The Dawn of A New Day for Oklahoma Football

Lincoln Riley has been gone from Oklahoma for almost two weeks.

And former Sooner assistant Brent Venables’ hire on Sunday has instantaneously erased him from the Sooner memory.

One week of mourning seems about right.

Riley did himself no favors by scurrying away in darkness to La La Land.

Less than 12 hours after a Bedlam loss and Riley was out the door.

A sorrowful post-game interview in the locker room at Boone Pickens Stadium, followed by a sleepless night and early morning Zoom call with the good folks at Southern Cal who just happened to come prepared with a job contract and offer in tow for their first visit!

Wink. Wink.

Or 👀 as Riley himself would tweet after a big recruiting win to announce the new addition to the roster.

Oh. 

And don’t forget the solid acting job by Riley in the same press conference.

He was asked about the rumors that had overwhelmed Oklahoma Twitter all week that he was taking the LSU job.

Riley slowly raised his downward head, looked straight into the camera, stopped the interviewer mid-sentence and uttered the words all of Sooner Nation wanted to hear:

“I’m not going to be the coach at LSU.”

Ok.

That should’ve been the end of the story.

Except the story wasn’t LSU.

I went to bed disappointed over the loss to OSU but content we’d have our coach in the morning.

Then I woke on Sunday morning checked Twitter and lo and behold there was new action on the Lincoln Riley rumor mill.

Bruce Feldman, a west coast reporter for FOX Sports, tweeted that USC was making a move for Riley.

Sounded like more fake news except Feldman is a connected West Coast reporter.

And sure enough I’d soon get a text announcing Riley’s departure from my same Texas Longhorn friend who broke the Bob Stoops retirement news 4-1/2 years earlier.

Wow.

That sure was fast.

It was less than 24 hours after the LSU denial.

Sure wish that reporter had asked a follow up on “any job”!

So after the first Oklahoma head coach in 75 years chose another college team to leave the Sooners, how we feeling?

Relieved. Enthusiastic. Energized.

Look, Lincoln Riley was a great hire in 2017.

A continuity hire for the Bob Stoops era following 16 solid years restoring the Sooner brand.

Stoops had resurrected the Oklahoma Sooners from a decade of misery that saw probation, scholarship deductions and loss of television appearances.

It was natural that those penalties resulted in zero Big 8/XII championships, three losing seasons and two more non-winning seasons in 10 years.

The worst decade in Sooner football since Bud Wilkinson created the “monster” in 1947 that Barry Switzer so appropriately described.

Big Game Bob won a National Championship his second season and would follow that with three more appearances in the BCS Championship Game in nine years.

Ten Big XII Championships would follow.

The first coach to win each of the BCS New Years Six Bowl Games.

Two Heisman Trophy winners.

Nagurski, Lombardi, Thorpe winners, too.

A slew of NFL draft choices.

A record win streak and a consecutive home game sell-out record that he handed off to the new coach he hand-picked.

Restoring the pride, legacy and history of one of college football’s true Blue Bloods.

So it should’ve surprised no one associated with Oklahoma football the past 20 years to see Bob Stoops at the podium the Monday following Riley’s surprise announcement.

After the school President and Athletic Director had spoken, here was Big Game Bob reassuring the Sooner Nation that all is well in Norman.

A “”bump in the road” as Stoops called it.

Reassuring the current players, their families and recruiting prospects that Oklahoma football is more than one guy.

Not Barry Switzer or Bob Stoops.

And certainly not Lincoln Riley.

And with those reassuring words Bob Stoops stopped the bleeding the surprise Riley announcement had caused to the brand.

Not only had Lincoln Riley jilted the Sooners for the glitz and glamour of the bright lights big city, but he was threatening to take all of the Oklahoma recruits who were ready to sign on December 15.

Decimating a schools recruiting class 17 days before National Signing Day is “death penalty-like.”

And sure enough, just hours after his announcement on Sunday, two 5-star Oklahoma recruits from the 2023 class had de-committed from Oklahoma for USC.

Soon there was Lincoln Riley in photos blasted on Twitter in the home of other 5-Star players he had recruited to Oklahoma.

Flipping their commitment to USC!

Before the ink had dried on his fancy new contract, all five players from the Oklahoma 2023 class would soon flip to Riley and Southern California or announce their decommitment from Oklahoma.

