Sooners Pressing Pac-10 for Change

Oklahoma would consider canceling its game at Washington in 2008 if the Pacific 10 Conference doesn’t change its rule requiring league officials to be used at its home stadiums, Sooners Coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday.

The Sooners lost, 34-33, at Oregon on Saturday, and Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen has since said that two incorrect calls by the league’s officials on Oregon’s behalf changed the outcome of the game.

On Monday, Oklahoma President David Boren sent a letter to Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg asking him to pursue having the Pac-10 remove its officiating policy.

“I think there’s no question that [Athletic Director] Joe Castiglione and I and President Boren, if that rule is not changed that we may reconsider that game, and I think it’s justified. We’ll look into that.”

Oklahoma defeated Washington, 37-20, on Sept. 9 in the first game of the home-and-home series.

Stoops also said he received a phone call from Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti.

“He just apologized and said that it’s unfortunate that the two of us have got to be in the middle of it,” Stoops said. “I said, ‘Well, you didn’t do anything wrong but play hard, and that’s the same thing we were trying to do.’ ”

At Oregon, Bellotti said some might view the win as tainted.

“I feel very fortunate for us to have won that football game, not for the officials’ errors, but for how our team played,” he said. “We were lucky, we made plays and we never gave up. It’s unfortunate that any team had to lose, or the efforts of my players are questioned, because of officials’ errors.”

Bellotti told Stoops when officials determine the outcome, it’s not good for either team.

“And I can understand their frustration,” Bellotti said.

Stoops said he was addressing the issue “for the last time” so his 17th-ranked Sooners (2-1) could get ready to play Middle Tennessee State.

“I’ve said all this in this way because I feel the right to stand up for my football players,” he said. “I’m not sitting up here, me babying or whining about it.”

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