By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
STILLWATER, Okla. – A Big 12 Conference schedule that started in mid-September has officially ended. And officially we still don’t know who will play in Saturday’s Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship game.
Oklahoma’s wild and wooly 47-41 Bedlam victory over Oklahoma State Saturday night put the South Division into a three-way tie. More on that in a bit because a game that featured 31 points scored in the last 4:06 deserves a bit of attention.
"Wow, what a game," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "We knew we’d have to play well to win and we did that. I’m so pleased with how we made big plays in the fourth quarter. It’s exciting to be in a game like this.
"We had a lot of offense out there. I never felt like we put it away."
The Sooners (10-2, 6-2) ripped off a school-record 107 plays and converted 16 of 27 third downs. Quarterback Landry Jones overcame three first-half interceptions to complete 37 of 62 passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns. His last two TDs covered 86 yards (to Cameron Kenney) and 76 yards (to James Hanna) during the late-game point explosion.
"I played as bad as I could play in the first half," Jones said. "But I just tried to stay calm in the storm in the second half. That’s one of the most fun games I’ve ever played in."
Now the Godian Knot that is the top of the South Division.
For the second time in three seasons, the South Division will be decided by the fifth step in the Big 12 tiebreaker – the Bowl Championship Series standings. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M all have victories over the other and the first four tiebreaker steps don’t break the deadlock.
To break the tie, the top-ranked BCS team would earn the spot in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship game – unless the top two teams are within one spot of each other in the BCS standings. In that case, the head-to-head result between those two teams would break the tie.
In the latest BCS standings, Oklahoma State was No. 9, Oklahoma was No. 13 and Texas A&M was No. 17. Logic – but remember, we are talking about the BCS – would seem to dictate that the Sooners would move up with their victory. The Aggies, also, should move up but getting within one spot of OU would be a reach.
Jerry Palm, an independent analyst of the BCS, said Saturday that it’s unlikely that Texas A&M can move up enough in the BCS standings to catch Oklahoma.
"I think it’s pretty safe to say Oklahoma would come out on top," he replied in an e-mail Saturday afternoon. "Texas A&M would do well to get within five, let alone one.
If Oklahoma is the South Division’s representative in the Big 12 Championship game, the Sooners will face old Big Eight Conference rival Nebraska, the North Division champs.
"Hopefully it works out that way," Stoops said. What would be more fitting than to pair up against Nebraska because of the tradition and the history. With them departing (to the Big Ten Conference), to have one more go at it would be pretty special. Not that it would be fun to play ‘em."
Oklahoma’s defense switched up and played a lot of five-man fronts with three down linemen and two linebackers either dropping back in coverage or pressuring Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden, who threw three interceptions.
"Any time you’re dropping eight in coverage you have to stuff the running game," Oklahoma linebacker Travis Lewis said. "We pretty much made them one-dimensional."
The Cowboys, who could have clinched the South Division title with a victory, ran just 66 plays for 379 yards – far below their national-best 552 yards a game. The Sooners limited Kendall Hunter, the Big 12’s leading rusher, to 55 yards on 13 carries.
"That’s a good defensive line and they schemed a few things up that got to us," Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen said.
While Oklahoma State had some outstanding plays on defense, the Cowboys overall made too many mistakes.
* Oklahoma’s first touchdown drive benefitted from a penalty on the Cowboys’ defense for 12 men on the field.
* After a sideline interception by Brodrick Brown (more on him later) gave Oklahoma State the ball at the Sooners’ 44, the Cowboys moved to a first and goal at the OU 8. However, on third-and-6, Josh Cooper couldn’t handle a Weeden pass.
* The Sooners took a 14-3 lead after Weeden’s first interception. OU freshman Tony Jefferson tipped it and Quinton Carter picked it (his first of two interceptions).
* After freshman linebacker Shaun Lewis returned a Jones interception 52 yards for a TD to make it 14-10, Oklahoma State had the chance to seize momentum. However, freshman Justin Gilbert roughed OU punter Tress Way on fourth-and-15. The penalty enabled the Sooners to drive for a touchdown and a 21-10 lead.
* Brown and Lewis combined on an incredible interception. Jones tried to throw a pass a away but Brown, making a basketball-like save, batted the ball to Lewis who made the pick. However, two illegal procedure penalties meant the drive went nowhere.
"That’s one of the better plays I’ve ever seen," Stoops said of Brown’s effort.
* Weeden found Justin Blackmon for a 45-yard completion that led to Jeremy Smith’s 2-yard TD run, Oklahoma State went with a pooch kickoff (Quinn Sharp came into the game with 50 touchbacks on kickoffs.) Starting at its own 32 with 1:04 remaining, the Sooners moved into field goal range for Jimmy Stevens, who kicked a 29-yarder on the final play of the half to give OU a 24-17 edge.
* Oklahoma State’s final mistake was more of a misplay. Before Weeden’s 86-yard backbreaker to Kenney the Cowboys had a chance at interception but two defenders failed to secure the football.
Two of the Cowboys’ touchdowns came on returns – a 52-yard interception return by linebacker Shaun Lewis and an 89-yard kickoff return by freshman Justin Gilbert.
Gilbert’s TD was sandwiched by two of the biggest plays in the game. Trailing 33-24 with 5:53 remaining, Oklahoma State drove 66 yards in six plays and 1:47 for a touchdown that made it 33-31 with 4:06 to play.
On third and 12 from the Sooners’ 14, Jones found Cameron Kenney on a deep post. He made the catch and outran the defense for a TD that restored OU’s nine-point lead.
"We were barely getting back and we were worn out and the guy ran by us," Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Young said, giving a nod to the Sooners’ lopsided edge in offensive plays.
Gilbert’s kickoff return, though, again threatened Oklahoma’s road to its eighth consecutive Bedlam victory.
"You kind of drop your head after that kickoff return but we just had to go back out there," Jones said. "You can’t ride the roller coaster."
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson dialed up the call of the game. Facing a second and 10 and with Oklahoma State desperate for a stop, the Sooners lined up in a power formation. Jones made a play fake and hit Hanna on a corner route. The 6-4, 237-pound tight end outran the Cowboys for a 76-yard touchdown.
"It felt pretty good to come back like that," said Hanna, who had four receptions for 130 yards. "They were expecting us to run the ball, try to run the clock out. I thought it had a chance to go big … and I’m pretty fast."
If the BCS standings cipher out as expected and Oklahoma earns the tiebreaker edge, the Sooners will play in the Big 12 Championship game for the eighth time. Nebraska will be in the title game for the sixth time. The two teams regularly battled for Big Eight supremacy.
"Who better to play in the championship game than Nebraska?" Lewis said. "We’re pretty confident the BCS standings will work in our favor. We felt like if we beat Oklahoma State, we were going."