Included on this list was the #2 ranked quarterback in the 2023 class Malachi Nelson from Mater Dei High School in Anaheim, California, who switched his commitment on Sunday of the Riley announcement before Riley had even left for California!

Later on that same Sunday, 5-star receiver Brandon Innis from Fort Lauderdale, Florida also de-committed from Oklahoma.

He was followed on Tuesday by 5-star Athlete Makai Lemon, Nelson’s teammate at nearby Mater Dei, who also de-committed from OU to declare to USC.

Two others would follow Riley’s announcement including Treyaun Webb, a 4-star running back from Jacksonville, Florida.

The following week Bixby, Oklahoma 4-star Tight End Luke Hasz also would de-commit.

So within one week, Lincoln Riley’s coaching decision to leave Oklahoma had also resulted in the loss of 5 of the 7 players who had previously committed to the Sooners Class of 2023 leaving the Sooners with two recruits in the class.

As bad as this news was, the impact to the 2022 class was more urgent with signing day two weeks away.

And sure enough the Riley announcement resulted in 5 more losses in the Class of 2022.

Five-star running back Raleek Brown from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California de-committed on Wednesday and immediately declared for Riley and USC.

Three more 4-stars would also de-commit that first week following Riley’s announcement.

Five-Star Defensive Tackle Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy from Lakeland, Florida, and a Sooner legacy, would de-commit the following week upon news that new Sooner head coach Brent Venables would not retain Calvin Thibodeaux as his line coach.

Dindy committed to Texas A&M.

These five defections left the Sooners with only 12 commits for the 2022 class two weeks prior to signing day.

So that’s 5 losses from the class of 2023 followed by five more from the 2022 class.

Including the #2 ranked quarterback in the 2023 class who was scheduled to take the reigns from current Sooner quarterback Caleb Williams.

Oh yeah.

What about the current players?

For now, Williams the former 5-star, #1 quarterback in the nation, is keeping quiet about his plans.

He’s doing all the right things like attending Venables’ press conference on Monday along with the rest of his teammates wearing Stoops words on his t-shirt “We Are OU!”

He’s also attended all of the Oklahoma men’s basketball teams games the past two weeks with his teammates, as well.

But not the former #1 ranked quarterback from the class of 2019, former starter Spencer Rattler.

The pre-season Heisman Trophy favorite entered the transfer portal on the Monday following Riley’s announcement.

His next school is not determined at this time.

He was soon followed by fellow class of 2019 5-star receivers Jadon Haselwood and Theo Wease.

Haselwood has since signed to play with Arkansas. 

Wease has yet to declare.

Tight end Austin Stogner, a 4-star from the Dallas metro, also de-committed and is yet to sign.

So four starters from the class of 2019 all have de-committed following the Lincoln Riley departure.

Others like starting edge rusher, nose guard and redshirt junior  linebacker Nik Bonnito, senior Perion Winfrey and junior Brian Asamoah declared for the NFL draft.

So for a tally, here’s the state of Oklahoma football and players who have declared to be leaving early and recruiting de-commits in the wake of Lincoln Riley’s announcement:

Starters

Offense

Spencer Rattler—Quarterback

Theo Wease—Receiver

Jadon Haselwood—Receiver

Austin Stogner—Tight End

Defense

Nik Bonnitto—Edge

Perion Winfrey—Nose Guard

Brian Asamoah—Linebacker

Class of 2022

Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy

Raleek Brown

Derrick Moore

Kobie McKenzie

Demetrius Hunter

Class of 2023

Malachi Nelson

Brandon Innis

Makai Lemon

Treyaun Webb

Luke Hasz

This list does not include seniors who will graduate.

The new Covid-rules granted an extra year of eligibility to players following the 2020 season.

And the NCAA extended recruiting scholarships to 32 in 2022.

So until players announce their intentions, it’s hard to project who is leaving and who is staying.

But seniors and starters like offensive lineman Tyrese Robinson, Marquis Hayes, Erik Swenson, Robert Congel and Chris Murray have decisions to make.

As do defensive starters senior linebacker Dashaun White, redshirt senior safety Justin Broiles, redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Jalen Redmond, senior safeties Delarrin Turner-Yell and Pat Fields and senior defensive tackles Isaiah Thomas and Laron Stokes.

All are eligible to leave for the NFL draft or the transfer portal.

Or they could all choose to take their “Covid Year” and return for the Sooners.

All the other current roster players are staying…so far.

