They failed to show up against yet another lower tiered opponent and let the Baylor Bears put up the most yards against them of any team in the entire Sooners history.  Yes, the same Baylor Bears who had never beaten the Sooners.  Not once.  The same Baylor squad who only a few weeks ago were blown out in back to back games vs Texas A&M and OSU.  The same Baylor squad that barely squeaked by a Kansas team in overtime who haven't won a game since week 2.  That very same Baylor team lit up the Sooners secondary for 45 points including a last second heave in the back of the end-zone to erase a 14 point 4th quarter Sooner comeback and send the Sooners right back into familiar territory.

The Sooners find themselves once again out of the national title picture and left only to play spoiler now to the Cowboys BCS dreams and hope for another Fiesta bowl appearance.  But lets not get ahead of ourselves.  Does a team loaded with this much talent even deserve to be playing in a BCS game at the end of the year after falling flat twice in the past month?  As embarrassing as the loss to Texas Tech was, this loss may be even more embarrassing.  More embarrassing because a perennial bottom feeder of the Big 12 is able to get their first win ever over Oklahoma just when the BCS was ready to forgive them for their lone loss and praise them for their superb wins.  More embarrassing because Brent Venables had to have seen the holes the Red Raiders sliced through our secondary yet refused to make any adjustments.  Baylor has no business putting up 600+ yards on any team, led alone the #5 ranked team in the nation supposedly fighting for a shot in the National Championship game.

The Bears probably did the Sooners a favor in the end saving them from the possibility of having to face a far superior SEC opponent and being embarrassed on the national stage again.  Now the Sooners may be able to "salvage" the season by knocking off the Cowboys in Stillwater and winning back to back BCS games.  That would have to be considered a success, right?  I'm sure it would be for a school with less tradition, but Oklahoma football comes with high expectations and simply going 10-2 every year is just not going to please the masses.  Is that fair for Stoops and company?  Probably not, but this is Oklahoma football and they know good and well what is expected out of them.

I will be forever grateful to Stoops for the 2000 National Championship, but Sooner Nation is becoming weary if another will come during the Stoops era.  The sad reality is that our defense has let us down year after year and not been the same since Mike Stoops left for Arizona.  If only Bob would welcome his baby brother back into his arms and show Venables the door…oh if only.

Sophomores Roy Finch and Kenny Stills will be cast into the spotlight and be expected to carry the load where their now injured counterparts once did.  Finch was widely believed to be the starter coming into this season as he stole carries from DeMarco Murray last year (who is now setting franchise records for the Dallas Cowboys).  It was not to be though as Whaley stole the spotlight and dominated while Finch saw minimal carries early on.  With Whaley out, Finch has been thrust back into the starting position and has had flashes of greatness once again, but will he be able to carry the load like Whaley against a determined Cowboys team in December?

Meanwhile, Kenny Stills has played a nice compliment to Ryan Broyles all season long stretching the outside of the field and opening up holes in the middle for Broyles.  With Broyles no longer slotted in the middle we are going to need to see continued improvements from the one handed wonder known as Jaz Reynolds who has been developing quite nice as of late.

Still, the losses of Broyles and Whaley cannot be overstated and brings heavy concerns to this team with the daunting task of going into Bedlam back to back years and knocking off the Pokes in their own backyard.

The sad reality is that even with a win, the Sooners may not be able to jump the Crimson Tide as Bama lost in a perfect storm overtime game to LSU this past weekend and dropped only one spot down to #3 in the BCS rankings and still ahead of unbeatens Stanford and Boise State.  I would like to think that with a win over the #2 ranked Cowboys in Stillwater for the Big 12 Championship that the Sooners would leap-frog the Tide and into a national championship game with LSU, but I'm beginning to wonder if the voters have even more of a love affair with the SEC than I could have ever dreamed.  There are still games to be played and anything can happen, but the Sooners have a long road ahead of them and will need quite a few chips to fall into place if they plan on having any shot at #8 this year.

The Sooners went into Manhattan, Kansas this past week and showed that they still have a little something left to prove this year and will not be coasting this one out.  After the Wildcats sustained the run early on, Brent Venables adapted the defense and began stacking the box and getting to the quarterback.  Put in 3rd and long over and over, the Wildcats were in unfamiliar territory and folded their tents with no real threat of a passing attack.

So what does all of this mean?  With a few more breaks the Sooners could find themselves right back in the National Championship game.  With a dominating win over then unbeaten Kansas State, the Sooners find themselves back in good graces with the BCS and ranked the highest of all 1-loss teams (#6).  With #1 LSU set to take on #2 Alabama this weekend, one of the two is bound to drop below the Sooners and with the #3 ranked Cowboys still on the schedule all the Sooners really need is a Stanford loss.  They would obviously need to win their remaining games, but if so, the good Lord may shine down his mercies on them and forgive an unforgivable loss to the Red Raiders.  Even with an undefeated Boise State in the way, the Sooners should be able to jump them with a win over then #2 ranked OSU in Stillwater.  And I don't want to hear any arguments about an SEC rematch in the title game, that's not happening.

Now that is a lot of "ifs" left in the way and the most important one is the Bedlam showdown in Stillwater on December 3rd.  If the Sooners can't foil the high powered Cowboys, then all of the above points are moot and we will be sitting back watching the Pokes try for their first ever National Championship.  But come on, I think we all know that ain't happening.