Emails on Heisman and Florida
The new emails are in, and no big surprise, Sam Bradford is the talk of the town.
Greg wrote, “If Sam does leave for NFL riches, and I believe he will (and should), most impressive beyond TD/interception ratio is he is a 3.95 student and is flush with real humility. Good parenting, good coaching and a kid with his head screwed on properly. Whatever happens tonight, Sam is a winner, and on Jan. 8, I believe he will lead OU to an eighth.”
Hard to argue now that Bradford should stay.
Jim wrote about the Norman Transcript’s John Shinn voting for Colt McCoy on the Heisman. “What was he thinking? OU fans have proven to be very sensitive and even hostile toward the national media when a negative story or thought is published. This unsavory side of too many Sooners will only be magnified when the hometown writer tries to justify why he voted for the disliked archrival on his Heisman ballot. I find it hard to believe that he did not realize he was getting ready to kick sand into the face of the Monster.”
Maybe Shinn was thinking he ought to do what he was asked to do: vote for whoever he thought deserved the award.
P.J.,not Carlesimo, wrote, “I have an idea for the Heisman Trophy to make it meaningful as the best college player rather than the best QB or running back or an occasional receiver. Wait until all the position awards have been awarded and instruct all the Heisman voters to choose the winner from one of the position awards winners. It would still be a little lopsided in favor of the QBs, but it might give the Butkus Award or the Thorpe Award winner more consideration.”
It also would give the Butkus and Thorpe awards more status, and in the dog-eat-dog world of college football trophies, I’m not so sure the Heisman wants to prop up any competitor.
Matt wrote, “I know who will win. I saw a replay of last year with Tebow, and he had a cast on his right arm. That clinches it. Sophomore QBs with casts on their non-throwing arm win the Heisman. Fortunately for Sooner fans, that is Bradford.”
It’s enough to make Colt McCoy go have surgery next year before the Heisman ceremony, don’t you think?
Jasen wrote, “How do you think Bradford would have done as a true freshman compared to Paul Thompson?”
I think he would have done about like Paul Thompson would have done in 2003 compared to Jason White. Not even close.
Jeff wrote, “Why doesn’t OU ever invite Troy Aikman to some OU games and honor him for his contributions to OU? After all, he was our QB (and becoming a great one) until the ‘Canes broke his leg and Jamelle Holieway took over with the wishbone.”
Maybe the reason he’s not honored is because he started four games and then transferred to UCLA. Aikman started as many games at quarterback as Jake Sills.
Bob wrote, “Do you think Sam is ready for the NFL? I think he has the talent, but I do not think he is ready physically. I’m not sure he can take the pounding he is going to get in the NFL. I know that money can change minds, but I think he also wants to be a great player at the next level and one more year will make a huge difference.”
No one is ready for the physical pounding of the NFL. The way you survive in the NFL is to not get hit.
Eric, an OU fan out in Lubbock, reports that “all the talk out here in Lubbock is how Graham Harrell got snubbed. The media here have a serious chip on their collective shoulders and inferiority complex. One of them said on the radio a few weeks back that in the eyes of Oklahoma, ‘Texas Tech is a pimple on the butt of the Big 12.’ Frankly, I think most of the talking heads out here are full of something. But, what would you say to those critics who say that the Heisman is tainted? That it’s a popularity contest that’s exclusive to only the ‘big’ schools, thereby overlooking schools like Tech?”
I would say they’re probably right.
David wrote, “After only two years on campus (for Bradford), I would go so far as to call him the best OU QB ever, pending how he does on the biggest stage of all. And what astonishes me is how close this came to not happening. Your column reminding us how this might have been Bomar’s senior year was wonderful, but is just half the story there, I think. What I marvel at now is that even after Master Rhett left in disgrace, the job STILL had to be won from the kid many thought of as the future after Bomar: Keith Nichol. This adds even more to the aura of Bradford: he was always the regular guy, not a superstar recruit, who took the job by the horns and showed the world what few knew he had. A story similar to Steve Davis, to me. With the blessings of the football gods, a man named Sam Bradford fell into our laps.”
I’ve got to say. Nothing against Kid Nichol, but no way could anyone see him throw the football and see Sam Bradford throw the football and still think there was a quarterback derby. Recruiting hype again means very little.
Terry also wrote about Bomar, “I agree absolutely that Bomar would have gotten much better and Sammy would still be on the bench. The one thing I’m not so sure about is how well overall the team would have done with Bomar at the helm. I have heard that because of his attitude he was not well liked. I expect Bomar to play in the NFL if he has his head screwed on right, but he was not the team player that Sammy is and that can make a big difference.”
Here’s my take. OU 2007 would have better with Bomar at quarterback. OU 2008 would have been worse.
Denver wrote about Bradford/Bomar: “I think it all comes down to karma. It is a funny thing, maybe because I played baseball and we are all kind of goofy when it comes to things like karma. Bradford is such a good person and has not changed a bit through all of his success. Bomar was cheating and when this came to surface, it paved the way for Bradford. Jason White is another example of good karma. He couldn’t be a nicer guy and look at all he went through but came out great. On the flip side look at O.J. Simpson!”
Well, generally, yes, I think you’re better off not breaking NCAA rules or state laws.