That could all change with further coaching announcements and approaches by other teams.

Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in with the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness agreements.

College football players are basically free agents and can choose to leave a program who invested so much into their recruitment and development at the drop of a hat.

Or a head coach who recruited them who decides to leave in the darkness of dawn along with two assistant coaches, the strength and conditioning coach and 34-year tenured Oklahoma employee as director of football operations.

That’s a lot for an 18 or 19 or 20 year old college kid to grasp.

A lot of mentorship who they have placed their trust in to develop their football potential.

Not to say the trust of the parents of those kids who trusted those folks to take care of their kids in college.

That’s why it was no surprise that Oklahoma officials spent so much time talking about trust and loyalty in the opening press conference announcing new head coach Brent Venables.

Even Venables stressed his loyalty to two programs the past 23 years.

He also talked about building relationships and love.

Venables said he was gonna coach them hard but love them more.

That’s encouraging words from the new head coach that was reassuring to all Sooner players, commits and future recruits as well as their parents.

Time will tell how impactful Venables message will be once signing day rolls around next week.

And if any other current Sooners decide to declare for the NFL draft or leave for the portal.

I will say that as someone who has watched Oklahoma football the past 50-some years, I was moved by the story as it unfolded to where it is today.

Yes, surprise and hurt at first that Lincoln Riley would look a gift horse in the mouth and leave for Southern California.

I get it.

Bright lights big city, L.A. star power, front row seats to Dodger and Laker games. 

Rubbing elbows with Magic and Jack, the ocean breezes and the ever present sunshine.

The PAC 12 vs. the SEC.

I don’t hold any ill will toward Lincoln Riley.

Sure I wish he would’ve handled his departure better but as Bob Stoops said, there is no easy way to do this for a head coach.

I’m also not gonna spend any more time wondering why?

Just take him at his word that it was a new and unique challenge that drew him to Los Angeles.

As the days turn into weeks we may learn more about what factored into his decision.

Maybe it was the Sooners move to The SEC?

Maybe it was the impending changes to his staff that OU leadership were recommending to prepare for the SEC?

I don’t think it was any coincidence that Riley took his strength and conditioning guy and defensive coordinator along with him to California.

So after we dissected the Riley decision our emotions shifted.

To excitement, enthusiasm and reenergized passion for Oklahoma football after watching our leadership turn out and hit the road finding our guy and reaching out to our players and recruits.

Thank God for President Joseph Harroz, Athletic Director Joe Castiglione, former Head Coach Bob Stoops, all OU assistant coaches and all the support staff who joined ranks these past two weeks.

They were preaching to the choir in some cases but the story I heard also resonated with the rest of the country, as well.

And thank God for Brent Venables.

I watched live as the events of Sunday night at the airport and Monday morning on the OU campus unfolded in Norman.

I have never been more proud to be a Sooner!

We’ll soon see if his message also resonated with the current Sooner team and recruits.

Good days ahead for Oklahoma football.

The Brent Venables Era has begun!

Boomer!

God’s Team—Oral Roberts University Titans

Titans In Our Midst

When most people think about college basketball they usually think about the current powerhouses and names familiar to most sports fans: Duke and Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina and Roy Williams and Bobby Knight among others. And, if the same question had been asked in 1965 most probably would have said John Wooden and UCLA, Adolph Rupp and Kentucky and Henry Iba and Oklahoma State the most notable names of the times. All were and are great programs and featured head coaches who had established long traditions of success and excellence.

However, another force was brewing at the time that would certainly change the face of Tulsa collegiate basketball if not the country. In 1965, evangelist Oral Roberts founded a university in his name. The main reason was because God commanded him to “raise up your students to hear My voice…to go where My light is dim…where My voice is heard small.” So in 1965 Oral Roberts University was founded in a 550-acre pasture located at the corner of 81st and Lewis bordered by Southern Hills Country Club to the north, Lewis Avenue to the west, 81st street to the south and an undeveloped area to the east. The center of the ornate campus featured a 200-foot, spire Prayer Tower (home of the Abundant Life Prayer Group featuring a 24/7 prayer hotline) that attracted over 200,000 visitors in 1972 and a clarion call to “Expect a Miracle.”Oral Roberts said God had told him to build ORU to educate the “whole man.” The inaugural class consisted of 300 co-ed students (apparently the women did not mind the discriminatory mission statement) and a student-to-teacher ratio of 16:1 who were offering a well-rounded curriculum that would develop the “Mind. Spirit. Body.” 

