Oklahoma Could Tell Miami Was in for a Fall

You didn’t have to be in New Orleans to realize that the Miami Hurricanes were about to be downgraded to a little offshore turbulence, which the Tennessee Volunteers would have no difficulty flying through.

From reading reports in the Miami newspapers about the Hurricanes’ adventures in New Orleans, it was apparent they had their minds on everything except the Volunteers and the Sugar Bowl.

On one day, Miami defensive tackle Jerome Brown, in his daily diary for the Miami Herald, was writing about the difficulties he and his teammates were experiencing in trying to determine which women at the bars weren’t female impersonators.

On another day, Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde was telling the Miami News that he always thought he was better than Bernie Kosar.

Both newspapers reported the bizarre scene on the day before the game, when Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson walked into a breakfast in his honor and was greeted by 2,000 Hurricane fans, who wrapped him in a royal blue cape, plopped him on a throne and carried him around the room. The team’s mascot led the procession, carrying a 3 x 3-foot picture of Johnson. Prince Charles doesn’t get that kind of treatment.

No wonder Johnson lost perspective. In an interview with Miami Herald columnist Edwin Pope two days before the game, Johnson actually talked about the possibility of running up the score on Tennessee. He said he thought the game would be close but added that he wouldn’t tell his team to quit passing if it broke into a lead. The headline read: “Don’t look for any mercy if Hurricanes bust loose.”

Then, while the Hurricanes were posing for their team picture Tuesday, they began singing, “We Are the World.”

As it turned out, they were the children.

Oklahoma’s Sooners were the champions.

The Sooners, who arrived in Miami Dec. 20 to begin preparations for the Orange Bowl, read the reports from New Orleans and shook their heads knowingly. They made the same mistake last year at the Orange Bowl, thinking more about having a good time and finishing the season with a high ranking in the polls than about the Washington Huskies. The Huskies wasted them, 28-17.

So when the Sooners learned during the second half of their game against Penn State Wednesday night that Miami lost to Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl, 35-7, they weren’t surprised. They had seen it coming.

“I know that what goes around comes around,” Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer said Thursday morning when someone asked him if he had any sympathy for Jimmy Johnson.

Of course, he doesn’t.

“I read an article last week in the Hurricane Watch, a fan publication down here,” Switzer said. “You could see in the fans’ attitude and the media’s attitude down here that there was an overconfidence that Miami was going to kick the hell out of Tennessee. They were talking about running up the score. Of course, the writer of this article said that if Tennessee won, Miami would have to eat crow for a year. Then, he predicted Miami would win, 38-10.

“It’s like I said last night: humility is only seven days away in this profession.”

The Sooners learned that in the last Orange Bowl and vowed not to make the same mistake this year.

“Last year, we came down here, and it seemed like a big party for us,” Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth said a few days before the game. “We went on a cruise and to the dog track and to jai alai.

“When we did talk about football, it seemed like it was always about the polls, whether we should be No. 1 or whether BYU should be No. 1. That became bigger than our opponent. That was a very big mistake.

“This year, we still want to have a good time, but we know that the game is the most important thing. We’re not going to allow ourselves to be distracted.”

The Sooners had fun. They are national champions every year in that department.

But when it came time to play the Orange Bowl, they were ready, beating No. 1 Penn State, 25-10.

As a result, Oklahoma sits on top of the college football world for the sixth time, the third since Switzer became the Sooners’ head coach 13 years ago.

They probably will be No. 1 again at the beginning of next season, when UCLA travels to Norman, Okla., to play the Sooners in the opener Sept. 13.

Here’s a thought to put a damper on UCLA Coach Terry Donahue’s Rose Bowl celebration.

Of the first 48 players on Oklahoma’s depth chart, only seven are seniors. Twenty-seven of them are freshmen or sophomores. Among the Sooners’ first eight backs, including freshman quarterback Jamelle Holieway from L.A. Banning High School, there are no seniors and only one junior.

Switzer said Thursday that he thought this was his most satisfying championship.

“I never thought a college football team could go as far as we have with the youth we have in the skill positions,” he said. “I don’t think a freshman backfield has ever done that before.

“For a freshman quarterback, who is responsible for 78% of the execution in our offense, to have this kind of success at his position, that’s remarkable.

“The youth that we have has made this a refreshing year of coaching. We’re so young, we’re unspoiled. We’re not corrupted by statistics yet. I never anticipated they’d perform at the level they have.”

Switzer said he believes that the Sooners will be better next season.

But he avoided the inevitable question about a dynasty.

“I don’t think any team can dominate college football,” he said. “I don’t see how you can even go undefeated against the schedule we play. We open against UCLA and play Miami in the third game. We always play Texas. So we not only have to be good to win a national championship, we have to be lucky. We have to have other people beat people for us.

“You’re going to have your ups and downs. But if we’re going to lose, I want to lose to the Southern Cals, Texases and Nebraskas. You’re lucky to go .500 against those teams. I just don’t want to lose to the Kansas States and Iowa States.”

Someone asked Switzer if he felt vindicated.

Some teams are known for their character. His are known for their characters. That has led to some criticism that he isn’t disciplined enough.

“I’ve had that label too long to feel any vindication,” he said. “When you get stuck with an image, it’s something you’re always going to have. But this is the way our kids are. Our kids have a good time.”

How about you, someone asked. Switzer, 48, has been known in the past to still be on his feet past curfew.

“I’m getting too damn old to have a good time,” he said. “I used to have a better time.”