2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team: Difference between revisions

{{{year}}} [[{{{team}}} football]]
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 8

The 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team will represent the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 2006-2007. The previous year's team did not quite reach to the expectations that head coach Bob Stoops has set for his teams. It was a rebuilding year as they lost many of their star players, including Heisman Trophy winner Jason White. In all, ten players were drafted from the 2004 squad, representing nearly a third of all Big 12 players drafted that year. The Sooners ended the season with eight wins and four losses, third in the Big 12 South standings and 22nd in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls. The team will continue to be coached by head football coach Bob Stoops. The Sooners will play their homes games in Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Preseason

After last year's disappointing 8-4 season, the Sooners look to return to form in 2006. Standout running back Adrian Peterson is once again healthy and ready to present his Heisman credentials. Peterson is also on the Maxwell Award watchlist. As with all Stoops's squads, the defense is looking to dominate again this year. Star linebacker Rufus Alexander (a Bednarik Award hopeful) returns for his senior campaign as do defensive ends C.J. Ah You, Larry Birdine, and Calvin Thibodeaux (Ah You and Birdine are Ted Hendricks Award hopefuls). Reggie Smith was also named to the Jim Thorpe Award watchlist.

Nearly all major sports publications have the Sooners in the preseason Top 10. Some even have the Sooners as the preseason #1 pick including Athlon and Gold Sheet. The team has a lot of young talent. The high school scouting website Rivals.com ranked Oklahoma's 2005 recruiting class number one in the nation and the 2006 recruiting class number nine. Some of this year's signees will make an impact in coming years but several have the chance of making an immediate impact on the 2006 season. Signees from last year's number one recruiting class will make even more of an impact this year. When combined with statements from the OU coaching staff, the Sooners look to be back in contention for the national title this year. As of July 24, 2006, the Sooners were a 5-1 favorite to win the National Championship.

On August 2, 2006, quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn, both sophomores, were dismissed from the team. It was reported that they violated NCAA regulations regarding receiving extra compensation. There is no doubt that this will effect the team's placement in many publication's preseason polls as well as their chances of winning a national championship. The team will look to starting quarterback Paul Thompson and backup Joey Halzle to lead the team.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result
09/02/2006*	6:00 p.m.	UAB	#5	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium · Norman, OK	TBS	W 24-17
09/09/2006*	2:30 p.m.	Washington	#10	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium · Norman, OK	ABC	W 37-20
09/16/2006*	2:30 p.m.	@ #18 Oregon	#11	Autzen Stadium · Eugene, OR	ABC	L 34-33
09/23/2006*	6:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	#16	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium · Norman, OK	PPV	W 59-0
10/07/2006	2:30 p.m.	@ #7 Texas	#14	Cotton Bowl · Dallas, TX (Red River Rivalry)	ABC	L 28-10
10/14/2006	11:30 a.m.	Iowa State	#22	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium · Norman, OK	FSN	W 34-9
10/21/2006†	6:00 p.m.	Colorado	#20	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium · Norman, OK	FSN	W 24-3
10/28/2006	11:00 a.m.	@ #23 Missouri	#19	Faurot Field · Columbia, MO	ABC	W 26-10
11/04/2006	7:00 p.m.	@ #21 Texas A&M	#18	Kyle Field · College Station, TX	ABC	W 17-16
11/11/2006	6:00 p.m.	Texas Tech	#17	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium · Norman, OK	FSN	W 34-24
11/18/2006	11:00 a.m.	@ Baylor	#16	Floyd Casey Stadium · Waco, TX	FSN	W 36-10
11/25/2006	1:30 p.m.	@ Oklahoma State	#14	Boone Pickens Stadium · Stillwater, OK (Bedlam)	FSN	W 27-21
12/02/2006	7:00 p.m.	#18 Nebraska	#10	Arrowhead Stadium · Kansas City, MO (Big 12 Championship Game)	ABC	W 21-7
*Non-Conference Game †Homecoming #Rankings from Coaches Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time and subject to change.

Roster

Once again, the Sooners will be competing with a relatively young team. Of the 72 players listed on the latest roster, only 9 of them are scholarship seniors. Nevertheless, the younger players on the team as a whole have more experience than their peers at other universities. With the loss of quarterback Rhett Bomar, the squad is back to where they were at the beginning of last year wondering who will be the new starting quarterback. Fifth year senior Paul Thompson will reconverting back to his former role of quarterback after spending last year as a wide receiver. Junior college transfer Joey Halzle will get experience as his backup. Thompson will have talented wide receivers to look to including Malcolm Kelly, Manuel Johnson, and Juaquin Iglesias. Not to mention junior Adrian Peterson, the team's main ball carrier. Most of the Sooners' experience lies on the other side of the ball. The Sooner linebackers are the most experienced players on the team. The squad is anchored by NFL hopefuls Rufus Alexander and Zach Latimer. Alexander was ranked as the third best linebacker in the country by College Football News. Behind them are other key players such as Demarrio Pleasant and Lewis Baker. Sophomore Ryan Reynolds will be trying to make a name for himself this year as well. In addition to a veteran linebacker squad, OU has a number of big-name defensive ends. College Football News ranked Larry Birdine, Calvin Thibodeaux and C.J. Ah You in the top 25 best defensive ends for the 2006 season (ranked 14th, 20th, and 22nd, respectively). Oklahoma was the only team with three players in the top 25. Template:2006 Oklahoma Sooners football roster

