Sooners return to the ranks of the elite

Sporting News, The, Oct 18, 1993 by Ivan Maisel

Hello, Oklahoma. The college football elite welcomed an old friend Saturday.

It is premature to think the Sooners have returned to their heights of the 1970s and mid-1980s. Oklahoma beat an inexperienced Texas team, 38-17, which any good team would have done. It must play Colorado this week.

But the way the Sooners dominated the game - on the ground, pure power football - indicated Coach Gary Gibbs' long, difficult reconstruction might be nearing completion.

Gibbs had been 0-4 against Texas. If a citizen could be charged with treason by a state, Gibbs would have needed a high-priced defense attorney on retainer.

That the Sooners (5-0) rushed for 275 yards and all five of their touchdowns is evidence they are stronger, faster and have better athletes than Texas (1-3-1).

Much of the credit goes to freshman James Allen, who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown, and to the 20-mph wind that wreaked havoc on senior Cale Gundy's passing in the first quarter. He kept the ban on the ground. He even kept the ball himself for three touchdowns.

"We tried stunting," Longhorns Coach John Mackovic says. "We tried blitzing. We tried moving up."

Mackovic also is rebuilding. He plays many freshmen and sophomores, and they were no match for the Sooners. Texas concluded its non-conference season winless for the first time since 1938, but with some hope. It has six Southwest Conference games remaining.

"If we win all six of them, we'll be back here (the Cotton Bowl) on New Year's Day," Mackovic says. "That's not out of the realm of possibility."

No, but it is floating out there between winning the lottery and being kidnapped by aliens.

The team that likely will play on January 1 wore the visitors' white uniforms Saturday, although Oklahoma looked at home on the new Cotton Bowl grass. That's ironic, because Oklahoma politicos are trying to take the game out of Dallas and make it a home-and-home series.

The politicians say the move would bring the money spent in Dallas back home. They are wrong. Memorial Stadium in Norman wouldn't be half-filled with Texans, and hotel rooms there wouldn't be filled with Oklahomans.

Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds has been as straightforward as anyone can be.

"If they vote to stop playing in Dallas," Dodds says, "they vote to stop playing."

Texas wants to play in Dallas. If Oklahoma doesn't, Texas would find someone else. Oklahoma Athletic Director Donnie Duncan has to be cautious about what he says because of politics, but he is working behind the scenes to keep the rivalry alive. Given the most recent outcome, his incentive must have increased tremendously.

Kentucky bounces back

Staring at the prospect of another disappointing season, Kentucky did an about-face and decided to stare at a bowl bid.

After beating Kent State and losing to Florida, 24-20, on a last-second, 28-yard pass, the Wildcats played poorly in a 24-8 loss at Indiana. Five days later, they went to South Carolina without injured starting quarterback Pookie Jones. What's more, Kentucky Coach Bill Curry had a 1-10 road record against SEC teams.

"Rather than be dejected," Curry says, "we just said, |We're a fine team, and we embarrassed ourselves.' . . .It's a real boon to have a short preparation time."

The Wildcats, behind backup quarterback Antonio O'Ferral, scored 14 fourth-quarter points to beat the Gamecocks, 21-17. The next week against Mississippi and the No. 2 defense in the nation, Kentucky ground out a 21-0 victory.

For a coach who has watched his last two schools (Georgia Tech and Alabama) win national titles with seniors he recruited, Curry must have a feeling of pride in rebuilding again. Georgia is 2-4 and Auburn can't go to a bowl, so the Wildcats (3-2) are tantalizingly close to securing one of the SEC's five bowl bids. It would be their first postseason appearance in nine years.

"There's so many good teams, especially in the SEC," Curry says. "We don't have an easy game."

And just when you want to play someone, no one is there. The Wildcats spent Saturday idle. When Athletic Director C.M. Newton walked into the Kentucky locker room after the Ole Miss game, Curry asked him, "Think you can get somebody to play us this week?"

Busy Beavers

Just how many quarterbacks does Oregon State have? When starter Ian Shields suffered a sprained ankle last month, sophomore Don Shanklin, in his first start, rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns and completed all five of his passes in the Beavers' 30-14 rout of Arizona State.

Shields was injured again Saturday against Pacific. In came redshirt freshman Rahim Muhammad and freshman Adrian Woodson. They led the Beavers to four touchdowns in a 42-7 victory.

Oregon State gained 669 yards of total offense. More important, the Beavers are 3-3 and slowly digging their way out of the Pacific 10 Conference dungeon.

Fireworks displays

September 25 was Fight Day. October 9 was Strange Offensive Record Day. Purdue and Minnesota combined for 1, 184 yards in the Gophers' 59-56 victory. This is the same Purdue team that made Notre Dame struggle to score 17 points.