Now, on to general Sooner stuff. Bob wrote, “Just think of the things that did happen and didn’t happen for OU to get into the championship game. Tech had to beat Nebraska in overtime. Tech had to beat OSU. Tech had to beat Texas. Texas had to drop two easy interceptions against Tech. Cincinnati and TCU had to keep winning. Penn State had to lose one of its last three easy games. Southern Cal had to lose to one patsy in the Pac-10. All of this had to happen just for OU to get into the Big 12 game and it did. This is destiny for OU, and I believe that as long as everyone keeps bragging on Florida, OU will win that game.”
Actually, not all of that stuff had to happen. The Sooners needed Tech to come through against Texas. Everything else went about how you’d expect.
Steve, like many an OU fan, already has started worrying. But he’s got a good point: “It seems to me that with a few exceptions, the OU football team doesn’t handle the layoff very well. They get the offense humming toward the end of the season and then the layoff seems to throw off the timing. It’s been that way for at least 30 years. The Arkansas Orange Bowl in 1978 was a perfect example. In the Stoops era, I don’t think OU played that well in a few bowl games they won with Arkansas in 2002 and Florida State in 2000. The difference is that the defenses played very well.”
Maybe it comes down to this question. Would OU fans take less offensive production against Florida if it meant a stiffer defensive game? Or would you play it like it is?
Cindy wrote, “When my daughter married the love of her life, I knew he was a Florida fan. Now, here we are facing a bedlam for the ages. HIs family and our family, Gators vs Sooners. Here we go. Never thought it would come to this. We are blessed in that we received tickets through OU. What a deal.”
These are situations that should be discussed before holy matrimony.
Jim wrote, “It seems that the SEC pitted their two best teams on a neutral field at the end of the year, while the Big 12 pitted theirs in October. It just happens that the two best in the SEC didn’t meet mid season this year, and the Big 12’s did. I think that Bama and OU’s season parallel each other, and Texas and Florida the same. So why shouldn’t Bama be in there? OU got in on the same scenario. Just played the most important game a different time of the year. Unless the ‘whole body of work’ doesn’t account for much anymore. It must not. Bama got screwed. Or Texas got screwed. There should be two national championship games, the other pitting Texas and Bama, and then let the people and the computers rule.”
Alabama and OU aren’t close in body of work. Cincinnati and TCU put the Sooners way over Alabama. Don’t overthink this stuff.
Lew took exception to my statement that the USC Orange Bowl was Bob Stoops’ most embarrassing defeat. “That was an embarrassment, sure enough. But let’s recall that USC was 12-0 and ranked No. 1. They finished as national champions. Though the score was quite bad, losing to that USC team was not an embarrassment, per se. What about the loss to Boise State? That was one of the most horrible OU games I ever watched. For my money, that was more embarrassing to Coach Stoops than the loss to USC.”
It’s an interesting argument. But I don’t buy it. No one came away from the Fiesta Bowl scratching their head about the Sooners. They raved about Boise State. But everyone came away from that USC game thinking the Sooners were frauds.
Speaking of body of work, Randall wrote, “Did you happen to see a comparison of teams vs. the top 10 and top 30 teams in Sagarin’s rankings? Oklahoma was 2-1 and 6-1. Florida was 1-0 and 3-1. Texas was 1-1 and 3-1. Texas Tech was 1-1 and 3-1. USC was 1-0 and 3-1. Penn State was 1-0 and 3-1. Alabama was 0-1 and 3-1. Utah was 1-0 and 3-0. TCU was 0-2 and 1-2. Ohio State was 0-2 and 1-2. So OU played at least one or two more games against teams in the top 10 than did anyone else. And three to four more games against the top 30 than did any other team in the top 10.”
But I thought the OU and Alabama seasons were comparable.
Bernard wrote about OU’s sportsmanship: “I want to compliment you on your grading of OU sportsmanship. However, I think you were a little generous. I would have given them an F-. I suspect we both know the reason for Mr. Stoops running up the score. He wanted to break the record of consecutive 60+ points in a game and he wanted to give Bradford as much exposure as possible for the Heisman Trophy. The same is true for the OSU game. Why else would he want to score an easy touchdown with less than a minute left to play with the outcome of the game well determined, and the opposition relaxed, expecting OU run out the clock?
Well, I gave Stoops a D, but when you put it like that, hard to rip a coach for trying to break NCAA records an d win his guy the Heisman.
Darin wrote about Mack Brown’s ballot in the coaches poll:, “Specifically where he voted Texas Tech. He had them at No. 8 and UT at No. 2. I thought it was interesting given his non-stop mantra of head to head results being important.”
Well, not to try to figure out what’s going on in Mack’s head, but it makes sense. His theory is you basically throw out Tech, so he was consistent. You throw out Tech.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Enough, please, about OU running up scores. Until the Missouri game, OU had been outscored by its opponents in the 4th quarter. Missouri was a championship contender, not the Little Sisters of the Poor, and every national talking head and his dog was talking about how an unimpressive OU win would rightly put Texas back ahead of the Sooners.
As far as the last score against OSU, if the Pokes didn’t want to be scored on, as OU was running off tackle play after play, Mike Gundy should not have called time out there at the end. Had he let the clock run, time would have expired and the final score would have been 54-41.