NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — After a rare and unexpected loss at home, the questions are suddenly swirling around No. 11 Oklahoma.
What happened to a defense that was once so stingy? How did such a powerful offense go a whole quarter without getting a first down? And why can’t players seem to find the motivation to practice up to coach Bob Stoops’ standards?
For the third time in only seven games this season, Stoops found himself questioning his team’s practice habits and focus. But for the first time, it proved costly.
The Sooners (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) had their best-in-the-nation 39-game home winning streak snapped in a 41-38 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday night and now must refocus before playing at No. 10 Kansas State (7-0, 4-0) this Saturday.
“I don’t have a magic trick to make them want to play,” Stoops said Tuesday. “At the end of the day, they need to understand ... it’s about doing the work to be ready for that, to be able to execute against them.”
The Sooners held a players-only meeting Monday night and talked about the possibility of reaching the BCS title game with one loss — just as they did three years ago — if they can regroup and finish strong.
“We’re not panicking. We’re not throwing it in for the season,” quarterback Landry Jones said. “We’re just going to keep playing ball and see what happens.”
It’ll be hard for Oklahoma to overcome such an ugly performance at home against a team that wasn’t ranked at the time and climb back into title contention in the BCS standings. The Sooners fell apart in the second quarter, following Ryan Broyles’ fumble with three straight three-and-outs while the defense allowed 17 straight Texas Tech points.
It wasn’t much better immediately after halftime, when Oklahoma went three-and-out again and then let Tech score another touchdown for a 31-7 lead that proved too big to overcome.
Stoops said his offense wasn’t precise enough — too many missed blocks, dropped passes and throws that weren’t on the mark. He said the defense, which seemed to be turning into one of the nation’s best after it scored three touchdowns in a rout of Texas, might simply have been “overrated.”
At the heart of it is a series of poor practices that popped up first in the week of the Missouri game, then again each of the last two weeks. The Sooners have prepared well enough to win two marquee games against Florida State and Texas away from home.
“I think at the end of the day, you’re not going to execute perfectly in every single game. I think too many times our guys are expected to,” Stoops said. “It’s a long day, so just because we’re not up 28-0 at the end of the first quarter or 35-7 at halftime something’s wrong.
“To me, it’s not being fair of what’s expected of them. These other teams have good players, they work hard, they go to practice. We’re not going to have it all go our way all the time. And just because, it doesn’t mean you weren’t ready to play. To me, that’s discounting the other team.”
Stoops suggested that linebacker Tom Wort (concussion), defensive tackle Casey Walker (left thumb), running back Dominique Whaley (illness) and even Fleming — 10 days removed from arthroscopic knee surgery — could play on Saturday after missing last week’s game. But his injury forecasts have been cloudy at best this season, with several players being held out after Stoops said they’d play.
Regardless of who’s out there, their attitude needs adjustment.
This is how Jones described last week’s preparations: “A little bit unfocused, thinking just because we’re Oklahoma, we’re playing at home, we never lose at home, kind of that mentality.”
“It caught up to us, for sure,” he said. “If we learn from it, we’ll be all right and won’t let it happen again.”
Even with the loss, the Sooners still control their own destiny in the Big 12 title race. The only teams with less than two losses — No. 3 Oklahoma State, Kansas State and No. 16 Texas A&M — are still on the schedule, and Oklahoma would control the tiebreakers by winning out.
“All we can say is ‘we hope.’ A Big 12 title, it’d be awesome to win it and also we’d have a shot for a national championship,” offensive guard Tyler Evans said.
“It’s all in our sights for now. Only time can tell.”