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Years at OU
Bob Stoops	Head Coach	8
Brent Venables	Associate Head Coach Defensive Coordinator Linebackers	8
Bobby Jack Wright	Assistant Head Coach Co-Defensive Coordinator Defensive Backs	8
Kevin Wilson	Offensive Coordinator Tight Ends/Fullbacks	5
Cale Gundy	Recruiting Coordinator Running Backs	8
Kevin Sumlin	Co-Offensive Coordinator Receivers	5
Josh Heupel	Quarterbacks	3
James Patton	Offensive Line	1
Jackie Shipp	Defensive Line	8
Chris Wilson	Defensive Ends	2

Game notes

University of Alabama at Birmingham

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	0	7	10	0	17
#5 Sooners	7	0	14	3	24

The Sooners began their season on September 2 against the UAB Blazers. UAB came to Norman looking for a big upset and they nearly got it. Coach Watson Brown prepared a gameplan designed to throw off the Sooners and it nearly worked. The Sooner's offense performed better than most expectations with quarterback Thompson completing 58% of his passes for 227 yards. Heisman hopeful Adrian Peterson did not disappoint either, rushing for 139 yards, plus an additional 69-yard reception and two touchdowns. However, the vaunted OU defense did not perform as well as expected, giving up over 300 yards offense. Even Coach Stoops believes "they weren't nearly as good as they were billed to be." Nevertheless, OU avoided another opening game upset and won 24-17. The Sooners' next game is against Washington and they go into the game knowing a lot more about their team than if they had played a much weaker Division I-AA team.

University of Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	6	0	7	20
#10 Sooners	7	6	17	7	37

On September 9, the Sooners took on the Huskies of Washington coached by Tyrone Willingham. The Huskies came to Norman off a win to San Jose State and were looking for an upset and early indicators looked like they might just get that. On Washington's opening offensive play, Kenny James squeezed through OU's line and dodged Keenan Clayton's tackle and raced 54 yards for a touchdown. For the remainder of the first half, OU and UW traded scores. Before the end of the 1st quarter, Paul Thompson hit wide receiver Malcolm Kelly in the back of the endzone to tie the game 7-7. UW answered with a field goal early in the 2nd quarter and OU and UW continued to trade field goals and ended the 1st half tied 13-13. OU came out strong in the 2nd half and took the game away from the Huskies. OU scored 24 unanswered points in the 2nd half before UW scored a late game touchdown to bring the final score in favor of OU 37-20.

Adrian Peterson continued his march up the OU record books with 165 rushing yards. Peterson was named the Big 12's Offensive Player of the week for his performance. Quarterback Paul Thompson improved over his season debut, going 21-for-33 including 9-for-11 in the second half. Some began to see the emergence of "dynamic trio" in Thompson, Peterson, and Kelly.

University of Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
#11 Sooners	3	3	14	13	33
#18 Ducks	10	3	0	21	34

Heading into the game against Mike Bellotti's Oregon Ducks, OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables made some major changes to the defensive depth chart after giving up four long running plays through the heart of the defensive line against Washington. The starters at defensive tackle, cornerback, and strong safety were all demoted, opening opportunities for some freshmen to step up. D.J. Wolfe has been replaced by Marcus Walker at cornerback while senior Jason Carter started in place of Keenan Clayton at strong safety. Carter replaced Clayton in the game against Washington after a missed tackle by the freshman led to a Husky touchdown. Even though all four players at defensive tackle had almost the same number of plays, Steven Coleman was moved off the top of the depth chart as well.

After a controversial ending, the Oregon Ducks defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 34-33 giving Oklahoma their first loss of the season and making them 2-1. Oklahoma led Oregon by 13 points late in the game, but Oregon scored a touchdown with 72 seconds remaining in the game, bringing the score to 27-33. Oregon then tried for an onside kick and was awarded the ball by the officiating crew despite an Oklahoma player ending up with the ball and over the protests of the Oklahoma sideline who claimed that the ball did not travel the required 10 yards before being touched by Oregon. The instant replay officials took several minutes to review the call while the on-air commentators came to the conclusion that the ball should go to Oklahoma, effectively giving Oklahoma the win as well. However, the replay officials awarded the ball to Oregon. ESPN called the decision an "obvious mistake". The network also questioned the Pacific 10 Conference policy of using conference officiating crews for inter-conference games. Other conferences typically use neutral crews or crews from the visiting team's conference. OU President David Boren wrote a letter to Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg asking for the loss to be erased from Oklahoma's record, something that Weiberg did not support. Weiberg did say that he would raise concerns about the Pac-10 policy of using their own officials for inter-conference games in Pac-10 stadiums. Stoops has said that he may cancel his 2008 game scheduled at Washington if the Pac-10 officiating policy is not changed.

The Pac-10 conference suspended the entire officiating crew, including both on-field and instant-reply officials, for one game. The replay official, Gordon Riese, has requested and been granted a leave of absence for the remainder of the season. Reise was quoted as saying "I feel so bad I missed that call, it's driving me crazy," and that he was "struggling" with his mistake. One of the on-filed officials, David Cutaia, will have his one-game suspension suspended so that he can officiate the September 23 game against the University of Arizona. The move is due to a shortage of Pac-10 conference officials.

