NORMAN — The Oklahoma football saga left soap opera status Saturday. As the Sooners Turn? Forget it. This is sci-fi all the way. Sooner Trek. A script too fantastic to be believed.
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Rhett Bomar in August, Gordon Riese in September, now the collarbone break heard 'round the world. The hits keep coming on Oklahoma football. The Sooners keep making national news in ways best avoided.
Adrian Peterson, with his Heisman campaign rejuvenated and his ex-con dad watching in the stadium for the first time, crashed in the end zone to cap a 53-yard touchdown run against Iowa State that brought pain to Peterson's collarbone and extra burdens to the shoulders of two Sooners.
Paul Thompson and Brent Venables.
A season that seemed so promising a few months ago now teeters on what could be disaster. A football program that counts one-loss seasons as disappointing now faces a stretch of losable games, notably road trips to Columbia, College Station, Waco and Stillwater. No Sooner sympathy will be found in any such ports.
These Sooners a month ago were thinking BCS title game. These Sooners eight days ago were thinking Big 12 title game. These Sooners now must be thinking, what will happen next?
OU, 4-2, goes from favored in every game out to at least underdog at Missouri and Texas A&M, and maybe more, if the response is not valiant.
Peterson was that valuable. A workhorse tailback who took the pressure off Thompson by forcing foes to load the box. A talent so supreme he willed this OU offense to points and yardage while the Sooner defense floundered early in the season.
But Thompson and Venables can save the Sooner season. Thompson and Venables can get the Sooners to 8-4 or 9-3 and a self-respecting bowl game.
Frankly, Thompson already has answered the call once. He's proven to be more than a caretaker, after Bomar's scandal left the Sooners dry at quarterback. Now Thompson will be asked to be both stagecoach driver and shotgun rider.
This offense now will have to revolve around Thompson, not the cleanup hitter who wears No. 28.
"I look at it as motivation, something to prove everybody wrong," Thompson said, whose solid quarterbacking continued in the 34-9 rout of Iowa State. "I've known I could handle this offense since I got here. I feel comfortable holding the reins."
Thompson was stunning in the first half, when he completed 14 of 17 for 186 yards. But Peterson was healthy that first half.
Peterson makes all the difference to a quarterback. Iowa State loaded the line to stop the run. His presence provided open passing alleys, virtual HOV lanes for Malcolm Kelly and Juaquin Iglesias and Manuel Johnson to roam.
Don't expect such freedom now.
"We're not going to be able to run the ball as much," Johnson admitted. "As receivers, we have to take the challenge."
Offensive chief Kevin Wilson said not to expect wholesale changes. The Sooners are 11 weeks into this journey; you can't start over now.
But expect this: less I formation. Wilson's Northwestern roots are partial to the spread. Without Mister Tailback, no reason to stay married to the I.
That means this offensive responsibility shifts to Thompson. The guy we thought would throw 15 passes a game but instead proved adept at 25, now will be throwing 35 or more.
"I'm sure the offensive coaches will have a game plan," said OU defensive end Larry Birdine. "That's what they get paid the big bucks for."
Well, Bob Stoops' defensive coaches are handsomely paid, too, and I say the pressure is on Venables, not Wilson.
Venables, the beleaguered coordinator, has been rounding his troops into shape. They played decent against Texas and very well against Iowa State.
Get this kind of defense, and OU can keep winning most Saturdays. Revert to sieve status, and all foes have a chance, starting with 1-6 Colorado next weekend.
Venables said it well: "We've preached, however good we can be, that has to happen."
It has to happen now more than ever. The OU pass rush that bloomed against the Cyclones must stay rabid. The OU pass coverage that broke down sparingly against Texas and Iowa State must stay stiff.
Tough defense can keep the Sooners competitive while Thompson and Co. learn to play without the best running back this storied football factory ever has seen.
The best reason for optimism is this. These Sooners have shown they can take a punch.
They rebounded almost overnight from losing Bomar, their quarterback of the present and future.
"We've done that, not just week in and week out, but from the beginning of the year," Thompson said. "Everyone rallying, feeling good about where we're going as a team."
Hard to feel good now.