The dedication ceremony was held on April 2, 1967 before 20,000 people, including my parents, and was keynoted by the popular evangelist Billy Graham who said, 

"This certainly is the university of tomorrow. Evangelical Christendom can be proud today of this university and what it will mean to the future of this country….May ORU produce a holy enthusiasm for the will of God. It’s still true that people who get exited about the Scriptures and the will of God are people who can change the world…To this end we dedicate ORU.” 

Although the “Mind. Spirit. Body” mantra was certainly the main driver behind the schools’ existence another motivation drove the founder. Oral Roberts was an avid sports enthusiast and considered sports the main vehicle to spread the word of his evangelical mission. Football was most popular at the time and was riding a renaissance across the county due to the expansion of the NFL and AFL as well as the growth of television. However, Oklahoma Sooner football and the struggling Dallas Cowboys were king in Oklahoma. Plus, the Glenn Dobbs’ aerial circus of cross-town rival University of Tulsa would make it hard on recruiting as well as difficult to pull the locals away from.

Besides, football was labor intensive and a suitable stadium and expenses could sky rocket and cripple a fledgling university. So, Oral Roberts turned his attention to another sport. The ORU Titans men’s basketball team would be founded that inaugural year to Oral Roberts satisfaction in order for his evangelical message to reach the “60 million men” who read the daily sports pages across the country. Keeping true to his mission, Oral Roberts created a uniform to fulfill God’s order. It was by no accident that the Titans colors were Blue, Gold and White. First, Blue represented God’s enveloping presence over all things. Gold represented the royalty of God. And, not to be outdone, White represented God’s purity of Spirit in every person. After the uniforms were decided upon, his first order was to hire a head coach who could fulfill his mission. After five years under inaugural coach Bill White who compiled a 65-35 record, Oral found his man in Ken Trickey.

Over the next five years Ken Trickey developed one of the most successful college basketball teams in the country. Oh sure they were not in a conference and they were actually an NAIA small-college team. However, do not let those two facts obscure the greatness that was being developed in the Southern Hills of Tulsa. Trickey was hired as head coach in 1969 after a successful five year stint at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. In fact, it was Trickey's 115-98 thumping of ORU on December 2, 1968 at the Titan Fieldhouse that convinced Oral Roberts to offer him the Titans job. The Cairo, Illinois native had resurrected the basketball program as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. A captain of the 1954 Blue Raider team which made it to the NAIA tournament in Kansas City, Trickey had returned to his alma mater in 1962 as assistant basketball coach and head baseball coach. During the next five years in Tulsa, Trickey would compile an overall record of 118 and 23 for an 84% winning percentage. He would leave and come back later and is still ORU’s all-time leader in wins as a coach. However, his first stint is simply defined in terms of greatness. In 1969-70, Trickey was 27-4 and 15-0 at home.

To prove the first year was not a fluke, Trickey led ORU to a 21-5 record the next season and another perfect home record of 11-0. In 1970-71, ORU averaged 104.1 points per game and held their opponents to under 84 points per game. In 1971-72, the first year of NCAA action, ORU proved they were no small-college fluke and improved to 26-2 (the team averaged 105.1 pts. per game vs. 90.1 for opponents) and again was perfect at home (14-0 at home for a three-year home record of 40-0.) That 1971-72 squad was ranked in the Associated Press Top 20 for four weeks reaching the highest ranking of 16th. They also established the season team record for points scored of 2,943 and the season team record for points average per game (105.1) in the 1971/72 season. The highlight of the year was qualifying for the National Invitational Tournament and upset of perennial power Memphis State before losing to St. John’s. 

So for those of you counting at home let’s go to the Ken Trickey scorecard after his first three seasons: 74 wins versus 11 losses for an 87% winning record. Among the milestones were 22 consecutive wins from November 20, 1971 to March 18, 1972 and 52 consecutive home wins beginning February 17, 1969 that would not end until January 29, 1973. Pretty impressive numbers and not the kind of record you can run up without the key ingredient to any team: players. The most notable player among those ORU teams was Richard Fuqua. Fuqua was a 6-foot 3-inch shooting guard from Chattanooga, Tennessee that bought into ORU’s mission and came to the predominantly white town and private, Methodist school in Tulsa. Before Fuqua was through at ORU he was inducted into the ORU Hall Of Fame and compiled the following milestones in his career:

--All-America in 1972 & 1973.
--Scored Over 50 points per game 4x's in career.
--All-Time School Leader in Points Scored in a Season with 1,006 in 1971/72.
--Second All-Time School Leader in Career Points Scored with 3,004 from 1970 to 1974.
--Second All-Time Career Scoring Average with 27.1 points per game.
--Led School in Scoring all Four Years of College from 1969/70 to 1972/73 (18.1/31.8/35.9/23.5—the 35.9 is still the all-time school record.)
--Scored 60 points against University of the South in 1971. 

