Sooners gunned down by lowly foe

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma went into the Oklahoma State game favored by 27 points and didn't score half that many. This time, the Sooners' outstanding defense couldn't bail them out.

Oklahoma State stunned Oklahoma 16-13 on Saturday by driving for a game-winning touchdown in the closing minutes. But that TD would have been window dressing if the Sooners' offense had some punch.

Instead, Oklahoma struggled against what had been one of the worst defenses in the Big 12 and the Cowboys ended the Sooners' shot at a second straight national championship. The loss dropped Oklahoma (10-2) from No. 4 to No. 11 in this week's Associated Press rankings.

"They executed when they needed to and we didn't," said quarterback Nate Hybl, who was just 22-of-48 for 220 yards with three interceptions. "We had our chances all day long and didn't execute."

The trouble started early.

Oklahoma had four possessions in the first quarter, two of which started in OSU territory. But those drives netted only 30 yards; the Sooners had to punt three times and Hybl was intercepted once.

Hybl was intercepted again on the first drive of the second quarter. The Sooners went three-and-out on their next possession before finally taking advantage of great field position and a Cowboys mistake to score.

An interception gave the ball to Oklahoma at the OSU 17-yard line. Quentin Griffin ran for 4 yards on first down and Hybl threw incomplete on second down. He was sacked on third down, but a facemask penalty kept the drive alive and Griffin scored on an 8-yard run on the next play.

Oklahoma led 10-6 at halftime, at which point the Sooners had been outgained 181-127.

Bad third quarter

Oklahoma netted only 33 yards on two third-quarter possessions, one of which began near midfield. The second drive was a bizarre series that included a 17-yard completion on a deflected pass, a roughing-the-punter penalty against OSU, one of seven sacks of Hybl and an offensive pass-interference penalty that wiped out an Oklahoma touchdown.

Oklahoma took a 13-6 lead in the fourth quarter, again having to settle for a field goal. The Sooners had first and goal at the 4-yard line before Griffin lost 1 yard and Hybl threw two incompletions.

"No question, we've got to be able to put the ball in the end zone," coach Bob Stoops said. "You kick enough field goals, after a while they'll catch up to you."

They did. The Cowboys made it 13-9 on the second of two 52-yard field goals by Luke Phillips, then in the final three minutes drove 65 yards in six plays for the game-winning touchdown.

Winning score

On the play before the TD, Josh Fields threw 31 yards to T.D. Bryant, who adjusted his route and cut inside safety Roy Williams to make the catch. The 14-yard touchdown pass on the next play went to Rashaun Woods, who beat cornerback Derrick Strait.

"There's a classic example, those last two plays," Stoops said. "Roy's there to make one and Derrick (is). For a great number of games and great number of plays, they've come up with those, and we didn't tonight."

Oklahoma was outgained 334-220. The Sooners netted zero yards rushing, had 10 fewer first downs than Oklahoma State and were 4-of-18 on third down conversions.

All that came against a defense that was ranked 10th in the Big 12 and had given up at least 424 yards in each of its previous six games.

"I guess everyone anticipates what could happen, but that's why you play the game -- give players a chance to make plays and see who can do it," Stoops said.

A victory would have given Oklahoma the Big 12 South Division title and sent the Sooners to the conference title game against Colorado. Instead, they finished second to Texas in the South and have no shot of defending their national championship.

"We didn't play like we should at all," receiver Josh Norman said. "We prepared all week and we were ready, we just didn't make plays."