Published: September 04, 2005 12:48 am            

Sooners missing toughness

By Clay Horning

Transcript Sports Editor

Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops might have been at a loss. He might have been, but he wasn’t. After watching his Sooners open their seventh season under his direction in the most implausible fashion, appearing overmatched in a 17-10 loss to TCU, there was one theme that kept popping up.

“I felt going into the game that we were stronger and had a little more attitude than what we showed,” he said. “I just don’t feel we’re near as tough as we need to be (to) play the way we need to.”

It must cut the Sooner coach to the core.

Toughness has always been a Stoops trademark, as an overachieving player at Iowa, to a coach, two national-title games nothwithstanding, perpetually able to get the best out of his team against the most difficult opponents.

But none of that fit with what happened Saturday against a bunch of Horned Frogs who entered Owen Field more than three-touchdown underdogs.

“Is it the attitude … Is it the playcalling?” Stoops said, as though looking for answers. “It’s hard to put your finger on it.”

OU’s quarterbacks appeared uncertain, each losing a costly fumble, while the interception thrown by Paul Thompson was tossed directly at TCU cornerback Drew Coleman.

But it was no picnic for Thompson or Rhett Bomar, as both were forced to deal with the consequences of an offensive line that continually allowed the Horned Frogs to win the battles in the trenches.

Thompson was sacked twice, Bomar was sacked once and, more telling than anything, All-American and Heisman Trophy hopeful running back Adrian Peterson was held to just 63 yards — 2.9 per his 22 attempts, including 12 in losses.

Offensive tackle Davin Joseph, a preseason All-Big 12 selection and All-American by some counts, believes the line has what it takes, yet for whatever reason, didn’t Saturday.

“We’ve got physical guys,” he said, “but we weren’t very physical today.”

He also offered his base theory on the game of football.

“When you break it down,” Joseph said, “it’s just you against the guy in front of you.”

And the Sooners lost too many of those battles.

Defensive tackle and team captain Dusty Dvoracek, who did not start, but saw his first action since the early stages of last season in the first quarter, spoke of the thrill of finally playing in front of Sooner fans again, even as he was clearly disgusted with the day’s results.

“It’s as bad as it gets to lose your home opener in front of your fans,” he said.

He also seemed to have a pretty good idea why OU lost.

“It doesn’t even take a talented football player to go out there and play hard with attitude,” said Dvoracek, who finished with a single tackle. “You could go get a guy off the street.

“We have talent. We just don’t have toughness right now.”

Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com

        

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