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Sooners offense must prove its worth

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Mark Kriegel

Mark Kriegel is the national columnist for FOXSports.com. He is the author of two New York Times best sellers, Namath: A Biography and Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich, which Sports Illustrated called "the best sports biography of the year."

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Updated Jan 7, 2009 4:03 PM ET
     
 

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.

Coach Bob Stoops, whose reputation as "Big Game Bob" is in some peril, didn't appreciate my question. This was Tuesday afternoon, after his Oklahoma Sooners had finished practicing at a place called Barry University.
The Big 12 schools, I began, aren't scoring nearly as much in these bowl games as they did during the regular season. Why do you think that is? Stoops paused — a disdainful pause, I might add — before issuing a deadpan answer. "They haven't scored as many points," he said. "That's up to you guys to decide why." Guy's a little sensitive, huh? Then again, maybe he's got reason to be. "I guess, to answer your question, what about other teams?" he said. "I don't know whether they scored more points or not. I'm just wondering what the averages are for the other conferences, and if they're up or down. My guess is they're probably down, too. But again, that would be for you guys to research." That was his way of calling me a lazy SOB sportswriter. And that I may be, but I also have the benefit of the geniuses who work at STATS INC. and take my calls and make me look much smarter than I am. According to STATS INC., the average Division I football team scored 27.2 points a game. In bowl games, the number dropped to 25.2.

Big 12 bust?

Graham HarrellThe Big 12's best haven't been living up to the hype in their bowl games. Only Kansas improved on its scoring average in the postseason:
 
Reg. season
Bowl game
School
Record
PPG
Record
Points
Texas
11-1
43.9
1-0
24
Texas Tech
11-1
44.6
0-1
34
Okla. St.
9-3
41.6
0-1
31
Missouri
9-4
43.2
1-0
30
Nebraska
8-4
36.2
1-0
26
Kansas
7-5
32.7
1-0
42
Totals
55-18
40.4
4-2
31.2
So, technically, Stoops guessed right. Scoring is down — if only just a tiny bit. But you have to wonder if the Big 12 schools are bringing the average down all by themselves. Consider some of these scores:
  • Texas Tech, fifth in the country at 44.6 points a game during the regular season, lost 47-34 to Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl.
  • Oklahoma State, ninth in the country — averaging 41.6 — lost to Oregon 42-31 in the Holiday Bowl.
  • Missouri, which beat Northwestern at the Alamo Bowl in overtime, scored 30 points — more than 13 points below its season average.
Even Texas's dramatic win over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, obscures the fact that the Longhorns were lucky to finish with 24 points, which was still 20 fewer than they usually put up. By my calculations, going into the BCS championship, Big 12 scoring is down by an average of more than nine points in the bowl games. So there you go, Mr. Bob. Those are the facts. And none of them do much to bolster faith in the caliber of defense played in your conference. Of course, that's the whole subtext here. That's what had "Big Game Bob" feeling, well, not so big. This has been a banner year for offense in his conference. Of the top ten scoring teams in college football, five hail from the Big 12: Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Missouri and Oklahoma State. Member institutions regularly posted scores that belonged in the Arena Football League. But even among the Big 12, the Sooners — good for 54 points a game — generated numbers previously unimagined, becoming the first team to score more than 700 points in a season. Even as they did, though, Big 12 defenses came under suspicion. The bowl season has only intensified these misgivings. Basically, the agenda for Thursday's BCS championship game between Oklahoma and Florida was set weeks ago, when Tim Tebow was quoted as saying: "I'd really like to throw against some of those defenses in the Big 12." Now Tebow can run from the quote if he wants. But his point, well taken then, seems even more relevant now. The burden of proof is on Oklahoma, which allowed 359 yards and more than 24 points a game. Like their coach, the Sooners have been a little testy in response to the remark that Tebow now says was (what else?) taken out of context. First, cornerback Dominique Franks said that Tebow would be no better than the fourth-best quarterback in the Big 12. Then Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes said that the Big 12 defenses are "a joke." Next, Oklahoma safety Nic Harris issued his assessment of Florida's offense: "Pretty much what I thought ... one dimensional." This is all very good for lazy sportswriters. But it misses the point. This "one-dimensional" offense belongs to an SEC team that scored 45 points a game. Now I understand why Stoops was in such a testy mood. Maybe I would've been better off asking him about his record in BCS games.
Tagged: Ohio State, Oregon, Florida, Northwestern, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Missouri

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