By Wendell Barnhouse
Big 12 Sports.com Correspondent
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - A losing lockerroom, especially after a championship game, can house a variety of emotions.
Deep inside Dolphin Stadium, as Thursday night turned to Friday morning, Oklahoma players weren't crying, they weren't hiding in the showers, they weren't avoiding interviews. The Sooners weren't in shock but there was a sense that they couldn't believe it happened again.
A lot of what was expected in the BCS National Championship game didn't happen - there wasn't a scoreboard-full of points and a Big 12 defense wasn't stamped fraudulent.
Oklahoma, though, didn't expect to lose the way it did. After Florida scored 10 fourth-quarter points and ran out the clock to secure a 24-14 victory, the top-ranked Sooners were left wondering how they wound up on the wrong side of the scoreboard for the second time this season.
"At halftime, I thought we were gonna score 35, that we were gonna get clicking," Oklahoma wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias said. "It seemed like we were one play from scoring all night. Their defense didn't do anything special or different. We stopped ourselves."
The numbers offer some explanation. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and running back/receiver Percy Harvin were a two-man offense. Harvin totaled 161 yards rushing and receiving. Tebow threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns while gaining 109 yards rushing. The Sooners couldn't get Florida off the field - the Gators were 12-of-17 converting third downs.
And while that helps explain Florida's success, Oklahoma's negative numbers came in twos. Twice in the second quarter the Sooners were inside the Florida 10 and came up with zero points. And Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford (26-of-41 for 256 yards) had two drive-killing interceptions.
"Obviously it's very disappointing to end the season on a loss, especially in a game that we felt like we had a chance to win," said Bradford, who became another Heisman winner whose season ended with a bowl loss. "In the first half we squandered some opportunities to score points; that really hurt. But in the second half when we needed to make plays, we just couldn't do it."
Four years ago in the same stadium, Oklahoma was trounced by USC 55-19 in the BCS title game. There was little doubt about which team was better. This time, the woulda shoulda coulda talk will keep OU fans sleepless for weeks to come.
* On Oklahoma's second possession, All-American offensive lineman Duke Robinson was twice flagged for penalties. The first (a personal foul) moved OU out of Florida territory. The second (holding) wiped out a 31-yard completion to tight end Jermaine Gresham to the Florida 10.
"It came down to getting the job done," Robinson said. "We didn't execute the plays we'd practiced for a month. They played great on defense, we made the mistakes and we paid for it."
* Florida's first touchdown, on the third play of the second quarter, was a 20-yard touchdown reception by Louis Murphy. It could be argued that Murphy was down before crossing the goal line or that he didn't retain possession of the ball. The Atlantic Coast Conference officiating crew did not prevent Florida from kicking the extra point before a replay review could be made.
* After matching Florida's touchdown, Oklahoma intercepted Tebow for the second time (he had thrown only two picks all season). Gerald McCoy, who dropped into zone blitz coverage, made the interception and gave the Sooners the ball at the Florida 26. Chris Brown carried five consecutive plays but the last two - third down and fourth down from the Gators' one _ were stuffed.
"They won the line of scrimmage on us each time," Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "Maybe we needed a better play call there to give our guys a better chance."
* Oklahoma, which led the nation in red zone scoring, came up short on its final drive of the first half. The Sooners had a first-and-goal at the Florida 6 with 10 seconds remaining. Bradford's pass was batted around and finally intercepted by Florida's Major Wright.
"Those were big factors in the game, though, being down in the red zone on those two occasions or three occasions and end up with nothing," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said.
"That was big," Iglesias said. "You get a chance to score points in a game like this, you've got to do it. When they needed a stop, they got it."
The next stop Florida made was the biggest of the game.
The Sooners' defense held Florida to a field goal that gave the Gators a 17-14 lead with 10:45 remaining. Oklahoma's next drive reached midfield and the Sooners faced a second-and-seven.
Bradford faced blitz pressure from his left but saw Iglesias breaking open in the middle of the field. Would this be Oklahoma's version of Michael Crabtree beating Texas or Quan Cosby beating Ohio State?
The pass hit Iglesias on his finger tips and then Florida's Ahmad Black swooped in and pulled the ball free for his seventh interception of the season.
"It was another good throw by Sam," Iglesias said. "It was right on my fingertips. I broke on it late, I needed to break on it quicker."
"The play of the game was the interception by Ahmad Black," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "That's a potential go-ahead touchdown."
Florida converted the turnover into the game-clinching points. Tebow, the 2007 Heisman winner who was named the game's Most Outstanding Player, found receiver David Nelson with a four-yard jump pass with 3:07 remaining to make it 24-14. Tebow, who as a freshman played as a short-yardage specialist on Florida's 2006 national title team, brought the jump pass back into vogue.
"It's really frustrating to be that close," Clayton said. "I could have jumped the route, knocked it down, made a play."
For lack of some plays not made, the game was lost. For Oklahoma, that's five consecutive BCS losses. Three have come in the national title game. The Sooners' slogan - Win The Last Game - failed as a rallying cry.
Stoops, though, didn't want to talk about another off-season of people asking why he's not Big Game Bob anymore.
"Everyone will have their opinions on it; that's fine," he said. "I'll be glad to try it again next year. ... We'll keep going after them. If that's the biggest burden I have to bear in my life, I'll be a pretty lucky guy."
Oklahoma defenders were defiant in defeat.
"If they still don't respect us ... they felt us on every play," Oklahoma defensive back Lendy Holmes said. "We were out there, every play. We showed them. They still don't respect us, oh well. We proved to everybody ... we left everything on the field. We gave up 24 points. Hey, whose defense is a joke now?"
"I don't know, man, we just didn't get it done when it needed to be done," Clayton said. "To invest all we did in this season, all the hard work ... man, it just hurts."
Coming up short and losing a game can be heart-breaking. When the game decides the national championship, the heartache can last a lifetime.