STILLWATER — It was a thing of beauty, unless defense is your thing. If that was the case, Saturday night’s Bedlam showdown at Boone Pickens Stadium might have caused frequent trips to the bathroom.

In the end it was No. 3 Oklahoma that won one of the most memorable offensive explosions in the series’ 103-year history, 61-41, over No. 11 Oklahoma State.

The only question is whether the wild victory is enough for the Sooners to overtake Texas in the BCS rankings.

If they do, it could mean everything.

After the final week of the regular season, OU, Texas and Texas Tech are tied at 11-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big 12 Conference and 4-1 in the Big 12 South. The team that finishes highest in the BCS standings, which will be released around 3:30 p.m. today, will represent the division in next week’s Big 12 championship game and have the inside track to play for the national championship with a victory over Missouri.

Sooner coach Bob Stoops lobbied for his team following last week’s 65-21 victory over Texas Tech. He did a little Saturday night, but stuck with laying out OU’s resume.

“There’s plenty of reasons for us, as there are for other people,” he said. “Our argument was sustained again today with what we’ve done down the stretch.”

For a while, it was a game that looked like it would play out like the Sooners’ only loss this season against Texas.

OU was scorched over and over again by OSU quarterback Zac Robinson, who rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown and threw for 254 and a trio of TDs.

The Sooners gave up 452 yards and only forced three punts. But they got the stops they needed in the final 7 minutes to keep the debate going.

“When we absolutely needed a stop, we went out there and got it,” OU cornerback Dominique Franks said.

The Sooners got the turnovers they needed, too.

Franks set up the Sooners’ first touchdown with an interception early in the first quarter and tackle Adrian Taylor pounced on a Robinson fumble with less than 3 minutes left to set up OU’s final score.

The Sooners needed it for style points.

The final day of the regular season won’t produce any dramatic shifts in the BCS standings. Texas Tech almost ended the drama earlier in the day, but rallied to beat lowly Baylor 35-28. A loss would have sent Texas, No. 2 in the BCS standings going into this week’s games, to next week’s Big 12 championship game against Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

The Longhorns crushed Texas A&M; 49-9 Thursday night and their coach, Mack Brown, was on Saturday night’s broadcast lobbying for his team.

“Someone will be really disappointed tomorrow,” Brown said.

OU made a very good case it may not be that team.

Sam Bradford, despite an injured left thumb, threw for 370 yards and four touchdowns. He even produced a highlight play for his Heisman Trophy campaign late in the third quarter.

He scrambled out of the pocket on a third-and-goal from the OSU 9 and dove for the end zone from about the 4. A collision with Cowboy linebacker Ricky Price sent Bradford into a full flip. It was the kind of athletic play quarterbacks rarely make.

“I felt like our team needed a spark,” Bradford said. “I was going to do whatever I needed to get into the end zone.”

One play later he did to give the Sooners a 37-26 lead.

OU scored on all seven of its second-half possessions to get the victory. The last was Chris Brown’s 28-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left.

The Sooner fans who remained were chanting “B-C-S” as the final seconds ticked away. There’s no doubt OU will get into a BCS bowl if it isn’t playing in Kansas City next Saturday.

But there’s no denying it made a great argument it should be there.

“Everything we did tonight kind of says why we should be there,” Bradford said. “It’s out of our hands now. We’ll see how it ends up.”







John Shinn

Norman Transcript

jshinn@normantranscript.com