OU football notebook

Published: September 14, 2006

Oklahoma has witnessed the daring side of Oregon coach Mike Bellotti.

In December's Holiday Bowl meeting, Bellotti called for two trick plays and a fake punt on his team's first possession.

Later, the Ducks ran a fake field goal.

Bellotti was at it again last Saturday, when a fake field goal with 4:55 to play turned a tie game in Oregon's favor at Fresno State.

"I didn't want settle for a field goal at that point in the game," Bellotti said. "When you're a visiting team, you can't just play with the home team. You have to play better and finish the job and basically knock them out.

"Obviously, it was a risk-reward situation. I decided it would be worth the risk."

• No introduction necessary: OU and Oregon have met each of the past two seasons, with the Sooners winning both games.

Both Bellotti and Sooners coach Bob Stoops went so far as to say the familiarity gives Saturday's clash the feel of preparing for a conference foe.

"I feel like it's a league game, almost," Bellotti said. "I mean, we're seeing too much of them."

So the teams won't have to look far for insight into this non-conference clash.

"We have a lot of film on them," OU quarterback Paul Thompson said. "And a lot of film of us playing them, which is good, because those are the kind of looks we're going to get.

"At the same time, they have the same film we have."

Thompson said he does think OU's December win over the Ducks in the Holiday Bowl provides some advantage for the Sooners.

"We've played them recently," Thompson said. "We know their tendencies and what they like to do. And we were able to get the win over them. So going into this game, we should have a lot of confidence."

• Rank and file: Stoops maintained a consistent stance on his team's place in the polls, even with his team at No. 15, down five spots from the preseason poll.

The Sooners coach said he didn't care about being ranked Nos. 1 or 2 in previous seasons and wondered why he should fret now?

"Why is it different?" Stoops asked. "We want to play hard. We want to play well. We want to be better. If it's the last game of the year, maybe it matters. It doesn't much matter right now. It matters how you end up and how you compete in the conference.

"They're not giving out any trophies this week."

• Revisionist history? Bellotti has been quoted as saying the Sooners know they "escaped" with a win in the Holiday Bowl.

Stoops' response: "I don't know. It was a heckuva game. I think it's fair to say we had our other opportunities. We also fumbled on the 1, and they had a fake field goal on us. So you can define it any way you want. This is a new year, and we've got to be ready to play."

By John Helsley