Turnovers Leave Sooners a Shade of Crimson

The only “Dynasty” playing in Norman will have to be repeats on television.

Talk of an Oklahoma juggernaut and a string of national titles stretching deep into the 21st century was mauled over and muted Tuesday night after the Sooners’ 55-19, five-turnover defeat to USC in the bowl championship series national-title game at the Orange Bowl.

Oklahoma has played in three BCS national-title games in the last five seasons -- the upside -- and now has lost two -- the downside.

Amazing as it sounds, things might have been OK for Oklahoma early in the game had the Sooners not completely lost possession of their football faculties.

It was a 7-7 score in the first quarter when a USC punt dribbled deep into Oklahoma territory. Mark Bradley inexplicably picked up the ball, then coughed it up, with USC recovering his fumble at the six.

It was like handing a burglar the keys to your house.

USC took the gift and scored.

“I have no idea why Mark would have done that,” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said. “I was as shocked as anyone in the stadium. How do you explain that? I don’t know. That goes back to Pop Warner football. Mark should have made a better decision. I’m not going to sit here and go any further in front of the whole media, but it’s as bad a play as there is.”

Bradley, a senior, sat in the interview room afterward and tried to explain what happened.

“Just a bonehead mistake on my part,” he said. “Before I even knew what was going on, I saw the ref pointing in SC’s direction. I have to live with it, but I’m not going to let it crush me to the point where I can’t function. Things happen. You’ve got to move forward.”

There was plenty of blame to spread.

On the possession after Bradley’s muff, Jason White inexplicably heaved a pass into quadruple coverage that was not inexplicably intercepted by Jason Leach.

That mistake led to another Trojan touchdown.

“A horrible decision on my part,” White said. “I just should have thrown the ball away, but I didn’t. It was stupid on my part.”

Then, a couple of minutes later, White did it again, throwing a lollipop pass that USC cornerback Justin Wyatt gobbled up like a snack.

What in the name of Bud Wilkinson was going on here?

It was not as if White just fell off the hay truck. He won the Heisman Trophy last year and is a two-time winner of the Davey O’Brien Award.

Yet, in two consecutive national-title games, White has looked harried and flustered.

In last year’s title-game loss to Louisiana State, White completed 13 of 37 passes with two interceptions.

Against USC, he completed 24 of 36 passes for 244 yards with three interceptions and two touchdowns.

Tuesday, White threw two interceptions that led to Trojan touchdowns ... in the first half.

A Kejuan Jones fumble late in the first half led to the Ryan Killeen field goal that made it 38-10.

Oklahoma committed a season-high five turnovers -- almost unfathomable for a school that went 12-0 and prides itself on discipline and efficiency.

Oklahoma was going to be in a rough game no matter what.

USC basically nullified freshman tailback Adrian Peterson (82 yards in 25 carries), but, if you eliminated the blunders, Oklahoma might have been able to compete in a game of ball control and clock management.

The Sooners’ never gave themselves a chance.

“When you turn the ball over four times in the first half you make it pretty difficult to win,” Stoops said.

Stoops is considered one of the game’s top minds. He was defensive coordinator on Florida’s 1996 national-title team and led Oklahoma to a national title in 2000, his second season in Norman.

In the 2001 Orange Bowl, Stoops’ defense pitched a shutout in a 13-2 win over Florida State.

No coach, though, not even Vince Lombardi, could have drawn up a game plan to counter Tuesday’s Sooner self-destruction.

There’s nothing for Oklahoma to do now except assess the damage and high-tail it back to Norman.

All talk of dynasty has been humbly deferred.

White looked shell-shocked when he walked off the field.

“I’m disappointed, embarrassed, you name it,” he said later.

Oklahoma lost a game and 16 seniors, who played their last game.

The power in college football took a dramatic shift, from Mid-west to West.

It’s hard to imagine things changing any time soon.

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Worst losses for Oklahoma since 1960:

*--* PTS DATE RESULT 62 Nov. 1, 1997 at Nebraska 69, Oklahoma 7 52 Nov. 2, 1996 Nebraska 73, at Oklahoma 21 44 Nov. 15, 1997 Texas A&M; 51, at Oklahoma 7 39 Nov. 4, 1995 at Kansas State 49, Oklahoma 10 38 Oct. 25, 1969 at Kansas State 59, Oklahoma 21 37 Nov. 24, 1995 at Nebraska 37, Oklahoma 0 36 Jan. 4, 2005 USC 55, Oklahoma 19 34 Nov. 8, 1969 at Missouri 44, Oklahoma 10 32 Oct. 10, 1970 Texas 41, Oklahoma 9 31 Oct. 10, 1998 Texas 34, Oklahoma 3

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