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Though Oklahoma's first loss dropped the Sooners from the top of the BCS standings, coach Bob Stoops still believes their season is not lost.
After becoming another national championship front-runner to lose in recent weeks, the 11th-ranked Sooners look to bounce back with a third straight home win over struggling Colorado in the rivals' final matchup as Big 12 members Saturday night.
Oklahoma's stay atop the BCS standings was brief after a 36-27 loss at then-No. 18 Missouri last Saturday. The Sooners (6-1, 2-1) followed Ohio State and Alabama, both No. 1 in the AP poll, to lose over a span of three straight Saturdays. The defeat dropped Oklahoma to ninth in the BCS standings.
Despite the outcome, Stoops cites the unpredictability and parity throughout college football as a reason the Sooners might still have a shot at playing for a national championship.
"It's still a long year," Stoops said. "You look at everyone playing across the country it's pretty balanced everywhere. We have to be ready to play and have to do our work to be as good as we can be."
Stoops admitted to having poll voters in mind when he made the decision to punt deep in his own territory with less than 2 1/2 minutes remaining and the Sooners down nine. He believed attempting an unlikely comeback wasn't worth risking a lopsided loss.
"I've never done it before, but I thought, 'You know what? There's still a bunch of games to be played," Stoops said. "Who knows what can happen? Heck, LSU got in it a few years ago with two losses, right? Some people don't see the game, only look at the score, as they vote. Right or wrong, that's what I did.''
Stoops has to live with the decision, but is focused on making sure the Sooners improve after committing a season-high three turnovers. Two of them led to 10 Missouri points.
The Sooners continue to struggle in the fourth quarter after being outscored 16-6 last weekend. Oklahoma has been outscored 67-30 in the final period, struggling to put away wins over Utah State, Cincinnati, Air Force and Texas.
"In the end, it's frustrating because I know we're capable of playing well through the game,'' Stoops said. "When you play that well through three quarters, there's no reason it should change.
Landry Jones had thrown three interceptions in the previous six games, but had two against the Tigers. Still, he's thrown for 637 yards and six touchdowns in the last two contests.
After rushing for 227 yards his previous two games, DeMarco Murray was held to a season-low 49 yards on 12 carries, but did catch eight passes for 48 yards a touchdown.
Murray has a chance to bounce back against Colorado (3-4, 0-3), which has allowed an average of 190.0 yards on the ground the last four games.
The Buffaloes could face a more difficult challenge without leading tackler Jon Major. The sophomore linebacker suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in a 27-24 loss to Texas Tech last Saturday.
Though Oklahoma yielded season highs for points and total yards (486) against Missouri, its defense could be in for a better effort against a Colorado squad also without injured starting quarterback Tyler Hansen (ruptured spleen).
Senior Cody Hawkins, son of coach Dan Hawkins, will start Saturday. Despite throwing for 6,591 yards with 51 TDs and 39 interceptions during his career, the Buffaloes are 12-22 in games he's played.
Hawkins, who threw for 274 yards and two TDs against the Red Raiders, passed for 220 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 27-24 home over Oklahoma in the teams' most recent meeting Sept. 29, 2007.
Colorado, headed to what will be the Pac-12 next season, has been outscored 51-14 while losing two straight in Norman. The Buffaloes have not won there since 1998.
