NORMAN — If he never scores another touchdown or even takes another handoff, Allen Patrick has carved himself a spot in the grand lore of Oklahoma Sooner football.
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Years from now, Sooner faithful will still be pairing his name with Keith Stanberry in discussions of blown calls by referees that led to OU losses.
Allen Patrick. The guy who recovered Oregon's onside kick.
It was a simple play.
As the ball fell to the Autzen Stadium turf, bodies were diving to secure it, fighting over something that wasn't there.
"I went to the pile first, and I just seen the ball roll between somebody's legs," said Patrick, a backup running back and special teams captain.
"The ball was just laying out there in the middle of the field. It was, like, two yards behind everybody. I jumped on it, picked it up, held it in the air.
"I thought that would be enough, but obviously, it wasn't."
It was Juaquin Iglesias' legs that the ball passed through, though the receiver admits he doesn't know how it got there.
"The ball hit me right in my face," said Iglesias, who at the time was part of the pile fighting for the ball.
"It happened so fast, I must've blinked or something when the ball hit me. I wish I would've caught it, because this wouldn't be happening right now."
Patrick didn't celebrate after recovering the ball. He walked toward the sideline and handed the ball to an official.
"Just having the ball in my possession, I was thinking the game was over. It was our ball," Patrick said.
Like Stanberry's interception, which would have given OU a win over Texas in 1984, referees saw it differently.
"They pretty much had their minds set," Patrick said.
Once officials on the field ruled the ball was in Oregon's possession in the bottom of the pile, that ruling could not be changed, even if the replay showed differently.
"I never heard a whistle blow. They (the officials) was still trying to uncover people," Patrick said.
"I should've picked it up and ran, but I wasn't thinking."
And Patrick knows there isn't much time for reflection on what could — or should — have been, with Middle Tennessee State's visit to Owen Field just four days away.
"It's really frustrating, but ain't nothing I can do about it," he said.
"Just looking forward to playing the next game."
Pac-10 Conference representatives released a statement Monday admitting the referees' mistake in their determining that Oregon had recovered the kick.
The statement included an apology to Oklahoma players and coaches.
Asked what he thought of the apology, Patrick paused to carefully choose his words, then smiled before delivering a thoughtful response.
"No comment," he said.
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