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Woelk: Sooners playing with chip on shoulders
Maybe it began in the summer of 2006, when two Oklahoma players were kicked off the team for being paid for work they never performed.
Most likely, it started for real last fall, when the Sooners lost to Oregon on a controversial instant replay call, a call for which the Pac-10 later issued an apology.
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Most certainly, it continued in the Fiesta Bowl, when the heavily favored Sooners suffered an embarrassing loss to upstart Boise State, a loss compounded by the fact that the Broncos did it with some sandlot ball.
And no doubt, it came to a crescendo just a couple of months ago when the OU program found itself being slapped around by the NCAA for a long list of violations.
That's a healthy string of embarrassing moments — and the Sooners are mad. Ticked off. Angry at the world, and ready to take it out on anyone who gets in their way.
So far, the list includes North Texas, Miami, Utah State and Tulsa.
Saturday, the team that's averaging more than 60 points per game and is ranked No. 3 in the nation comes to Folsom Field to meet Colorado.
So, Dan Hawkins, are the Sooners playing like they have a chip on their shoulders?
"No question," the CU coach said Tuesday. "They are definitely playing that way."
Certainly, the Sooners appear to be a team on a mission, with the goal — naturally — being another shot at a national title.
OU coach Bob Stoops already has one to his credit, winning it all in 2000. The Sooners also played for the national title in 2003 (sort of) and for real in2004, but lost both times.
Now they have another legitimate shot at the belt, but the current polls say there are two teams ahead of them, Southern Cal and LSU. If you're looking for even a little more incentive, figure this: those are the last two teams to beat OU in national title games.
Of course, there are only a couple of ways to get past at least one of those two.
Either USC or LSU has to slip, or the Sooners have to be so impressive in winning that the national pollsters — and the computers — move them up a notch.
Impressive means big wins. Big wins mean lots and lots of points on offense and zip on defense.
So far, so good. The Sooners are not only averaging a national-best 61.5 points per game, they're giving up a measly 11.75 points per game, meaning they're winning by an average of 50 points per game.
That's a big, big chip.
"They are a very complete football team," Hawkins allowed. "Very complete. There's no weaknesses."
There's also an interesting twist here this week with Hawkins vs. Oklahoma.
Hawkins is the guy who recruited those players to Boise who beat the Sooners. There's no doubt he still has an affinity for the program, and no doubt he was more than a little proud when the Broncos pulled off their Fiesta Bowl upset.
But now he's seeing the results. He knows the Fiesta Bowl loss only fueled the Sooners' offseason fires.
"If you can use that as energy, you probably come out swinging a little harder," Hawkins said.
And the Sooners are definitely swinging.
Still, Hawkins relishes the opportunity ahead of his team. There's nothing like playing the No. 3 team in the nation to get a true reading on your team.
"If you're the right kind of coach and the right kind of team, you want to play the great teams," Hawkins said.
Saturday, the Buffs will have that chance.
Question is, do they really want to knock that chip off the Sooners' shoulders?
Posted by GoBuffs05 on September 26, 2007 at 9:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Obviously Oklahoma is a very powerful team, and they've made it clear they are capable of putting up rediculous numbers. But the Buffs seem to have made the best of a bad situation. No one really expects them to do anything but roll over and die after the first quarter, so they have nothing to lose, it's a home game and should have a good crowd, they are coming off a confidence-buiding Miami win, and Oklahoma is probably looking passed the Buffs towards Texas. Sure seems like the best recipe to dethrone the mighty Sooners. GO BUFFS!
Posted by JerrieP on September 26, 2007 at 11:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe Mike Gundy was more correct than I gave him credit for.
This article illustrates how false impressions can be created by how a writer chooses to make a point.
For example, OU was not "heavily favored" in the Fiesta Bowl. Odds makers had OU favored by a single TD and Boise was ranked higher in the polls.
Also, there was no "long list of violations". There is in reality only one allegation against the school itself which is that had OU collected pay slips more consistently they would've known about the Bomar/Quinn/Hardison overpayment problem earlier. The "long" thing about it is the NCAA's substantiation of that one allegation along with it's justification for calling a donar/season ticket holder a "booster" which is necessary for them to have any case against OU, period. No one at OU is even alleged to have had any violation at all (beyond the 3 players involved) which is why the NCAA had to fight so hard to stretch donar/season ticket holder into booster to make a case.
Posted by lightsout on September 26, 2007 at 2:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm a Colorado native living in Sooner country, and the Sooners are definitely looking past CU and onward to Texas. The local media is already running smack on Texas and OU players are as well. I'm hoping for the upset but will settle for a realtively close game, so I do not have to face co workers monday. GO BUFFS!
Posted by extrapoint on September 26, 2007 at 7:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
what a load!
Neil must have never delivered or received a "hit.'
Anyone serious about playing football, has "chip on their shoulder" (can we come up with a new cliche, please?)
It is a violent sport. If you dont enter the game with an attitude you have lost before it begins.
Posted by trubuff on September 27, 2007 at 8:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Some of you guys need to go back to your OU fan page. JerrieP, you obviously went to OU, you can't even spell "donar" (its donor smart guy). And I'm sure the "Big Red Sports and Imports" car dealership has no ties to the local red college football team. Just a coincidence, huh? Take your tractors back to the flatland. I have the feeling the IQ level in Boulder will be temporarily dropping this weekend, especially in the NW endzone. Lets Go Buffs, Big Upset!!!!
