Sooners Have a Loss on Their Minds

NEW ORLEANS —  It has been almost a month since Oklahoma lost its only game of the season, a 35-7 thrashing at the hands of Kansas State in the Big 12 Conference championship game on Dec. 6, but the defeat remains fresh in the minds of the Sooners and continues to motivate them going into tonight’s Sugar Bowl game against Louisiana State.

“That was a real eye opener,” defensive end Dan Cody said. “The problem was we got on a cloud three-quarters of the way through the season. All of a sudden no one was going to beat us, and it was just a matter of who we were going to play in the Sugar Bowl.

“I think we lost that edge going into that game, and we need to get that edge back. It was a slap in the face to us. Not only that they beat us, but we let ourselves down.”

Quarterback Jason White, who went from the emotional low of that loss to the emotional high of winning the Heisman Trophy a week later, believes the Sooners might be better off in the long run for having lost to Kansas State.

“It was great for our team because it puts you back in place -- it puts your feet back on the ground,” White said. “You learn from your mistakes. We’ll be a totally different team because we know what it feels like to lose, and we don’t want to experience that feeling again.”

The Sooners scored first against Kansas State but failed to score again despite marching into Wildcat territory five more times in the first half. Kansas State running back Darren Sproles rushed 22 times for 235 yards, the most ever against an Oklahoma team, and the Wildcats amassed 292 yards rushing and 519 total yards.

“We didn’t tackle well at times,” Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables said, “and we gave up too many big plays.”

Asked what he learned from the loss, defensive tackle Tommie Harris answered a question with a question.

“You ever get beat up before?” Harris said. “We learned that when you get knocked down, you’ve got to get up and fight again.”

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The hopes and dreams of an entire state seem to be riding on the shoulders of the LSU football team, which is shooting for the school’s first national championship since 1958, and Tiger fans, many of whom are in New Orleans despite not having tickets to the game, are poised for a wild celebration on Bourbon Street if LSU beats Oklahoma.

“It’s a little bit tough for us, because you can hardly walk out of the hotel without having a parade type of atmosphere relative to where we’re going or what we’re doing,” LSU Coach Nick Saban said. “So, I think it has been a little more difficult for our guys to deal with some of the outside influences.”

One of Saban’s biggest challenges this past week and in the hours leading up to the game was to keep his players focused on their individual assignments, on the offensive and defensive game plans, and not the bigger picture of what it would mean to win a national title and a piece of LSU sports lore in their home state.

“The most important thing for us as a team is to be ourselves,” Saban said. “Sometimes when you get in situations like this the game can become bigger than life, and in some ways it becomes very difficult for everybody to be what they’ve been.

“We want to play the kind of football that got us here, and if we get outside of ourselves and lose our balance, then we probably won’t perform as well.”

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Ears perked up during Saturday’s news conference when Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said Athletic Director Joe Castiglione was trying to arrange a game against USC in next season’s Black Coaches Assn. Classic.

“I think that would be fantastic,” Stoops said. “I’ve read about all the guys they have coming back, and we have 10 starters coming back on offense and eight starters back on defense, so I’d think it would be pretty exciting.”

One problem: USC, which is expected to claim a share of the national championship after Thursday’s 28-14 Rose Bowl win over Michigan, has already signed a contract to open the 2004 season against Virginia Tech in the BCA game.

“Bob just didn’t realize USC has already filled the date,” said Kenny Mossman, Oklahoma sports information director. “There were [discussions about playing USC next season], but we both needed a home game, and that’s why it didn’t work out.”

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Harris, the Oklahoma junior who won the Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman, will announce after tonight’s game whether he will forgo his senior season to jump to the NFL. He is believed to be leaning toward the NFL.... In four seasons under Saban, LSU is 33-2 when leading at halftime, 31-2 when leading after three quarters and 24-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing. In five years under Stoops, Oklahoma is 50-3 when leading at the half.