The moment Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree grabbed the football from two Texas defenders and muscled his way into the endzone, he practically rendered every reporter in Oklahoma powerless this week.
No matter what the question, how it’s worded, or how many times it’s asked, every Sooner will give the same answers.
“You have to take it one game at a time.”
“There’s still a lot of football to be played.”
“The only thing we can control is ourselves.”
And while those quotes are nothing more than coach-taught (or maybe common sense) clichés, they’re true.
The real question is, can the Sooners take their own advice?
There is a difference between last Friday and today. Although OU still needs many things to fall its way to make it to the Big 12 title game and possibly the BCS championship, it all began with a Texas loss.
And now OU has hope.
But there are a lot of things out of the Sooners’ hands. It is pivotal for them to have the same mindset today that they’ve had ever since the Texas loss.
They need to think as if the Texas/Texas Tech showdown was just another game. But can they?
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If it was just another game, then why did the crowd erupt when score updates flashed on Oklahoma Memorial Stadium scoreboard on Saturday night?
If the game was insignificant, then why were hundreds of people gathered outside O’Connell’s after the game watching the Red Raiders’ victory on the big screen?
The fact is, in Norman, Tech’s win felt like a big deal. It wasn’t meaningless, because if Texas had won, the Sooners could have practically kissed their chances of winning the Big 12 south goodbye.
But the Texas loss doesn’t hand the title to OU either, it simply extends that hope for one more week.
And the rest of the season won’t be easy.
The Sooners appear to still be adjusting to the changes at middle linebacker. The special teams may be improving, but isn’t solid. And OU is going to face some talented teams at the end of the season.
So Texas Tech’s win helps the Sooners, but there’s still work to be done. If they become so focused on elements that are out of their control, they’ll drop a game themselves.
The players know it, and all week they’ll say the right things. They need to play the rest of this season one game at a time. They have to focus on their next opponent and nothing else. OU can only control OU.
But will they believe the words coming out of their own mouths?
It shouldn’t take much time to find out.
— Steven Jones is a language arts junior.
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dbh 3 years, 6 months ago
Right on Target with this news story. Sooners keep focused and will take it one game at a time. Stoops leads the troops!!