half opened, the Cowboy offense opened up with a nice rhythm and balance, driving 80 yards in 8 plays, scoring on a 20 yard pass from Weeden to junior receiver Josh Cooper, tying the game 24 all with 11:54 to play. 

The remainder of the 3rd quarter saw Tres Way and Quinn Sharp take center stage as the two punters exchanged 4 punts while both team’s offenses tried to get back on track to take the lead. It wasn’t until OU received Sharp’s punt at their own 19 yard line that the Sooners decided to wake up and put together a drive for points.

OU converted 4 third downs on the drive that started at the 3:55 mark of the third quarter. With 14:25 left in the final frame, Jones missed on two consecutive passes to freshman receiver Kenny Stills and Jimmy Stevens kicked his second field goal to take the lead 27-24.

The Pokes offense had no answer for the Sooner score and punted the ball back which the Sooners drove down the field 64 yards in 15 plays, chewing up 5:18 seconds of clock, hitting on a 31 yard field goal from Stevens. OSU had to put points on the board soon, but the Sooners defense would step up and make a play on the Pokes’ first play on the drive. 

Brandon Weeden took his first down snap form the 25 yard line and looked to pass right. What he failed to see was soph. linebacker/defensive end Ronnell Lewis stepping into the pocket. Lewis tipped Weeden’s pass high in the air and junior middle linebacker Austin Box dove and intercepted the ball at the OSU 18. But once again, the Sooners had to settle for another field goal from Stevens, this time from 26 yards out. With 5:53 left in the game, the Sooners led by nine, 33-24.

When OSU received the following kickoff, Bedlam - as most fans of this rivalry know it - finally began. From their own 34 yard line, the Cowboys saw their trio of offensive stars step up and make plays for the first time in the game. Weeden went 5-for-5 on the drive for 45 yards, Kendall Hunter busted loose for a 21 yard scamper, and Justin Blackmon caught his first touchdown of the game - a 15 yard strike - with 4:06 left in the game, cutting the lead for OU to 2, 33-31.

T. Boone Pickens stadium was rocking as the Pokes kicked off to the Sooners. After senior running back Mossis Madu rushed for a 2 yard loss and Landry Jones missed a pass to Ryan Broyles, the Cowboy fans had good reason to be optimistic. But, on third and twelve  from their own 14 - remember I said third down conversions were huge for the Cowboy defense - Landry Jones dropped back and found Cameron Kenney across the middle of the field and Kenney did the rest, rumbling 86 yards to put the Sooners up 40-31. 

With 3:03 remaining, most thought OU’s defense would get to face an onslaught from the Cowboy’s offense, but no one in Stillwater could have anticipated that, on the ensuing kickoff, freshman returner Justin Gilbert would return the kick 89 yards for a touchdown, taking the score back to only a 2 point deficit, 40-38.

Once again, the Sooners’ offense took the field to try and ice the game. OU appeared to be ready to do just that as their first play from their own 20 saw Madu rush for 4 yards. OSU spent their second timeout of the game and at the 2:44 mark, the Sooners lined up in what looked like a running formation. The Cowboys bit hard on Jones’ fake to Demarco Murray and tight end James Hanna ran right past the OSU linebackers and secondary, untouched, as Jones hit him perfectly in stride and Hanna turned on the jets, outrunning Johnny Thomas en route to a 76 yard score. After just 2 plays in 17 seconds,  OU had finally put the game away at 47-38. 

OSU would put together one last drive with Weeden hooking up with receivers Bo Bowling and Josh Cooper for a total of 37 yards with Hunter adding a 3 yard rush to set up a 34 yard Dan Bailey field goal for what would be the last score of the game. Bailey’s following on-side kick was recovered by OU’s Ryan Broyles and the Sooners wrapped up the 105th meeting of Bedlam 47-41.

It took a while, but the final 5 minutes of Bedlam helped the game live up to the billing of one of the best games in the 105 year history of the series. A total of 40 points, 355 yards of offense and an 89 yard kickoff return were all fielded in the last quarter alone. Landry Jones tied a school record for passing yards in a game with 468 and the soph. quarterback ended up with 4 touchdown passes on the night. Demarco Murray added 121 all-purpose yards on the night as receivers Cameron Kenney, who broke out for his best game of his short career at OU grabbing 6 passes for 141 yards and 2 scores, and Ryan Broyles, who caught 9 balls for 82 yards and a score, aided in Jones onslaught. Tight end James Hanna racked up 130 yards as well on just 4 catches and the score that sealed the victory for the Sooners.

Maybe the most impressive performance of the night came from OU’s defensive game as the front seven - of whom received major criticism from a number of media outlets leading up to the game - completely shut down OSU’s all-conference running back Kendall Hunter, holding him to 57 yards rushing and only one pass catch for 4 yards. The secondary and linebackers also put up a strong performance intercepting Weeden 3 times and consistently pressuring the 27-year-old into tough throws. 

With the win, the Sooners once again force a three-way tie for the Big XII south division title. And, just like in the 2008 season, the team with the highest BCS ranking would make it in to the championship game, so long as there is more than one spot separating the top two teams. With OU currently ranked 13th in the BCS and Texas A & M at 17, and with teams ahead of OU - namely, Boise State, Oklahoma State and Alabama - losing this Thanksgiving weekend, one would think that the last Big XII championship game of the current conference would be one last meeting between another storied rival of the Sooners as they will face the Nebraska Cornhuskers. 

The Cowboys end their regular season at 10-2 and now await bowl assignment next Sunday. Depending on what the Sooners accomplish in the Big XII championship game, the Cowboys could be looking at a short trip to the Cotton Bowl and/or the Alamo Bowl. The Sooners look to play themselves into another Fiesta Bowl berth where the Sooners have not won since a Christmas Day, 41-7 drubbing of Wyoming in the 1976 game when Barry Switzer was at the helm of the Sooners. But, first things first, the North division champion Cornhuskers await the Sooners in Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Tx next Saturday for the final championship game of this conference.