Arizona is coached by Mike Stoops, the brother of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. Mike Stoops said he felt is "was ridiculous that they couldn't get all of the angles. It was pretty obvious, and not to see that Oklahoma had recovered those were just errors that are the fundamentals of refereeing," He says he favors changing the Pac-10 rules so that out-of-conference officials will be brought in for non-conference games. Those calling for move from conference-paid officials to officials working in a national pool included Texas Longhorn coach Mack Brown. His defending national championship team was called for a record number of penalties in a game against Rice. Brown said "You find when you go outside your league sometimes, people call things differently than our league... Believe it or not, there are still a lot of different interpretations that make it uncomfortable some during a ballgame." Less supportive of Oklahoma was Bob Knight, head basketball coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Knight had called for Oklahoma to forfeit its basketball game against Tech in 2003, when the Sooners won 69-64 because of two bad timekeeping decisions. The controversial Knight stated "Had Oklahoma forfeited that game against us like I suggested, they would have gotten far more positive publicity out of that than if they had gone to the Final Four that year. Now I guess the 'duck' is swimming in the other pond."

Middle Tennessee State University

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Raiders	0	0	0	0	0
#17 Sooners	24	21	7	7	59

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (2-1) are relatively new to Division I-A having joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2000 after one year as an independent. In that time, they have played ten teams ranked in the top 25 and lost all ten games. Oklahoma and the Blue Raiders had not played against each other before this year; the Sooners are now 9-0 against teams from this conference. The Blue Raiders' star players (linebacker J.K. Sabb, a Butkus Award hopeful, and quarterback Clint Marks, on the list for the Davey O'Brien Award) had mixed results against their counterparts from Oklahoma. Marks ended the day 3 for 9 with 40 yards and an interception but Sabb was able to make a game-high 6 solo tackles with four tackles for loss. Interesting to note is that other than linebacker's coach Art Kaufman, all of the Middle Tennessee coaches are in their first year at the school (including head coach Rick Stockstill).

Oklahoma's stars, on the other hand, shone. Marcus Kelly broke a school record for receiving yards in a quarter that had stood since 1962 when he pulled down 134 yards in the first. He ended the day with 164 yards on 5 receptions and one touchdown. Adrian Peterson gained 128 yards on 27 carries and did not play after Oklahoma's first possession of the second half. Coach Stoops forced him to sit out because of the chance that "something freakish could happen" and he would be unavailable for the game against Texas. Paul Thompson had a good day as well, throwing 13 for 18 for 257 yards and three touchdowns. On defense, linebacker Zach Latimer and cornerback Nick Harris each had an interception; Latimer returned his 22 yards for a touchdown while Harris was pushed out at the one-yard line.

At the end of the day, Oklahoma had clearly dominated the game. They were able to produce 462 total yards of offense (272 through the air, 190 on the ground) while limiting MTSU to only 95 total yards. The 59 point loss is the largest for the Blue Raiders since 1933.

University of Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Longhorns	7	0	14	7	28
#14 Sooners	0	10	0	0	10

The 2006 Texas Longhorn football team and the Sooners met at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for their annual rivalry game known as the Red River Rivalry (previously called the Red River Shootout). This marked the 101st meeting between the schools. Texas came into the game leading the series 56-39-5 overall and 44-35-4 at the Cotton Bowl. In 2005, the Longhorns broke a 5-year losing streak on their way to win the national championship at the Rose Bowl against USC.

2006 Red River Shootout viewed from the Ferris wheel of the State Fair of Texas.

The teams alternate home and away each year, and this year the Sooners played host. They occupied the bench under the press box and wore their red home jerseys while Texas wore their all-white road uniform. The stadium, as usual, was split down the 50-yard line with Sooner fans sitting on the south side of mid-field. The division is visually striking and the difference in crowd noise levels from one end of the stadium to the other almost always has a direct impact on the game. Beginning in 2007, the teams will alternate North and South ends of the field, thereby giving the home team fans the seats adjacent to the tunnel leading to both teams' locker rooms.

As intense as the rivalry between the schools is, there were many factors the tie the programs together in 2006. Texas head coach Mack Brown was the Offensive Coordinator for the Sooners in 1984 (the Red River Shootout ended in a 15-15 tie that year). He is also the brother of UAB head coach Watson Brown, who lost to OU at the beginning of the 2006 season. Oklahoma Co-defensive Coordinator and defensive backs coach Bobby Jack Wright was an assistant coach at Texas from 1986 to '97. OU also has two Austin natives on their roster this season, QB Hays McEachern and WR Fred Strong. McEachern's father was the Texas quarterback in 1977 and 1978 and his mother was a Longhorn cheerleader.