The team highlight during Fuqua’s career came on the night of February 24, 1972 during the final game in the old Titan Field House when ORU established the school record for points scored in a 155-113 win over Union of Tennessee. ORU scored 84 points in the first half. Fuqua could not have accomplished all of those records by himself and didn’t. Players of note included Sam McCants, Al Boswell, David Vaughn, Eddie Woods, Eldon Lawyer, Sam McCamey and Haywood Hill. However, the glue that held this unit together was the head coach.

Ken Trickey’s up tempo, run-and-gun offense left opposing teams ragged after playing ORU. In fact Trickey had labeled his free-wheeling style "WRAG (We Run And Gun) Offense." They simply ran from the opening tip-off and never stopped until the final buzzer. It seemed like the main strategy was the first person across half court shot the ball and most of the times it was Fuqua and the shots went in. These games were wild and raucous and the crowds were left buzzing after every game. The gymnasium that hosted the Titans simply added to the mystique. The arena was very small and looked like an igloo from the outside. In reality, the building had a dual-purpose as it also featured the schools swimming pool. You could actually watch the basketball game and see the pool behind the large divider located behind one of the baskets. ORU at the time only had 1,800 students and most were more interested in the “Mind. Spirit. Body” philosophy than the basketball team. The first season averaged about 300 fans, so the local community supported the games with a small student body of supporters. However, the students soon discovered the exciting Titans and the crowds overflowed the small gymnasium/nadatorium. 

In 1972, Oral Roberts outgrew the “igloo” and its’ swimming pool companion and workers finished building a new $11-million state-of-the art basketball arena to match the Titans’ success. The Mabee Center was opened just in time for the 1972-73 basketball season on December 2, 1972 before a star-studded crowd which would fittingly be Richard Fuqua’s last year. Fuqua would score the first points in the new arena and Trickey and his talented group did not disappoint by compiling a 21-6 record, another NIT appearance and for six weeks a ranking in the AP Top 20. In fact the 1972-73 squad was ranked #18 in the pre-season AP poll and on December 12, 1972 reached their highest ranking at 10th in the country. The Titans were led by the dynamic duo of Fuqua and 7’ Sophomore center David Vaughn who would average 19 points and 14 rebounds per game. How good were these two? Fuqua was drafted by the Boston Celtics and Vaughn by the ABA’s Virginia Cavaliers following the 72’-73’ season. 

However, the greatest season was still to come. In 1973/74, ORU led by rebounder-extraordinaire Eddie Woods and high-scorer Sam McCants, was 23-6 and for five weeks ranked in the AP Top 20 (they would reach as high as 18th) and qualified for the big dance—the NCAA Tournament. Now this is not the NCAA “March Madness” mega-monolithic version that captivates the nation’s attention now. This NCAA tournament was smaller and more colloquial. In fact, in 1973 the NCAA tournament field consisted of only 25 teams. It was much harder to qualify back then and the top seeds all received first round byes. Not that the byes mattered much to the rest of the teams as one west coast school dominated the tournament. 

The 1974 NCAA tournament was supposed to be a coronation for John Wooden’s defending champion UCLA Bruins. In fact, the Bruins had won the last seven NCAA tournaments dating back to the Lew Alcindor-led 1967 bunch (he would later be influenced by Muhammad Ali and changed his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar.) Bill Walton had taken up just where Alcindor had left off and UCLA was heavily favored to win their eighth consecutive title. Other notable teams were Digger Phelps’ Notre Dame Fighting Irish (who had upset UCLA during the season ending their 88-game consecutive win streak,) Ted Owen’s Kansas Jayhawks, Frank McGuire’s South Carolina Gamecocks and Norm Sloan’s North Carolina State Wolfpack featuring Player of the Year David Thompson.