Posted by trubuff on September 27, 2007 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Its all in good fun. I actually hope the OU fans enjoy their weekend in Boulder (except for a few hours on Sat) and that the CU fans are nice to them. But when you go to the other team's site and try to rag on our great columnist you are asking for it.
Posted by JerrieP on September 27, 2007 at 11:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oops, you're right, I was putting an "a" in there on donor. Gee, that changes everything!! LOL
Dude, I'm glad he's a great columnist, but we all know a few words here and a little slant there can really have a significant effect on the impression the reader takes away. Like "heavy favorite" for 7 point odds, for example.
Anyway, good luck Buffs, after Saturday at least.
Posted by JasperJohns on September 27, 2007 at 1:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Does anyone know how many times 2ndbuff has steered a discussion about something completely unrelated to the subject of Cody Hawkins' height?
You're right 2ndbuff, his height HAS been brought up several times, BY YOU. Let. It. Go.
Someone cue up WhosYourDaddy to say that the Sooners only have a chip on their shoulders because all of their players have been victims of nepotism, just like all of the astounding quarterback recruits the Buffs have on their roster who aren't named Cody Hawkins. Go ahead WhosYourDaddy, it's your turn... then you and 2ndbuff can pat each other on the ass for the next 5 or 6 days, you know the drill...
Posted by JasperJohns on September 27, 2007 at 2:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My apologies, but I don't have my cache of game films available for review right now. Could you please provide me with a detailed list of all of the instances that the middle of the field has been open? You know, since you claim it's such an often occurrence and everything.
What barrage of negative comments? Are you referring to the part of my post where I laid out what you and WhosYourDaddy were about to do, just like you've already done dozens of times before in the past few weeks? I wouldn't call that a barrage of negative comments, I'd call that a can't miss prediction of the immediate future.
Posted by JasperJohns on September 27, 2007 at 4:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well OF COURSE the Buffs aren't going to be able to pass to the middle of the field this Saturday - the Sooners linebackers will have that area of the field covered, and they're so uniformly spectacular that every one of them will go on to have a wildly successful career in the NFL, remember? And aside from that, with Stoops being such an uncompromising genius and all, the Buffs will be lucky to successfully execute one center to quarterback exchange, let alone an entire play (and passing plays are really hard!). Come on 2ndbuff, you know better than that!
Let's wait until the Baylor game to make any tick marks; there's really no point in keeping score when you're playing against a team of Gods anyway (Gods who averaged a 4 on the ACTs, but Gods just the same). Plus Stoops is like a God controlling Gods... he's a SUPERGOD!!! Even God himself can't beat SuperGod, oh the humanity!!!
Posted by TallyBuff on September 27, 2007 at 4:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Neil is a reliable columnist, but certainly not a great one, and I have to say that the "chip on their shoulder" is a bit tired. But I strongly suspect that Stoops and his staff have made effective use of various issues raised by Neil to get the team's attention and get them to be more focused in practice. Anyone who has taken a hit should know the difference that makes.
The interesting angle for me is that the past three regular season CU-OU games have been very close going into the 4th quarter (the Big XII title game was a completely different story). I suspect we will see another one of those regular season contests. I do think that OU will prevail (though not due to Little Hawk's height), but the Buffs have a shot. I will be in Jacksonville at the Bama-FSU tilt and hope to find a bar where I can catch the game.
Posted by Buff1221 on September 27, 2007 at 7:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
JasperJohns awesome post. Lets not forget that Oklahomas quarterback is also a freshman and he has never faced a defense as good as ours, (or at least how we have played the last few games). Oklahoma also only scored ten points against us going into the 4th quarter while they had the ball most of the game. Hit Bradford in the mouth a couple times and he will become flustered especially with 60,000 fans screaming at him. If we can send some blitzes at him and hit him early and hard, via Dizon, or Walters. Then move the ball much better then we did against Florida State we will have a chance to win this game.
Go Buffs.
Posted by mtnboykev35 on September 27, 2007 at 8:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
2nd buff. The lone TD against FSU was over the middle! but they need to look to the TE more...
as for the great QB hype, total pass yrds by Bradford 1076, Hawkins 944....significant diff?
yes the TD to int ratio is much diff but if Celestine and Williams could catch then atleast two more TD's and two of Hawks int were end of game/half jump balls......
Posted by ColoradoPaul on September 27, 2007 at 9:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The posts here sometimes get sophomoric, you guys need to get away from the computer sometime.
One of my favorite memories of CU football was in 1972 when a heavily favored Sooner team, ranked second in the nation, came into Folsom and lost 20-14. Sports Illustrated described the crowd as a horde of drunken hippies. The crowd can be a force at home, that's why they call it the 12th man. For those of you who weren't even on the planet then, it can happen.
Keep the Red Out. Go Buffs.
Posted by Dizonrocks on September 28, 2007 at 1:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
On ESPN's Sports Nation Poll predicting Week 5 results, nearly 108,000 votes so far and it's 55% OU, 45% CU.Buffs getting some respect.
Posted by phatmack on September 28, 2007 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Niiiice. I'm getting PUMPED for this game!
Posted by Dizonrocks on September 28, 2007 at 4:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ESPN Sports Nation Poll update...121,945 votes...
Colorado wins = 50.1% Oklahoma wins = 49.9%...
GO BUFFS!!
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