There were few bright points for the Sooners after half-time in this year's installment of the Red River Rivalry. Though they held the Longhorns to only a single offensive yard in the second quarter, the defense gave up two big pass plays on Texas' first series of the third including a 33-yard touchdown pass to Limas Sweed that broke the defense's will. The offense seemed equally under-motivated in the second half, going three-and-out on their opening drive. Some bad luck on a lateral pass that lead to a Texas touchdown and two poorly thrown balls that ended as interceptions finished the game and made an otherwise close contest between two fairly evenly matched teams into a blowout.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy had mediocre numbers, but was central to the drive that put the Longhorns ahead for good. Bob Stoops said after the game that McCoy "managed the game for [Texas] in a really good way." Texas' defense was also able to shut down Adrian Peterson and limit him to only 109 yards and he was only able to break one long run (a 29-yard touchdown run up the middle in the second quarter). OU's star wide receiver Malcom Kelly was limited to only two catches for 31 yards. What really killed OU's chances in this game, however, was losing three fumbles and throwing two interceptions while Texas never turned the ball over.

Iowa State University

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cyclones	7	0	2	0	9
#22 Sooners	14	10	3	7	34

Both teams came into this game after heartbreaking losses. Iowa State dropped to 3-3 (0-2 Big XII) with a 28-14 loss to Nebraska in Ames. There were three Cyclone touchdowns negated by the officials in that game (one called caught out of bounds, two on offensive penalties). Oklahoma lost to Texas for the second straight year in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas and was unable to mount a successful offensive drive for the entire second half. The Sooners also committed 11 penalties (a full third of their season total at the time) and five turnovers in that game. After equally disappointing weeks, both teams were looking to rebound.

Oklahoma holds a significant advantage in contests between the schools with the series record sitting at 66-5-2. Iowa State has not won in Norman since 1990 and has dropped ten straight games to the Sooners. The Cyclones' head coach Dan McCarney is 0-6 against OU while Bob Stoops is 4-0 against Iowa State and 23-3 against teams from the North Division of the Big XII.

Iowa State took some outstanding players to Norman, but in the end it was not enough to win. Quarterback Brent Meyer is the all-time leader in passing yards and total offense at ISU; he is three touchdown passes shy of holding the Cyclone record for career touchdowns as well. Meyer is complimented by wide receiver Todd Blythe who leads the nation in career yards per catch (19.0) and is fifth on the career touchdown receptions list (25). ISU linebacker Alvin Bowen leads the nation in tackles per game this season and had 17 against Nebraska. The special teams of the Cyclones is led by Ryan Baum who is averaging 18.0 yards per punt return and has scored one touchdown.

A rolling win by Oklahoma where they never trailed was horribly marred by a freak injury to Adrian Peterson that probably ended his season. At the end of a 53-yard run in the fourth quarter, Peterson dove into the end zone and, as Stoops put it, "when he landed, he landed wrong." The result was a broken collarbone and early reports put him out for the remainder of the regular season. During the post-game press conference Stoops said, "the earliest [Peterson] would be ready to play would be a bowl game." This puts an end for now to Peterson's chase of the Oklahoma all-time rushing record; he was 151 yards from breaking Billy Sims' mark set in 1979.

Other Sooners also had big days against Iowa State. Paul Thompson went 16 of 27 for 195 yards and two touchdowns, both to Malcom Kelly. Kelly had a total of four receptions for 50 yards on the day while sophomore Manuel Johnson had four grabs for 48 yards. Linebacker Rufus Alexander pulled down his first interception of the season in the third quarter; it was also the first ISU quarterback Meyer had thrown. Iowa State's only offensive points came on a 31-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter from Meyer to standout receiver Todd Blythe.

University of Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buffaloes	0	0	0	3	3
#20 Sooners	10	0	0	14	24

This week was homecoming for the Sooners, and there were some special celebrations planned. All season, OU has been remembering and recognizing the career of the late Prentice Gautt, the first African-American football player at the university. Gautt's jersy number (38) was not issued this season to any players and for the game against Colorado the 38 yard-line on both halves of the field was highlighted with crimson. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the 1956 National Championship won by the Sooners. At least 34 members of that team were expected to attend the game, including former All-Americans Bill Krisher, Tommy McDonald, and Clendon Thomas.

The series between OU and Colorado stands at 39-16-2 with the Sooners taking the advantage. Stoops is 5-1 against Colorado with a five-game winning streak. Before the first of those wins (in Norman on November 2 2002) the Sooners dropped nine straight games to the Buffs, the most consecutive losses to a single opponent in the history of the program. Two of Stoops's wins over Colorado came in Big XII Championship games (2002 and 2004). Colorado coach Dan Hawkins is in his first year at the school and had not coached against Oklahoma before.

From the beginning, this game went heavily in the Sooner's favor. Both defenses played well, but OU's squad was able to limit Colorado to only 113 total yards, 51 of which came on the Buff's only scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. OU's offense was also held down, totaling only 271 yards mostly on runs and short underneath passes. Allen Patrick, filling in for the injured Adrian Peterson, was the player of the game and was the first person all season to run for over 100 yards against Colorado. He managed 110 yards on 35 carries with one touchdown run early in the fourth. For 218 consecutive games across 18 years, the Buffaloes have not been shut out; kicker Mason Crosby saved the streak with a 39-yard field goal into the wind late in the game.

University of Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Sooners	7	9	7	3	26
#23 Tigers	7	0	3	0	10

Gary Pinkel's Missouri team is the surprise of the conference in 2006, having already matched their win total from last year. They shared the lead for the Big 12 North division with Nebraska (who they lost to November 4 in Lincoln). The Tigers won their homecoming game against Kansas State 41-21. The Sooners also won their homecoming game against Colorado by the score of 24-3. This was the beginning of a long road stretch for OU; they play four of their last five games away.

