I hate games like this, and not just because my team lost...badly. It was a game with no excuses. On the surface, everything was in Oklahoma State's favor. They had the superior record of 9-2 while the Sooners were fighting to stay above .500. Their leader, My Cousin Zac, was going to play while the majority of OU's starters were watching the game from their hospital room like Gary Berteer in Remember the Titans. A possible BCS Glorified Scrimmage berth was on the line. All of this made me nervous even before kickoff.
It could have been the inspiration Corey Wilson provided by making it to midfield with the assistance of a walker. Maybe it was that magic homefield advantage or the Cowboys jetlagged from an hour-long bus ride the day before. Perhaps it was Ryan Broyles playing with a chip on his shoulder because after committing to OSU, the coaching staff insisted that he play defense because Dez Bryant was in the same recruiting class.
It certainly was not home cooking from the officials. I didn't see any blatant Sooner penalties go uncalled, and every big moment went up to the review booth (and I mean every big moment). Those favored OSU who benefitted from someone's helmet blocking the view of when Landry Jones lost control of the football and got a perfect angle showing Justin Blackmon still had the ball when his knees touched. (I still think the review judge got the first DeMarco Murray touchdown wrong...but it would have been first and goal from the one, so big deal.)
Ideally, in the aftermath of a bad Cowboy loss, I would have some way of excusing the Cowboy loss. I have nothing. I mean, I am ticked off that Mike Gundy used this momentous game to call the most boring offensive plays during his entire tenure at the school (run up the middle, wide receiver screen, and not throw down field until third down when the Sooners knew it was coming). It was a horrible flashback to my college days of watching Bob Simmons try to pad his son's stats by letting him run three times for three yards before punting. The reason was probably that My Cousin Zac's shoulder injury is worse than they are letting on, but if that were the case, I would think they would have inserted Brandon Weeden.
In the end, it was just a gameplan designed to give OSU the best chance of not losing, and the Sooners came out with an outline to kick ass. And they did.