However, there was no team that seemed capable of dethroning UCLA. ORU qualified for the Midwest Sub-regional in Denton, Texas as an "at large" selection. They were matched against Syracuse from the East. This was not Hiram Scott, Sul Ross State, University of the South, Athletes in Action, Union of Tennessee or any of the other “softies” found on earlier Titan schedules. However, ORU proved themselves worthy adversaries. ORU defeated the Orangemen 86-82 in overtime to advance to the Midwest Region Final to be held in all places--at the Mabee Center in Tulsa. A late substitution for host Wichita State who dropped the basketball program earlier in the season, the historical significance of hosting an NCAA tournament in Tulsa cannot go unnoticed. The only other time an NCAA basketball tournament regional had been held in the state of Oklahoma was in 1958 in Henry Iba’s Stillwater! There ORU would meet nationally ranked Louisville led by Wooden-acolyte Denny Crum. Again, ORU surprised the basketball establishment by rallying from an 11-point deficit to finish off the Cardinals 96-93 behind the play of guards Sam McCants and Al Boswell who combined for 53 points. Now the Titans were in the elite Final 8 and were one win away from college basketballs “Holy Grail”-- the Final Four. 

Other than Oral Roberts and God himself, who would have imagined that the ORU Titans would go from small college competition to the NCAA’s “Elite 8” in 10 short years? But alas, it was not to be. Although ORU led by as many as nine points late in the game, the Titans eventually lost at home to a tournament-tested Kansas Jayhawk team that was making its second Final Four appearance in three years, 93 to 90 in overtime (Ironically, Jayhawks coach Ted Owens, a native of Hollis, Oklahoma and OU Sooner graduate, would return to Mabee Center in the mid-80’s as Titans coach.) The game was a bitter defeat for the Titans during their first appearance on the national stage and was marked by controversy. Perhaps reeling from the pressure associated with his accomplishments on the court, Trickey was arrested for drunken driving following the Louisville game on Thursday night. Oral Roberts immediately suspended Trickey; however, soon saw the light and reinstated his beleaquered coach after a prayer session in which "Ken told me he thought God wanted him to coach." Although, Trickey would stumble he did recover to coach the Titans to within an overtime victory of a Final Four appearance. How significant was this accomplishment you might ask? Well, in 42 years of basketball competition, ORU has only been to the NCAA tournament four times in school history—the most recent this season.

Although Sloan’s Wolfpack would stun Wooden’s UCLA Bruins 80-72 in double overtime in the National Semifinal and go on to defeat Al McQuire’s Marquette Warriors 64-51 to win the national championship, for many Tulsans the 1974 NCAA tournament will be remembered as the year ORU finally gained national credibility. In fact, the NCAA tournament appearance capped a remarkable five year run for ORU which saw the Titans recording more victories than any other NCAA school except for perennial champ UCLA. The role of tradition with UCLA and Kansas left an indelible impression on the ORU coach. Trickey had this to say following the Kansas loss:

"It's because of tradition. Even North Carolina State and UCLA can't touch the

tradition of Kansas. You don't have to believe this, but it affects their players. They don't 

have better players than us, but they've got tradition."

As with all things, this chapter in ORU history would end. Trickey, who had actually resigned in mid-season after bickering with Oral Roberts over basketball doctrine, would leave following the season to accept the Iowa State head coaching job. 

And although ORU would have success without Ken Trickey with a slew of top coaches (Jerry Hale, Ted Owens, Ken Hayes, and Bill Self) and players (Anthony Roberts, Mark Acres, and Greg Sutton,) the basketball would never be the same. 

Nor could it have been. 

Trickey would return in the mid-80’s to lead ORU through some difficult transitions but would never match his earlier success. 

In 1989, after school finances had been drained on building the City of Faith hospital that local leaders told Oral Roberts was not needed, ORU dropped NCAA classification to the more affordable NAIA level. The move reportedly saved the school $750,000 but the stain of moving from the big-time could not be erased. Trickey would have one final winning season but the thrill was gone and he soon departed after the 1993 season. 

Today, Tulsa is a growing metropolis with nearly one million residents. Many citizens have moved there in corporate relocations and most assuredly are not aware of the origins of the ORU Titans (the name was changed to Golden Eagles in 1993) or the basketball legacy of Oral Roberts, Ken Trickey and Richard Fuqua. 