This was the 91st meeting between the schools with the Sooners holding the advantage 63-23-5.

In the words of Coach Bob Stoops, the Sooners played "opportunistic" football against Missouri; converting four take-aways into 19 points (and adding a touchdown on a drive that saw new life after a "roughing the kicker" penalty) to beat the Tigers in Columbia. It was the first home loss of the season for Missouri and broke an eight-game home winning streak that stretched back in to the 2005 season.

Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel was 23 for 44 with 248 yards and no touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions. Daniel rushed 20 times for 75 yards and a TD while the rest of the Tiger's offense was only able to add one rushing yard on seven carries. The Sooners' QB Paul Thompson went 11 for 19 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 28 yards and a score while Allen Patrick added 162 yards on 36 carries.

Texas A&M University

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Sooners	14	0	3	0	17
#21 Aggies	3	7	0	6	16

This game was Bob Stoops's 100th as head coach at Oklahoma; it was also the 25th meeting between the programs. The Sooners hold a narrow 15-10 lead in the series, though A&M has won five of the eight played in College Station. The Sooners have won their last four games while the Texas A&M Aggies came in with a four-game winning streak.

The two programs are very similar in their offensive philosophies. Texas A&M came in averaging a very balanced 213.7 yards per game rushing and 209.1 passing while the Sooners averaged 178.4 yards on the ground and 204.8 through the air. Oklahoma was surrendering an average of 36 fewer yards per game on defense.

The game started well for the Sooners. Allen Patrick had 101 yards on 14 carries and OU scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to A&M's one field goal. After OU failed to recover an early surprise onside kick, however, the Aggies closed the gap to 4 points with a scoring drive capped by a one yard rumble from running back Jovorskie Lane. The defenses stiffened in the second half and both teams had to settle for field goals in the third and fourth quarters. In his second risky call of the game, Stoops had the Sooners attempt to convert a fourth-and-inches with 1:29 left to play and the ball almost to the offense's 30 yard line. The run by Thompson was successful but unnecessary as A&M was penalized for having too many men on the field and OU was able to run out the clock.

Paul Thompson had a disappointing day as he completed only three of his twelve passing attempts for a total of 39 yards. A&M's Stephen McGee was slightly better completing 8 of 18 for 63 yards, though he was picked off by Marcus Walker in the third quarter; Garrett Hartley kicked a field goal after the Sooners offense could not advance the ball after the turnover. The Aggies forced two fumbles of their own (one from Patrick and one from Thompson), but they were forced to punt after their own offense was also stymied. The player of the game was Allen Patrick; he finished the day with a career-high 173 yards on 32 carries and one touchdown, however, he suffered a sprained ankle during the last minutes of the game. Coach Wilson questions whether he will be 100% by the next game. Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione is now 0-4 against the Sooners.

Texas Tech University

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Raiders	10	14	0	0	24
#17 Sooners	10	7	3	14	34

Oklahoma played its last home game of the season against Texas Tech (coached by former Oklahoma assistant Mike Leach), and bade farewell to the smallest class of seniors in Stoops's tenure as head coach. The previous smallest class was 12 in 2001; this year there were 11 (10 on scholarship). During the pre-game ceremony, all the seniors and their families were introduced and the Don Key Award was presented to quarterback Paul Thompson. The series between the two schools is now 11-3 in favor of OU and the Red Raiders have not won in Norman in 11 years.

With Adrian Peterson still recovering from breaking his collar bone against Iowa State and Allen Patrick on the sideline in an ankle brace after suffering a late-game sprain the week before, many aspects of the offense were in doubt coming into this game. Paul Thompson responded by putting up a career-high 309 yards of passing, completing 24 of 31 attempts. True-freshman running back Chris Brown also stepped up to the challenge and ran for 84 yards and two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter; this was the first time in 16 games that a Sooner back did not run for over 100 yards.

The only serious injury of the game came when wide receiver Manuel Johnson was knocked unconscious after hitting helmets with Texas Tech defensive back Chris Parker. Johnson was unresponsive on the sidelines for about 35 seconds before he opened his eyes. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance, treated for "a real bad concussion," and kept overnight. According to Coach Stoops, Johnson will not play against Baylor.

Tech played well also, especially on defense where they were able to create four turnovers including Thompson's first interception in 99 pass attempts. Defensive back Antonio Huffman returned the pick 54 yards for a touchdown and put the Red Raiders up 24-10 late in the second quarter. Texas Tech was able to capitalize on the other take-aways as well, turning them into 14 more points and held the lead until the fourth quarter. Two missed field goals and a fired-up Sooner defense held the Red Raiders off, however, and the Sooners were able to put the game away with a two-yard touchdown run by Brown.

Baylor University

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Sooners	13	0	23	0	36
Bears	3	0	0	7	10

This week marked the beginning of a two-game stretch of road tests to finish the season for OU. The Sooners traveled to Baylor in Waco for the 16th meeting between the schools and the seventh at Floyd Casey Stadium. OU has never lost to the Bears, though the game in 2005 in Norman went into double-overtime. This was the last game of the season for Baylor; even with a win they will not be bowl-eligible.

