Sooners win, reach playoff, no thanks to the quarterback, but why mess with a formula?
17 points just enough to win for a second straight week as Oklahoma takes down LSU
One of these days, when Oklahoma finally finds a way to lose — which you’d think would be easy given its inaccurate, turnover-prone quarterback, its play-calling-challenged coordinator and its can’t-run-block offensive line — there’s going to be a real conversation about this Sooner offense.
It could begin with who should play quarterback next season and, if it’s the same guy, whether his pay should be cut.
I look forward to it and others must, too, because counting on 17 points being enough to win in the nation’s most difficult conference is ridiculous, absurd and unsustainable, even if it’s become a trend in Norman.
That day, though, is not today.
It’s not today because somehow and some way OU again prevailed, this time 17–13 over LSU, mostly because the Sooners made two plays.
The first: quarterback John Mateer found Isaiah Sategna down the field with a zip code all to himself and, even though the pass was underthrown, forcing Sategna to all but stop to catch it, all that remained was an easy jog to the end zone to complete the 58-yard score.
That play, coming with 4:16 remaining after the Tigers had taken a 13–10 lead with a 43-yard field goal from Damian Ramos with 7:56 remaining, forged the final margin.
The second: facing fourth-and-2 at the OU 29, LSU quarterback Michael Van Buren rolled right looking for ex-Sooner Bauer Sharpe. Even had Sharpe caught it, it appeared he’d be tackled short. Instead, he never had the chance because Peyton Bowen — who’d already intercepted Van Buren in the end zone way back in the first quarter — put a paw on the toss and that was that.
Mateer took two knees and the game was over.
It means the Sooners are in the 12-team College Football Playoff, playing host to Notre Dame, or so USA Today thought Saturday night after all but the last wave of games was complete.
But should they be?
Well, of course they should. They won.
But should they have won?
Ah, a very different question.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.