MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — Oklahoma senior linebacker Eric Striker exited the field for the final time in 2015 much differently than a year ago.
After the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl, he was angry. There was a fire in his eyes. Striker even shouted he would return for his final season of eligibility.
Instead, as he and the rest of the Sooners walked off the field after No. 4 OU (11-2, 8-1 Big 12) fell 37-17 to No. 1 Clemson (14-0, 8-0 ACC) in the Orange Bowl semifinal of the College Football Playoff, Striker was mostly quiet.
“Walking off that field, you get a little emotional because you can never come back to it,” he said. “So you try to soak it in a little bit, see your family and the fans still here waving you on, just to salute.”
When he and fellow senior Ty Darlington sat down next to their coach, Bob Stoops, at the postgame press conference, both players looked somber.
As he spoke, Darlington’s eyes burned red with tears, much differently than Striker’s eyes exactly 367 nights before after Clemson put a 40-6 beat down on OU in Orlando, just 220 miles north.
“I mean, to obviously walk off the field for the last time in this uniform, in this manner, really hurts a lot,” Darlington said.
Oklahoma’s losses to Clemson the last two season have come under very different circumstances. In 2014, the Sooners were on the tail end of a disappointing 8-5 campaign that started with national title aspirations. The Oklahoma sideline looked defeated as the Tigers took a 27-point lead before halftime.
Players and coaches walked off the field with arms crossed and eyes dry. It was just another loss.
But this time around, OU was never supposed to be here. Facing an undefeated opponent with a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship on the line wasn’t on the menu in August.
Striker will never put on an Oklahoma jersey and run onto the field again. However, as he fought back tears speaking to reporters, he still said the 2014 loss hurts worse.
“Last year, it was just embarrassing. The way we ended, the way we finished,” he said. “I felt the fight in this game. I felt like we were there. Everybody was well prepared. It obviously just hurt. We were really close.”
Across the spacious locker room at Sun Life Stadium — much different than the temporary trailer locker rooms the Sooners had grown accustomed to — senior wide receivers Durron Neal and Sterling Shepard sat in their lockers with blank looks on their faces.
“I've just been sitting here next to Sterling, just taking everything in, we're not going to be able to be in this locker room with these guys anymore. We're just enjoying the moment,” Neal said.
Unlike Striker, last season’s loss to Clemson didn’t compare to the pain he felt Thursday. At least he had the opportunity to avenge the disappointment he felt exiting the field in Orlando.
Now, Neal will never suit up in crimson and cream again. He’ll always be just short of reaching the ultimate prize.
“Now, this being my final time putting on this jersey…” he trailed off. “Both times definitely hurt. Last year, it hurt, too. But this year, with what was in front of us, it hurt a little bit more.”
The game ran high with emotion before either team set foot on the field. Trash had been talked in the week preceding the game. Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett said he expected his team to walk over the Sooners — a prediction which came true.
Then reports surfaced Thursday morning of an incident involving Clemson and OU players after a luncheon the day before. The timing matched with tweets sent by Oklahoma players.
Stoops said the altercation was purely verbal and no punches were thrown.
“In the end you've got 40 guys getting ready to play the next day are all jacked up and can't wait to play, and they get stuck in a little tunnel right together, it's not a good chemistry,” Stoops said.
The Sooners certainly had the intensity pregame. They had the emotion postgame. It was the 60 minutes of game time in the middle that were lacking.
“We didn't come out and from the start I felt like we didn't play well, and we had a great week of prep. We came out with lots of energy,” Darlington said. “We didn't execute well, and I'm disappointed that we let our fans down in that way because we know how many people it really meant something to, beyond just us.”
Still, Striker said he won’t let a loss or two to Clemson, or anything else, affect the way he looks back on his four years at Oklahoma. From a freshman utility player on special teams to the outspoken leader of an elite college football program as a senior, Striker has come a long way.
“It's been a great run, and it's been a great four years, learned a lot as a leader, as a young man” he said. “I couldn't be more proud. That's what I'm really thinking about. It's been a good run.”