Baylor's offense has been strong all year. This was the first time they had been held below 21 points in their last seven conference games and they have two wide receivers with over 50 catches each. Unfortunately for the Bears, their starting quarterback Shawn Bell suffered a season-ending injury against Texas A&M on October 28.

Paul Thompson had a career-high 309 passing yards against Texas Tech, including a string of 14 straight completions after throwing his sixth interception of the year. He is currently completing 61.4% of his passes and if he continues at that rate it will mark only the fifth time in the last 45 years where a Sooner QB has been over 60% on the season. He is also now sixth on the OU single-season touchdown passes list with 17 and eighth on the season passing yards list with 2,092.

The Sooner defense played extremely well in Waco, limiting Baylor to 148 total yards and -48 yards of rushing. That is the fewest yards Baylor has produced all season and their worst performance on the ground in the program's history; it is also the second-best performance by an OU defense ever. Defensive back Reggie Smith also pulled down two interceptions, returning the first one 42 yards for a touchdown.

OU was also unable to avoid turning the ball over, however, losing four fumbles and throwing one pick. Baylor set up a field goal on the first fumble by Smith after he failed to catch a punt return and Baylor's Braelon Davis returned a fumble by Chris Brown for a touchdown late in the game. Another fumble by Smith on a second return and one by Malcolm Kelly put premature ends to other Sooner drives.

Oklahoma State University

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Sooners	7	6	14	0	27
Cowboys	7	0	7	7	21

The Bedlam Series between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State has been played all but two years since 1903 and is the most lopsided series between schools in the same state in the nation. OU holds a 78-16 advantage with 7 ties. This was the last game of the regular season and held major bowl implications for both programs. Head coach Mike Gundy has managed to bring Oklahoma State to bowl-eligibility with six wins, but they are still not guaranteed a bowl berth. The Big 12 has eight contract bowl spots this year and nine bowl-eligible teams. Since teams with only six wins can only be selected for a bowl game after all available teams with seven or more have been selected, OSU needed Kansas to lose to Missouri to have any hope of a bowl game. After Mizzou beat the Jayhawks 42-17, both Kansas and OK State have 6-6 records and the bowl selection committees get to choose which team will be invited.

Aside from the rivalry and bowl implications, this game also decided who would represent the South division at the Big 12 Championship Game in Kansas City. At the beginning of the week, Texas and OU were tied for the lead with Texas holding the tie-breaker due to their win in the Red River Shootout earlier in the year. However, since Texas lost to Texas A&M on November 24, the Sooner victory at State won the division outright and gave them the chance to play Nebraska for the Big 12 title and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl (awarded contractually to the Big 12 winner if they are not selected to play in the national championship game).

As with the previous five games, the absence of Adrian Peterson did not keep the Sooners from pounding the ball on the ground. Allen Patrick returned from missing the last two games with a sore ankle and put up 163 yards on 23 carries, including a 65-yard touchdown scamper to start the second half. Chris Brown had an additional 19 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns as Patrick's backup. At the end of the day, Paul Thompson only threw 11 passes, 7 completions for 77 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, and Oklahoma had 238 yards of rushing.

Oklahoma State's passing attack was more active, with both Zach Robinson and Bobby Reid completing 8 passes (on 17 attempts for 149 yards for Robinson, 12 and 82 for Reid). However, they were still only able to connect for one touchdown (Reid to D'Jaun Woods in the fourth quarter) and Robinson missed high on a last-second "Hail Mary" that would have tied the game (the PAT would have put the Cowboys up by one with only a few seconds left in the game). The Cowboys were also able to produce 119 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Big 12 Championship Game

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Cornhuskers	0	7	0	0	7
#10 Sooners	14	0	7	0	21

Called "The Battle of the Big Reds", the rivalry between the University of Oklahoma and Nebraska University was one of the most heated contests of the old Big Eight Conference. Played every Thanksgiving weekend for 71 years (from 1927 to 1998), this contest produced many memorable games; including the Game of the Century in 1971. The rivalry has cooled somewhat since the creation of the Big 12 as Bill Callahan's Nebraska Cornhuskers and Stoops's Oklahoma Sooners now split a home-and-home two of every four years.

This is only the fourth time that the teams have met at a neutral site. The last time was the 1979 Orange Bowl where the Sooners won 31-24. Oklahoma holds the lead in the all-time series 42 to 37 with 3 ties and has never lost to Nebraska on neutral turf (one 7-7 tie in 1919 in Omaha). Bob Stoops is 3-1 against Nebraska and has a two game winning streak; Callahan has never beaten Oklahoma.

This is the first time the two teams have met in the Big 12 Championship Game to determine the Big 12 Conference champion. Nebraska played in the championship game three of the first four years, winning in 1997 and '99, but had not made it back since. Oklahoma missed the first four games but represented the south four of the next six years, topping the conference in 2000, '02, and '04. Oklahoma has both the most appearances in the championship game (5) and conference titles (3) of any team in the Big 12.

Nebraska received the ball to start the game but Maurice Purify fumbled on the first play from scrimmage. Oklahoma recovered the ball at the Nebraska 2 and scored a touchdown to take the lead 7-0 with 48 seconds expired off the clock. It was the fastest score in Big 12 Championship Game history. With 5:35 left in the first quarter, Oklahoma executed a touchdown pass to Malcolm Kelley to go up 14-0.

