Click here to read why Tobi Neidy thinks OU will win in the 2009 Brut Sun Bowl

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Ever since I was a freshman I’ve had gut feelings about games the Sooners will lose. Each time I get this feeling, they lose.

Coincidence? Maybe, but until I’m proven otherwise I’m sticking with it.

I know the game is a few weeks away, but I’m already getting this bad feeling that OU will not return from El Paso, Texas, with its first bowl win since 2005. There are a multitude of reasons why that sulking feeling is emerging, but the greatest has to be because I’m not a fan of the Sooners when they’re away from Owen Field.

OU has a putrid 1-5 record when it is the road team or is playing on a neutral field, and averages 16.2 points per game on the road. The Sooners best offensive output on the road was 35 points against a Kansas Jayhawks team that finished last in the Big 12 North.

Neither the coaches nor the players will admit there is a difference in the team’s style of play at home compared to on the road, but OU’s six road performances don’t lie.

With freshman quarterback Landry Jones at the helm, the Sooners’ offense failed to eclipse 400 offensive yards even once on the road, a feat that it did all but one time at home.

Even though Jones is playing the closest to Artesia, N.M., as he has all season, the road has not been his friend. He has thrown twice as many interceptions as touchdowns – 10 interceptions versus five touchdowns – and had his worst performance of the year when he threw five interceptions in a loss against Nebraska.

Also, the last time we saw the Sooners on the road they put up the worst defensive performance of the season.

At Texas Tech, a place where OU has a three-game losing streak, the Red Raiders’ offense manhandled the Sooners’ defense. Led by junior quarterback Taylor Potts, the offense scored 41 points, threw for 388 yards and ran for 161 yards – all season highs for OU’s defense.

Some call that defensive performance a fluke, especially with the shutout the defense posted the following week against Oklahoma State, but the game should not be forgotten.

The reason why it shouldn’t be forgotten comes in the form of Stanford senior running back Toby Gerhart. Gerhart ran for 1,736 yards with 26 touchdowns this season, and is one of five finalists for the 2009 Heisman Trophy.

Even if OU’s offense has a good game, I do not see the Sooners overcoming a dominating performance by Gerhart.

The only way the Sooners will win the Sun Bowl is if they shut him down and hold Stanford’s offense — who scored 51 points against Oregon 55 and points against Southern California in back-to-back games— to less than 20 points.

Again, I don’t see that happening, which means this year’s senior class will have graduated without winning a single bowl game at OU.