However, to a small group of fans who weathered the early years in the cramped “igloo” playing the likes of Hiram Scott, Sul Ross State and University of the South and saw the meteoric rise to the 1974 NCAA Final Eight, the ORU legacy lives on in the memory banks. 

And, Ken Trickey's legacy would have far-reaching influence in Tulsa and the Sooner state as well as the national stage. 

In 1981, Nolan Richardson would have the University of Tulsa "Rollin' with Nolan" as they would win the N.I.T. in New York. 

And, a young coach at Lamar University in Texas would soon emulate Trickey's "WRAG Offense" in Norman, Oklahoma with another Tulsa basketball legend. Billy Tubbs, a Tulsa native, and Wayman Tisdale, a Tulsa Booker T. Washington graduate, would rewrite the Oklahoma Sooner record books in the 1980's. The pair would reach the NCAA Midwest Regional Final 11 years later losing to Memphis State in Dallas. 

And in the NBA, long before Magic Johnson's "Showtime" in Los Angeles and Larry Bird and Michael Jordan resurrected professional basketball into the phenomenally popular sport it is today in the 1980’s, there were Titans in our midst in Tulsa soaring above the clouds with the basketball gods.

Originally posted on January 1, 2008 on OklahomaSportsMemories.blogspot.com

Big XII Championship Game Preview

Big XII Championship Game Key Matchup: Iowa State Tight Ends

I will concede the Oklahoma team that lost to Iowa State in October 37-30 is not the same Sooner team Iowa State will see Saturday in JerryWorld.

Back then, you had a redshirt freshman quarterback still thinking the Big XII was as easy as playing 7-on-7 in the desert and the Sooners best defensive player and running back were suspended for bad decisions a year ago.

NOTE: Trejan Bridges, the third player suspended six games last December along with Rhamondre Stephenson and Ronnie Perkins is still suspended by the NCAA. I have no idea why Stephenson and Perkins are playing and Bridges is still suspended other than “second hand smoke”.

And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the improvement in the Oklahoma team during the past six game winning streak since that loss in Ames.

Spencer Rattler is no longer a redshirt freshman. He’s been better in Lincoln Riley’s system since his first half benching in the Cotton Bowl.

And he’s grown up through that experience and no longer is trying to force deep balls into cover two like he did against Iowa State.

Rattler has been helped by the addition of Stephenson who has single-handedly been a wrecking ball in the backfield. 

Since his return against Texas Tech, only four games ago, Stephenson has run rough-shod over Big 12 defenses. 

Stephenson has 65 carries for 382 yards and 6 touchdowns for a 5.9 average per carry.

And the Senior has also contributed out of the backfield with 14 catches for 175 yards for a 12.5 average receiving.

As for Perkins, the 6’3”, 247 pound Junior from St. Louis has established the edge in the run game and has been a terror rushing the quarterback in his four game season.

Perkins has 4 sacks along with 17 tackles, 6 solo, while giving the Sooners a “take no prisoners” attitude that carries over to the entire team “swagger”.

So, even though the Sooners have won 6 in a row since Ames, and have dramatically improved on both sides of the ball thanks to Rattler growing up and Stephenson and Perkins play adding swagger, is it good enough Saturday against Iowa State?

Because the Iowa State team that beat Oklahoma in Ames three months ago is better too!

Don't believe me?

Just glance at the just announced 2020 All-Big XII Football Team selections:

Breece Hall is the Big XII Offensive Player of the Year.

Mike Rose is the Big XII Defensive Player of the Year.

Xavier Hutchinson is the Big XII Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

Isheem Young is the Big XII Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Matt Campbell is the Big XII Coach of the Year.

Brock Purdy is the Big XII 1st Team Quarterback.

Hall is the Big XII 1st Team Running Back.

Hutchinson is the Big XII 1st Team Wide Receiver.

Charlie Kolar is the Big XII 1st Team Tight End.

Colin Newell is one of five Big XII 1st Team Offensive Lineman.

JaQuan Bailey, Will McDonald, Rose and Greg Eisworth all made the Big XII 1st Team Defense.

Iowa State has also run off a 5-game win streak since their loss at Oklahoma State and their win in Austin ended Texas’ Big XII Championship hopes.

And they’ve done it the E.F. Hutton way..."they’ve earned it!”

Iowa State has a solid ball control offense led by underrated Junior quarterback Brock Purdy, also from Arizona.

Purdy has been rock-solid consistency-wise completing 66% of his passes averaging 227 yards per game and 7.7 yards average per attempt.

