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Sooners Win Another Classic by Justin Waganer Senior Sports Writer September 30, 2001
Every time they play it just gets better. The first meeting between Bob Stoops and Bill Snyder in Manhattan was a semi-classic with the Sooners jumping to a huge lead at 38-14 and hanging on to win 41-31 and the second meeting was a definite classic with Oklahoma pulling it out with the help of another late field goal in the Big 12 Championship en route to a 27-24 win. Saturday's contest was even better with the Sooners finding a way to win again with a 38-37 victory in front of 75, 862 rowdy fans in Memorial Stadium.
A game with everything from a defensive touchdown to a fake punt touchdown, from two 60-yard plus touchdown passes to two 20-yard plus touchdown runs by Ell Roberson when nobody could seem to finish a tackle, from a safety no-call to an intentional safety this game had it all and more. It had the decisive leader for the majority of the game with Oklahoma having leads of 14-0, 21-7, 28-14, 35-14, 35-21, and 38-27. It had the comebacks with K-State never giving up answering every time OU tried to put them away and coming back from 35-14 to make it 38-35 and eventually 38-37. Finally, it had one team holding off the other by playing smart, a six-minute drive to make it 38-27 and running out of the end-zone to make it 38-37, not giving Aaron Lockett a chance to make a big play.
Wildcat coach Bill Snyder felt Oklahoma took them out of their identity, big play special teams. "We struggled on kickoff returns and on kickoffs. I think we were on the losing end of the battle."
Trent Smith agreed, "They've had success against us on special teams, with blocking kicks and getting returns for touchdowns. I think we dominated the special teams area today and it was just a great team effort."
The key in this game was the team effort. It wasn't an offense winning the game for an inept defense, the defense winning for an inept offense, or the special teams making the plays to save both, it was everything together for the sake of winning. With 17 consecutive wins for the Sooners, they're getting pretty good at putting all phases together for the sake of winning.
"We're very fortunate to have this win. I'm really proud of our team because they made the plays that got us victory," Bob Stoops said after his Sooners completed the 38-37 win over Kansas State. Stoops' teams are now 7-0 against top 10 teams in his two and a half years.
Oklahoma was out-gained by 121 total yards, gave up one more turnover, had two less first downs, and had the ball four less minutes than Kansas State, but somehow found the way to make up for it. How? A defensive touchdown, a special teams touchdown, nine fewer penalties, and a home crowd that made a difference for the first time in quite a while.
Much like last year's battles, Oklahoma had a tough time establishing the run game with a school record low of nine yards rushing in a win. The reason they were still able to pull it out was because much like 2000s Heisman runner-up, Nate Hybl took a beating and kept getting up. The offensive line, with true freshman Vince Carter starting at center, allowed only one sack for a four yard loss, but did allow Hybl to get hit on virtually every play.
"Every time he went down he got right back up again, so he has got some of the earmarks of his predecessor. He's a poised young guy and he shows that he has got some toughness. I thought he played well," said Wildcat Head Coach Bill Snyder who fell to 0-3 against his former assistant.
It's on these days that elite teams establish a leader, and aside from OU's Rocky Calmus, Hybl may have emerged as the guy. About Hybl, Stoops said afterward, "Nate, at times, looked awesome. I was particularly impressed with his precision and poise down the stretch. He led the offense that punched out enough yards to get that decisive field goal."
Oklahoma will now head to Dallas for the Red River War next Saturday at 2:30 against Texas. The game will be nationally televised by ABC.
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