Anyone else catching the reruns of the games in 2000? Gives me goosebumps even now watching the nebraska and fsu matchups. And refreshes my memory just how good Jones, Calmus and Williams were on defense
2000 season
- Thread starter Berryhillboomer
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Some great memories.
That team, with Heupel quarterbacking, knew how to win regardless of putting up gaudy offensive numbers.
Heupel riddled opposing defenses with his ability to ad lib...to take what the defenses were giving him. And two of his best efforts came in two games when OU had only a single touchdown.
Case in point: in the season finale against OSU in Stillwater, OU won 12-7 with only a single touchdown scored and Heupel playing with a sore arm.....and against Florida State, OU won 13-2 with only a single touchdown scored.
That team, with Heupel quarterbacking, knew how to win regardless of putting up gaudy offensive numbers.
Heupel riddled opposing defenses with his ability to ad lib...to take what the defenses were giving him. And two of his best efforts came in two games when OU had only a single touchdown.
Case in point: in the season finale against OSU in Stillwater, OU won 12-7 with only a single touchdown scored and Heupel playing with a sore arm.....and against Florida State, OU won 13-2 with only a single touchdown scored.
12-7 and 13-2 big game wins were what I expected from Bob Stoops when he was named head coach. What surprised me most about a Stoops OU team was the offensive production he brought with him. He delivered offensively the majority of games, but won with great defense. For me, that was the best of all worlds. I would love for Lincoln Riley to "surprise" me with great defensive play. If he can, I see another National Championship for the Sooners. If his defense doesn't improve on Bob's last years' denfenses, it will be very difficult to get #8, IMO.
Agree.
But I believe the days of having a dominant, shut-down type of defense are gone, not only at Oklahoma, but across the CFB landscape.
Seems like the best defenses are ones that can contain....or slow down....the explosive offenses of today's game. If a team goes through a 12-13 game season giving up an average of 25-28 points, that's considered very good.
Since 2000, OU has won 6 games by scoring 17 points or less. That's over 17 seasons.The last being OU's 16-7 win over West Virginia, a team that went 4-8, in 2013. Since then, it's been the 17-7 win over Iowa State in 2007, who went 3-9 that year.
Let me know when OU ever defeats an opponent again by scoring 14 points or less. Ain't happening.
[QUOTE="CTOkie, post:
Seems like the best defenses are ones that can contain....or slow down....the explosive offenses of today's game. If a team goes through a 12-13 game season giving up an average of 25-28 points, that's considered very good. [/QUOTE]
Give me some of this and I won't complain. You're right. Alabama has won championships doing exactly this. Although Saban's 2016 defense just gave up about 15 points a game. Just can't measure a defense shutting down the Kansas and the Iowa States of college football.
Seems like the best defenses are ones that can contain....or slow down....the explosive offenses of today's game. If a team goes through a 12-13 game season giving up an average of 25-28 points, that's considered very good. [/QUOTE]
Give me some of this and I won't complain. You're right. Alabama has won championships doing exactly this. Although Saban's 2016 defense just gave up about 15 points a game. Just can't measure a defense shutting down the Kansas and the Iowa States of college football.
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Of all the games I've seen on the road in the STOOPS era, the A&M game that year in C.S. is tied with the Tennessee game in Knoxville as the most exciting and satisfying games I've seen.
Yesterday I watched the two KSU games in 2000. Great games for the Sooners.
I expect Riley will do a good job as coach.
I expect Riley will do a good job as coach.
Both were great games to watch and are my favorites too. I give the edge to the A&M game because of it's importance that season. Tennessee was just a personal thrill for me, and one that I would like to share with the good Vol fans every year. I think a OU-TN rivalry would be great for both schools. Maybe it will come to be one day.
I would argue that those weren't Heupel's best efforts, it was the defenses best efforts. The games where Heupel and the offense sputtered, the defense stepped it up to carry them. The defense that year was just SICK!! It was full of kids that had been through to horrible Blake years and had their confidence and will to win tested to the brink. The heart they played with during the 2000 season was just incredible. They may not have been the most talented team in the country, but they played with more grit and passion than any other team in the country. In the end, that grit, passion and heart won out.
Heupel had arm issues late in the year and I believe it may have limited his performance as he threw 2 picks vs OSU, 3 picks vs KSU in the Big 12 title game and one vs Florida State.....and 15 during the entire season.
But with OU so formidable defensively, Heupel had a margin for error all season. Nevertheless, he was a clutch performer when it mattered most.
For sure.
Some harp on the talent Stoops inherited from Blake, as if OU would have run the table without Heupel, Griffin, Marshall, Heineke, Works, Savage or Strait.