With 4:37 left in the first half, Nebraska's Zach Taylor threw a touchdown pass and the extra point shaved Oklahoma's lead to 14-7, which was still the score as the game went to half-time.

At the start of the half, Oklahoma started with the ball but were unable to advance, as Nebraska recorded their first quarterback sack of the game and caused Oklahoma to go three-and-out and punt. Later in the third quarter, Oklahoma used 11 plays, 3 minutes and 21 seconds, to go 99 yards and score a touchdown with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

With 8:53 left in the game, Nebraska threw what was almost a touchdown pass, but Nick Harris made a diving catch to intercept the ball in the end-zone for a touchback. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, so Oklahoma won the game 21-7. It was their fourth Big 12 Conference football championship, which is the most for any team in the conference (Nebraska and Texas each have two).

Fiesta Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
					0
Sooners					0

With the University of Texas's losses to both Kansas State and Texas A&M during the last two games of the season, OU saw its chances of a BCS bowl berth open up. Had OU lost its final game to Oklahoma State, then both Texas and OU would have been 6-2 in the Big 12 South and Texas would have won the tie-breaker by virtue of winning the head-to-head game in October. However, OU did knock off in-state rival Oklahoma State and then defeated the winner of the Big 12 North, Nebraska, on December 2, 2006.

Since OU won the Big 12 Championship game, they will represent the Big 12 Conference in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. Contractually, the Fiesta Bowl hosts the Big 12 Champion and then picks, from among the BCS eligible teams, the opponent. For 2007, the Fiesta Bowl has the last pick of the BCS bowls. Since they have the last pick, they will probably get a team not in a BCS conference but is BCS bowl eligible by way of final ranking. Analysts at ESPN believe that the Big 12 Champion's opponent in the Fiesta Bowl will be Boise State.

Statistics

Team

OU Opp Scoring 334 171   Points per Game 30.4 (23rd)* 15.5 (19th)* First Downs 202 156   Rushing 88 67   Passing 103 81   Penalty 11 8 Total Offense 4133 2195   Avg per Play 5.9 4.5   Avg per Game 375.7 265.0 (10th)* Fumbles-Lost 30-21 17-9 Penalties-Yards 58-450 59-455   Avg per Game 40.7 41.4

OU Opp Punts-Yards 43-1719 66-2620   Avg per Punt 40.0 40.3 Time of Possession/Game 31:33 28:27 3rd Down Conversions 56/138 (41%) 45/148 (30%) 4th Down Conversions 7/10 (70%) 4/13 (31%) Touchdowns Scored 40 19 Field Goals-Attempts 17-18 12-17 PAT-Attempts 39-39 19-19 Total Attendance (Games) 507,366 (6) 238,232 (4)   Avg per Game 84,561 59,558   Neutral Site 76,260 (1)

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total Opponents 47 40 33 51 171 Sooners 102 73 91 68 334

Offense

Rushing

Name	GP-GS	Att	Gain	Loss	Net	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Peterson, Adrian	6-6	168	983	48	935	5.5	10	53	155.8
Patrick, Allen	9-3	120	518	16	502	4.2	2	18	55.8
Brown, Chris	3-1	44	269	4	265	6.0	4	40	88.3
Gutierrez, Jacob	11-1	45	226	6	220	4.9	0	15	20.0
Thompson, Paul	11-11	54	205	95	110	2.0	3	27	10.0
Johnson, Manuel	9-3	2	13	0	13	6.5	0	9	1.4
Iglesias, Jauquin	11-9	2	6	0	6	3.0	0	4	0.5
Strong, Fred	9-2	1	5	0	5	5.0	0	5	0.6
TEAM	8-0	8	0	30	-30	-3.8	0	0	-3.8
Total	11	444	2225	199	2026	4.6	19	53	184.2 (16th)*

Passing

Name	GP-GS	Effic	Att	Cmp	Int	Pct	Yds	TD	Lng	Avg/G
Thompson, Paul	11-11	145.49 (24th)*	159	259	7	61.4	2092	17	73	190.2
Halzle, Joey	2-0	113.00	1	2	0	50.0	15	0	15	7.5
TEAM	8-0	0.00	0	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0
Total	11	144.69	160	262	7	61.1	2107	17	73	191.5

Receiving

Name	GP-GS	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Kelly, Malcolm	11-11	51	839	16.5	8	73	76.3 (25th)*
Iglesias, Juaquin	11-9	32	355	11.1	1	37	32.3
Johnson, Manuel	9-3	23	255	11.1	2	32	28.3
Finley, Joe Jon	11-11	17	224	13.2	3	36	20.4
Strong, Fred	9-2	9	73	8.1	0	25	8.1
Peterson, Adrian	6-6	8	127	15.9	1	69	21.2
Gresham, Jermaine	11-1	7	126	18.0	1	41	11.5
Zaslaw, Dane	6-0	4	42	10.5	0	17	7.0
Eldridge, Brody	11-6	3	18	6.0	0	10	1.6
Plesant, Ian	11-1	2	13	6.5	0	11	1.2
Chaney, Quentin	8-0	1	15	15.0	1	15	1.9
Smith, Reggie	11-10	1	12	12.0	0	12	1.1
Tennell, Adron	9-0	1	11	11.0	0	11	1.2
Gutierrez, Jacob	11-1	1	-3	-3.0	0	0	-0.3
Total	11	160	2107	13.2	17	73	191.5

