The Stoops era in one column
Commentary
By Clay Horning
The Norman Transcript
n What could have been award: Mo Dampeer.
n Best play: 2000, vs. Nebraska, Heupel to Curtis Fagan, 34-yard touchdown pass over the middle. (If that doesn’t jog your memory, maybe this will. It was third-and-14, Heupel dropped back and threw. From press-box altitude or the lone upper deck (at the time), anybody who looked downfield for the intended target saw … nothing, just a blur of players in the secondary. Yet by the time the ball fell to earth, Fagan had emerged from … who knows where, two steps in front of the pack where he caught the ball in stride. It tied the game. Basically ended it, too).
n What is it about some quarterbacks award: Rhett Bomar.
n What is it about some quarterbacks runner-up: Brent Rawls.
n Phrase that’s entered the vernacular award: “In a good way.”
n Did he ever get burned award: Derrick Strait.
n Misleading award: Stoops declaring White had sprained his knee at Nebraska, 2001.
n Best assistant: Mike Stoops (Note: A case can be made for several, however, see Most Important Game for explanation).
n Most wacky/crazy/nutty assistant: Mike Leach (Note: in a landslide).
n Second best running back: Quentin Griffin.
n Best linebacker: Curtis Lofton.
n Best position change: Brandon Daniels.
n Best reclamation project: J.T. Thatcher. (Note: Also best Norman High Sooner; sorry Patrick Fletcher).
n Coolest guys to hear speak: Fagan and Allen Patrick.
n Best word to describe the era: Consistent (Note: in eight of nine seasons, Stoops has won at least 11 games)