Ten Things I think you think I think about the Fiesta Bowl

1. First of all, I'm relieved the Sooners won. I thought the Sooners got a no-win bowl assignment. Win, and you were expected to. Lose, and it's "Here we go again...". Obviously, winning and being taken for granted is better than the alternative.
2. The Sooners had last won a game in the state of Arizona on Christmas Day, 1976, when they defeated Wyoming 41-7. Since then, they'd lost in 1983 Fiesta Bowl, a 1989 trip to Tucson to play Arizona (first loss of Gary Gibbs HC career), 1994 Copper Bowl (Gary Gibbs last game as HC), 2007 Fiesta Bowl and 2008 Fiesta Bowl.
3. The Sooners did NOT get the "can't win a bowl game" monkey off their back. They played an inferior opponent. Their opponent was 3-4 at one point in the season, and lost to Michigan, Temple, Rutgers and Louisville. Furthermore, their coach was apparently poised to leave for Maryland.
4. One of my thoughts earlier this year, when the Sooners were playing poorly, is that I didn't want them to win the Big 12 championship and end up getting drilled in a BCS bowl game. I still believe the Sooners don't match up well against the SEC, Big 10, Pac 10 or Mountain West champions this year. Had we played any of those, I think we would have lost. Sorry, I just can't look through the crimson colored glasses and declare victory on those prospective contests this year.
5. I am very thankful that ESPN now carries the BCS series. Their coverage is INFINITELY better than the teams that Fox mashes together. The camera work is better, and the personnel are better (even Matt Millen is an improvement over Charles Johnson). I was initailly exasperated that they didn't know anything about Ronnell Lewis' injury, but later they showed why. Fox would have been too busy showing band shots to ever figure it out. I'm praying for a full recovery for Lewis. Reports on Sunday say he should recover, but it's always scary to see someone strapped to one of those boards.
6. I was concerned that UConn's football team would take out the frustration of the women's basketball team losing their win streak on the Sooners. Fortunately, we were able to avoid that.
7. I continue to have a love-hate relationship with Landry Jones. He's maddeningly erratic. Not consistently erratic, but manages to make really bad throws at the worst times it seems. Yes, I'm aware he threw for 429 yards. He gets more reps than anyone. For the year, Landry's 7.6 yards per attempt ranked him 33rd in the country, right behind Baylor's Robert Griffin III and Ohio's Boo Jackson. Landry threw 617 passes this year. Think of any chuck and duck offense you can in college football. June Jones SMU squad? Kyle Padron threw 508 passes. Brandon Weeden executing Dana Holgorson's pass happy offense? 511 passes. Hawaii? Their QB, Bryant Moniz, threw 62 fewer passes.
8. Cameron Kenney really came on at the end of the year. Kenney finished his two year career in Norman with 55 catches for 812 yards. 19 of those catches and 360 yards came in the last three games of his career.
9. The Sooners KR team continues to suck. I reallly don't think it's been the same since Jonathan Hayes left after the 2002 season to coach TEs for the Cincinnati Bengals.
10. Ryan Broyles had a special season. The 1622 receiving yards he tallied this season would have been the 11th best CAREER  in Sooner history. The 131 receptions this year would be the 10th best career total, as would the 14 TDs. That being said, the one salient point Matt Millen made last night was that Ryan hasn't shown top level speed, and the LB chasing him down on the punt was evidence of that. Hopefully he'll come back for a senior year and work on that, but I can't begrudge a guy for chasing the money, if it's available.