UCLA Win Not Really Upsetting

Lost in the eight-clap euphoria of UCLA’s 41-24 win over Oklahoma on Saturday was the question of exactly what it was UCLA beat.

Was it the storied team that went 12-0 in the regular season last year or the one that, two weeks ago, lost to Texas Christian?

This was hardly the Oklahoma squad that routed UCLA two years ago in Norman (not the same UCLA team, either).

This was not the Oklahoma that, last time it played in Pasadena, trounced Washington State in the 2003 Rose Bowl.

The Oklahoma team that lost to UCLA on Saturday started a freshman at quarterback and exhibited a confounded, almost discombobulated, look.

The Sooner Schooner, at least for the moment, has gone wheels over wagon into a ditch.

The Sooners are 1-2 and that, in itself, is news. It’s the worst start since the team started 1-2 in 1998 under John Blake.

Being 1-2 at Oklahoma is ...

“Really weird,” defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek said. “Uncharted waters. Whatever you want to call it. But it is what it is and we are what we are.”

Oklahoma’s 85-week streak of being ranked in the Associated Press poll is over.

Seventh-year Coach Bob Stoops, who lost his first-ever game in September two weeks ago, has now lost his second and can’t wait until October.

Oklahoma has given up 96 points in its last two games played against Los Angeles-based teams.

The team that has won seven national titles and played in three championship games this century won’t play in one this season.

You know it’s bad when the expectations have to be dialed down and phrases such as “making progress” creep into the postgame analysis.

What is going wrong here?

Actually, nothing that can’t be fixed with a little glue (for the players’ hands) and more hands-on time against the practice dummy.

Oklahoma simply got caught with its points down -- and UCLA took advantage.

You remember that movie “Lost in Translation”?

Oklahoma right now is “lost in transition.”

Start with the hangover concerning last season’s almost apocalyptic 55-19 loss to USC in the Orange Bowl -- and then mix in a minor retooling job.

The Sooners have tailback Adrian Peterson back on offense but lost quarterback Jason White, three of his top receivers and the Outland Trophy winner, Jammal Brown, at tackle. They lost 10 players to the NFL draft and, before this season started, two defensive ends to season-ending injuries.

The results have been predictable.

The Sooners were shocked in their TCU opener, then had to rally last week to beat Tulsa.

Saturday, Oklahoma amassed more total yards than UCLA, 398 to 397, but made more silly mistakes in one game than some of Stoops’ best teams made in a season.

At times, Oklahoma could not execute the simple center snap. The Sooners officially fumbled six times, losing three, but it seemed like more.

They had dumb penalties, including a holding call that negated a fourth-quarter interception that would have put Oklahoma in scoring position while trailing by 10.

On one second-half drive, Peterson took a handoff and then, as he was being tackled, recklessly pitched the ball back to quarterback Rhett Bomar for a nine-yard loss. On a fourth-and-three play on the same drive, Peterson fumbled a pitch and ended up swatting the ball out of bounds.

Did this remind anyone of great Oklahoma teams of yore?

“Those teams are different,” Stoops explained. “Every team is different. That has not been like us. Unfortunately, that’s us now.”

Oklahoma must take comfort in making incremental improvement.

Bomar, who was so shaky last week against Tulsa he was not allowed to throw a second-half pass, completed 20 of 29 passes for 241 yards and also added an 18-yard run.

“I thought I grew a lot today,” Bomar said. “Everyone was talking about how terrible we were after last week. I thought we were much better today.”

Oklahoma’s defense held UCLA’s running game mostly in check, but allowed too many tackle-busting plays.

“Tackling is an attitude,” co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables huffed afterward, “and we’ve got to get more of it.”

Before Oklahoma fans head to the bunker, they might consider that in the five years before Stoops arrived in 1999, Oklahoma went 22-33-1.

With Saturday’s loss, Stoops record “dropped” to 68-14.

The Sooners get a bye week to work out the brain cramps before opening Big 12 Conference play against Kansas State on Oct. 1.

“Winning like we have for so long is not easy,” Stoops said. “Everyone will have their shots at us. That’s fine. The key for us is to keep improving.”

Oklahoma improved enough to beat Tulsa last week but not enough to beat a UCLA program on the upswing.

“We have everything to play for,” Dvoracek said.

Then he caught himself.

“We don’t have the national championship to play for, but we have the Big 12 to play for,” he said. “We have fans to play for.”

The Sooners also have a chance to wreck No. 2 Texas’ season on Oct. 8 with a sixth consecutive victory over the Longhorns.

Sometimes, in the rebuilding process, you need to hang your hopes on something.