Clearly Stoops did inherit some good talent....then he coached it up to being great talent, like Calmus, Fisher, Callens, Woolfolk, Romero, Jones, Williams Steffen, Thatcher, among others.
I can't give Blake credit for anything positive and to this day, I have always thought the talent level on Blake's three teams was better than 12-22.....at least 8-9 games better when I review the scores and recall how those games went.
OU recruited some decent talent during Blake's time more because of OU's great legacy than Blake's ability to recruit and develop talent.
Ontei Jones did play great vs.FSU
Also don't forget our great linebacker Torrance Marshall & DB Eric Strait.. Marshall's interception runback for a TD vs. Texas A&M saved the season for us as did Derrick Strait knocking the ball down in our end zone at the end of the game vs. okie state.
These 2 vital plays saved our season enabling us to play for the National Championship..
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Ontei Jones was a safety on the 2000 team. He made big plays in the Florida State game.
I kinda know that Dante Jones played LB from 1984-87....you really thought I was confusing Ontei Jones (1997-2000) who played 15 years later than Dante Jones ?
And yes, I was thinking of Torrance Marshall and not running back Everett Marshall who played from 1969-71.
Ontei Jones.
His open field tackle on that punt return in the FSU game is the best punt return coverage tackle I've ever seen.
edit, guess Bull edited his post before I hit reply on mine.
That was a great play by Ontei
Plus he intercepted Weinke's pass in the end zone as time ran out.Ontei Jones.
His open field tackle on that punt return in the FSU game is the best punt return coverage tackle I've ever seen.
edit, guess Bull edited his post before I hit reply on mine.
Life was different when OU was the only P5 team running a spread. It was Pandora's box for defenses.
It still is a Pandora's box for defenses, which is why the scoring is much higher than ever in CFB.
Football will never be the same with wide open offenses that attempt to go around and over opposing defenses, instead of plowing through them. Players are much bigger and faster and I believe speed and finesse....generally speaking....have taken over the game.
OU's great tandem of Perine and Mixon was a rarity and will not be easy to duplicate in the future.
I remembered Ontei and his great plays vs. FSU but when I first commented to the opening post and he said "Jones" I mistakenly corrected him thinking he put Dante
on the 2000 team. I had a brain fart about Ontei's last name.
Ontei was brilliant against Florida State. I remember him individually tackling a punt returner very near FSU's own goal line.
Do you remember on the coin flip at the beginning of the game .when Torrance Marshall told FSU's QB Wienke that he had stolen Heupel's Heisman?
Bob was dream come true. Yeah he inherited good players but that doesn't guarantee anything. Thank you, Bob. You are/were a winner. Kudos.
Who made the great reception on his back against Nebby 2000 ? When we roared back from down 14 I started believing the year was going to be magical. I knew our boy Schooner had a sideline pass and was going wild...
edited to correct (I had forgotten it was a '1 vs 2' game also...)
edited to correct (I had forgotten it was a '1 vs 2' game also...)
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Woolfolk caught a pass from Heupel in that game on his back.
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That is correct. The ball bounced off his thigh, then Woolfold hauled it in while on his back. Such a great play!! I was still stationed in Germany when that game was played. The Germans we worked with I'm sure still talk about the American psycho that was out of control while watching an American football game. Lol
I can't get on Youtube right now. But I know for sure the old LASooner 2000 season video is somewhere on Youtube. That video has that play in it.
It also has that EPIC Ontei Jones play where he absolutely crushes the FSU player on the punt coverage play.
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See if this works. Youtube won't load here at work, but this should be the link. If not I will change it later.
Just getting ready to mention Red October, and puzzled why no one had. You're playin' Mind Games with me...
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...cle_18dcbe5b-09cd-57c1-9070-b0d10b81911d.html
Thanks for providing that. It was great to relive the memories.Just getting ready to mention Red October, and puzzled why no one had. You're playin' Mind Games with me...
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...cle_18dcbe5b-09cd-57c1-9070-b0d10b81911d.html
Amen, ia! We can only run on 'Fumes' for so long! Yeah, we've had some good Highlight Moments, and even some Sooner Magic, but NOTHING compares to that RUSSSSHH we get from reliving a Natty, and the Bragging Rights that come with...
An excellent post CT. And I think Stoops has a part to play in that as well. Certainly not full credit. But I feel like Mike Leach's system plays a large role in what has shaped college football offenses and what we see today. Mike Leach might have made a big name for himself regardless, but it was Bob that brought it and he to a big name program.
I guess it all came full circle. :/