And he’s got the Big XII’s best running back in Breece Hall whose averaging 6.1 yards per carry while racking up 1,357 yards rushing.

And as good as Purdy and Hall have been they aren’t even the best weapons Iowa State has in its arsenal.

That would be the Cyclones Tight Ends.

Charlie Kolar, Dylan Soehner and Chase Hall are playing beast-mode this season. 

This three-headed monster creates all kind of mismatches for opposing defenses. Because they are versatile enough to not only line up outside the Tackle in the traditional Tight End formation but they can also split out as wide receivers and create mismatches against smaller Corners and Safeties. Then, they can also all three show up in short yardage situations as additional run-blockers. 

Kolar and Allen were the difference last October in the Sooners loss in Ames:

Charlie Kolar

6’ 6” 257 lbs.

4 catches, 66 yards

Chase Allen

6’ 7” 240 lbs.

3 catches 48 yards

Dylan Soehner, at 6’7” 272 pounds, didn’t even play against Oklahoma. And he's the best run-blocking Tight End the Cyclones have among the three players. According to a USA TODAY article on November 18, Soehner is the highest-rated run blocking Tight End in the country according to Pro Football Focus.

I know the stats of Kolar and Allen don't suggest they dominated the Sooners. But when you factor in Purdy's efficiency throwing,12-24 for 254 yards and one touchdown, and Hall's pounding the rock, 28 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns, it's easy to see why the Iowa State tight ends are difference-makers.

Kolar and Allen's 7 receptions for 114 yards were not only a big chunk of Purdy's passing totals but they also contributed to other areas of the passing game, too.

Because just when you bring down your safeties to stop Hall, Purdy finds one of these 6'6" or 6'7" beasts open over the middle.

And, just when you double one of these guys, that leaves Cyclones leading receiver Xavier Hutchinson open for a 65-yard touchdown which is exactly what happened last October in Ames.

That 65-yard touchdown is the Cyclones longest play of the season.

The Sooners tried to utilize 5' 9", 189 pound nickel safety Bookie Radley-Hiles to stop Kolar and Allen.

And that didn't work out very well did it?

So what does Sooner Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch do Saturday when his Speed D group is gonna face all three Cyclones Tight Ends?

In today's Daily Oklahoman, Ryan Aber said Grinch will keep converted linebacker Robert Barnes at Safety. Barnes was moved there last game against Baylor due to the slew of COVID-19 cases that decimated the Oklahoma defense for the Baylor game on December 5.

Before the OSU game, Barnes last started at Safety last year in the Peach Bowl against LSU when the starter Delarrin Turner-Yell was injured.

That didn't work out too well because LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and company shredded the weakened Sooner secondary 63-28 on the way to winning the national championship.

But Barnes at 6'2" 232 pounds is a bigger defender than the 5'9", 189 pounds Bookie Radley-Hiles.

So for now, Barnes will work at Safety Saturday in some form or fashion to help the Sooners match up better against the Iowa State beasts at Tight End.

I would also expect converted corner Tre Norwood, 6' 0", 189 pounds, to work in at Nickel to help better match up with the Cyclones Tight Ends.

And, Grinch will hope to rely on the added presence of Perkins to increase pressure on Purdy and force him into bad decisions or throws. Isaiah Thomas has also come on since that October game in Ames and leads the Sooners with 7.5 sacks. 

As for Radley-Hiles, Riley gave him a vote of confidence after he was given a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting an OSU receiver that gave the Cowboys a first down on their way to their only first half touchdown.

It's these type of bone-headed plays that has rankled Sooner fans over the past three years.

As much of an advantage Radley-Hiles gives the Sooner defense with his brains calling coverages, his lapses of judgment are game-killers. 

His targeting call on a defenseless LSU player in the Peach Bowl cost him an early first half ejection and further depleted the Oklahoma secondary.

And he is definitely at a huge size mismatch against Kolar, Allen and Soehner.

So how does this rematch Saturday play out for the Sooners who are going for their sixth straight Big XII Championship, and 4th straight College Football Championship appearance, against the Cyclones who are making their first appearance in JerryWorld?

Easy.

Just watch how they cover the Iowa State Tight Ends.

Because if the Sooners can't cover Charlie Kolar, Chase Allen and Dylan Soehner, it's gonna be a long day at JerryWorld.

#Boomer