OKLAHOMA CITY—Maybe if the stakes weren’t just as high this time around, the temptation would be greater for No. 5 Oklahoma to look to last year’s loss to Texas Tech for motivation.
But Sooners coach Bob Stoops has his team right back in the thick of the Big 12 and national championship races once again, and the second-ranked Red Raiders (10-0, 6-0) stand directly in their way.
“I don’t know that last year has anything to do with it,” Stoops said Monday on the Big 12 coaches teleconference. “We’re not anything on talk about revenge or any of that kind of thing. That would be to disrespect them.
“Hey, they beat us. For whatever different reasons, they won the game a year ago. A totally different situation this year. We’ve got all the motivation you need without having to bring up the fact that they beat us a year ago.”
Quarterback Sam Bradford went out with a first-quarter concussion and a defensive meltdown put Oklahoma in a 24-point hole before it rallied back to lose 34-27. The loss knocked the Sooners, who were ranked No. 3 at the time, out of the national title chase.
“They beat us a year ago, but that’s over,” Stoops said. “It’s all about this year and what the opportunities are for us, and there are many. That alone makes it a big game.”
The Red Raiders have won the last two games against Oklahoma in Lubbock, but Tech coach Mike Leach doesn’t necessarily think that gives his team more confidence in trying to snap the Sooners’ 23-game home winning streak, the nation’s longest.
“Mostly I just worry about us and how we can play the best we can,” Leach said.
Count Missouri coach Gary Pinkel and his players, who clinched the Big 12 North title and will play for the conference title, among those who’ll be watching. The No. 12 Tigers are off this week before facing rival Kansas on Nov. 29.
“Players nowadays, unless they live in a cave, they know everything that’s going on,” Pinkel said. “I’m sure with great interest they’ll be watching what’s going on. … I think everybody’s going to watch. Obviously they’re not on for the whole country, but everybody in the country is going to be watching.
“There ought to be some great things happening this weekend.”
———
INTERESTED BYSTANDER: Texas’ only path to the Big 12 championship game requires Texas Tech to lose to Oklahoma this week, but Longhorns coach Mack Brown says he knows better than to pull for his archrival.
“I remember I pulled really, really hard the time they were playing Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game (in 2003). I sat there and I was all pumped up because we were going to the Fiesta Bowl as soon as they won, and Kansas State beat them 35-7,” Brown said. “I realized that night that me being a fan of either team doesn’t really matter.”
Texas is immediately behind Tech at third in the BCS standings, and Brown noted that the Red Raiders still have another game after facing Oklahoma.
“There’s so many different things that can happen over the next three weeks that I will simply sit back and watch and be a fan of the game,” Brown said.
———
PRINCE’S LAST STAND: The only other game in the Big 12 this week pits Iowa State against Kansas State in what will be remembered as Ron Prince’s final game as the Wildcats’ coach.
“We’d like to be able to put together very good game plan and be able to go out and execute that game plan and win,” said Prince, who was fired but allowed to remain through the end of the season.
Prince’s dismissal came only 2 1/2 seasons into his tenure at K-State. The Wildcats have lost their two games since his ouster was announced to extend their losing streak to five games and fall out of bowl contention.
“The truth is this is a really tough conference and if you look at the standings, the coaches that have been in the league the longest are at the top, and the guys that are relatively newcomers on the block, they’re still trying to put their teams together in a way to compete with all these guys,” Prince said.
Prince said he hasn’t yet thought about what the future holds for him, but he hasn’t lost his passion for coaching.
“We’ll see what comes to us,” Prince said. “Really, my focus has just been on coaching the team and making this season as good as we can for the seniors. To this point, we haven’t been able to get us bowl eligible.
“But we’ll let all of that come to us later. There’s time for that.”
———
PAWELEK’S PICKS: Baylor linebacker Joe Pawelek intercepted a pass in the end zone for the third time this season on Saturday in the Bears’ 41-21 win against Texas A&M.
With his two picks against the Aggies, Pawelek now has six interceptions this season, the most of any linebacker in the Bowl Subdivision the most by a Bears players since Michael McFarland had six in 1991.
All that added up to help Pawelek be named the Big 12 defensive player of the week.
“He’s just smart. He understands, he anticipates and he pays attention. Those are all pretty good qualities to have as a middle linebacker,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “He studies the game.”
Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz was the offensive player of the week after racking up 365 yards of total offense, including two touchdowns rushing and passing, in a 56-28 win against Kansas State. K-State’s Brandon Banks, who had a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown in the same game, was the special teams selection.