Defense

Name	GP	Tackles				Sacks	Pass Defense		Interceptions				Fumbles		Blkd Kick
		Solo	Ast	Total	TFL-Yds	No-Yds	BrUp	QBH	No.-Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Rcv-Yds	FF
Alexander, Rufus	11	48	40	88	10.5-36	2.0-18	3	3	1-0	0	0	0	1-0	3	0
Latimer, Zach	11	31	36	67	9.0-31	2.0-18	3	2	3-23	7.7	1	22	0	1	0
Williams, Darien	11	36	26	62	4.5-24	2.0-18	3	1	1-35	35.0	0	35	1-0	2	0
Harris, Nic	11	29	26	55	6.0-36	1.5-5	4	3	3-11	3.7	0	11	0	0	0
Birdine, Larry	11	12	21	33	6.5-15	2.0-9	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total	11	323	327	650	73-304	19-164	44	29	14-186	13.3	2	52	9-0	9	2

Special teams

Name	Punting								Kickoffs
	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TB	FC	I20	Blkd	No.	Yds	Avg	TB	OB
Cohen, Michael	33	1388	42.1	75	2	10	6	0
Knall, Mike	10	331	33.1	42	1	2	8	0
Hartley, Garrett									62	3795	61.2	26	3
Baublits, Blake									6	304	50.7	0	0
Total	43	1717	40.0	75	3	12	14	0	68	4099	60.3	26	3

Name	Punt Returns					Kick Returns
	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Carter, Jason	1	12	12.0	0	0
Iglesias, Juaquin						9	278	30.9	1	88
Johnson, Manuel						2	34	17.0	0	16
Peterson, Adrian						7	162	23.1	0	59
Smith, Reggie	30	254	8.5	1	62	8	182	22.8	0	55
TEAM						1	0	0.0	0	0
Total	31	266	8.6	1	62	27	656	24.3	1	88

Statistics from: "Oklahoma Sooners - Cumulative Season Statistics" (HTML). NMN Athletics. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
^* National rankings: "Oklahoma Ranking Summary" (HTML). NCAA. Retrieved 2006-11-22.

Post season

Awards

With the 2006 college football season winding down, many organizations are beginning to announce finalists and winners of post-season awards. Sooner players and coaches are appearing on many of these lists. Head coach Bob Stoops was unanimously named Coach of the Year on the AT&T All-Big 12 Coaches Team. This is the third time he's won the award, more than any other coach in league history. Stoops was also named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award, a national award handed out by the Football Writer's Association of America.. Stoops is not the only Sooner coach to garner praise. OU defensive coordinator/linebacker coach/associate head coach Brent Venables was named one of five finalists for the Broyles Award which goes to the nation's best assistant coach.

Several players for the Sooners have also been honored. OU junior kicker Garrett Hartley was named a finalist for the Lou Groza Award. OU senior linebacker Rufus Alexander was named the AT&T All-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He is the third Oklahoma player to earn this honor, following Teddy Lehman in 2003 and Roy Williams in 2001. Many of Oklahoma's players were also named to the All-Big 12 First and Second Team:

All-Big 12 First Team Adrian Peterson, Jr., RB, 3rd year Chris messner, Sr., OL C.J. Ah You, Sr., DL Larry Birdine, Sr., DL Rufus Alexander, Sr., LB, 2nd year

All-Big 12 Second Team Malcolm Kelly, So., WR Garrett Hartley, Jr., PK Marcus Walker, Jr., DB Nic Harris, So., DB Reggie Smith, So., DB

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Team Steven Coleman, Jr., DL Brody Eldridge, Fr., FB Joe Jon Finley, Jr., TE Lendy Holmes, So., DB Zack Latimer, Sr., LB Allen Patrick, Jr., RB George Robinson, So., OL Reggie Smith, So., PK/KR Paul Thompson, Sr., QB Brandon Walker, Fr., OL Darien Williams, Jr., DB

Most of the national awards have yet to be announced. However, the American Football Coaches Association awarded Rufus Alexander first team All American.

Season notes

• The Sooners switched to a new jersey design this year, which included the removal of the players' last names from the back of the jersey, and a darker crimson color for the jersey and helmet.
• With his 183 yards against Iowa State, Peterson moved to fourth on OU's all-time career rushing list. He needs only 151 more yards to pass Billy Sims for the top spot. Peterson did not play for the remainder of the regular season because bone scans "did not show the healing that need[ed] to occur" for him to play again, according to Coach Stoops at a press conference on November 20. Peterson also will not play in the Big 12 Conference Championship game against Nebraska. Though Stoops said he could be cleared, the team does not want to risk a re-occurrence of the injury and the medical staff is not certain the healing would hold up to a severe hit.

See also

• 2006 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
• 2006 NCAA Division I-A football season
• Oklahoma Sooners football

External links

• SoonerSports.com - Official OU Athletics website
• cfbstats.com - Oklahoma