Just watched the 1996 Red River Rivalry...John Blake's one shining moment

[bullmarket]

OU had lost 7 straight games and was 20 point underdog to the ranked Whorns.

We were down by 3 points in the 4th quarter. Our FG kicker Alexander ties the game with a 44 yard FG.

After stopping texass with about 3 minutes left in the game OU got the ball on the OU 45 yard line. and we got a first down. Then OU RB James Allen ran the ball over 40 yards on a fantastic run to the texass one yard line.
But the whorn ref threw a flag for a phantom holding call on OU and the game went to overtime.

Texas scored first in the OT with a FG.
Them with OU getting the ball we got a first down with a pass from Jason Fuentes to James Allen and the rest was all James Allen runs who scored on a 2 yard run to give us a 30-27 win.

It was truly fun to watch!

BOOMER SOONER!

 

[22LR]

That was a John Blake highlight for sure. He had a few, but so many Sooner fans had jumped ship, they missed them.

1997's OU victory over Texas Tech in Lubbock was a good one. TT was boasting about how they were going to manhandle the Sooners and win the Big XII South Title. The Sooners showed up and beat the Red Raiders 32-21, destroying all hope for the ring ceremony. Stephen Alexander's amazing catch on his back near the goal line was memorable. Here it is:



To this day, the most surreal college football experience I ever had was sitting in the rain in Fort Worth in 1998. TCU kept OU scoreless with just 2:55 left in the game. OU was down 9-0 when OU opened up a can of whoop-arse on the Frogs. Sooner magic that many Sooners never knew about. Here is the audio of the final minutes:

 

[CTOkie]

The years from 1995-98 were a nightmare to me. Blake was a terrible coach and his recruiting was more about the OU brand, even during the lean years.
If a coach recruits good players, as Blake did to some degree, and then does not develop them and make them improve, he shouldn't be credited as a good recruiter or coach. In addition to the fallout from the 1989 probation, OU was really teetering on the verge of irrelevance with Schnellenberger and Blake.

 

[bullmarket]

That was a John Blake highlight for sure. He had a few, but so many Sooner fans had jumped ship, they missed them.

1997's OU victory over Texas Tech in Lubbock was a good one. TT was boasting about how they were going to manhandle the Sooners and win the Big XII South Title. The Sooners showed up and beat the Red Raiders 32-21, destroying all hope for the ring ceremony. Stephen Alexander's amazing catch on his back near the goal line was memorable. Here it is:

View embedded media

To this day, the most surreal college football experience I ever had was sitting in the rain in Fort Worth in 1998. TCU kept OU scoreless with just 2:55 left in the game. OU was down 9-0 when OU opened up a can of whoop-arse on the Frogs. Sooner magic that many Sooners never knew about. Here is the audio of the final minutes:

View embedded media

Those both were great. Thanks 22LR

 

[Plainosooner]

OU had lost 7 straight games and was 20 point underdog to the ranked Whorns.

We were down by 3 points in the 4th quarter. Our FG kicker Alexander ties the game with a 44 yard FG.

After stopping texass with about 3 minutes left in the game OU got the ball on the OU 45 yard line. and we got a first down. Then OU RB James Allen ran the ball over 40 yards on a fantastic run to the texass one yard line.
But the whorn ref threw a flag for a phantom holding call on OU and the game went to overtime.

Texas scored first in the OT with a FG.
Them with OU getting the ball we got a first down with a pass from Jason Fuentes to James Allen and the rest was all James Allen runs who scored on a 2 yard run to give us a 30-27 win.

It was truly fun to watch!

BOOMER SOONER!

I was thinking there were two. The other was beating Syracuse when Donovan McNabb puked his guts out, while taking a snap. Maybe John spiked his gatorade.

 

[bullmarket]

I was thinking there were two. The other was beating Syracuse when Donovan McNabb puked his guts out, while taking a snap. Maybe John spiked his gatorade.

OU had lost its first 4 games in 1996 & then beat Texas. OU had lost its last 3 games in 1995 to give them 7 straight losses before they beat ut

http://soonerstats.com/football/seasons/schedule.cfm?seasonid=1996
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Oklahoma_Sooners_football_team

We beat McNabb and Syracuse in 1997
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Oklahoma_Sooners_football_team

 

[Frizzlefry]

I remember exactly where I was for the last part of that game. It always seems like the field goal was the last play/game winner because everyone knew he wouldn't make it and when he did, it felt like there were other powers involved.

 

[Plainosooner]

I remember exactly where I was for the last part of that game. It always seems like the field goal was the last play/game winner because everyone knew he wouldn't make it and when he did, it felt like there were other powers involved.

Me too. My daughter's birthday was the end of the first week of September. I think she was probably 10. The birthday party was at Chuck-E-Cheese. And I'm supposed to be helping herd a dozen 10-year-olds or close to that age. And I'm trying to watch the game on one of Chucks TVs in one of those private rooms. And thinking we were going to blow it, again.

And l'm getting in big trouble for
not passing out cake slices.

 

[JoeOU1]

Makes me puke to even hear his name.
He almost singlehandledly brought the Sooners to an all time record low.
And a so called Sooner fan wants to rejoice in a single win while he was here ruining the program?
Wow!

 

[CTOkie]

Makes me puke to even hear his name.
He almost singlehandledly brought the Sooners to an all time record low.
And a so called Sooner fan wants to rejoice in a single win while he was here ruining the program?
Wow!

The win for me showed that OU had enough talent to have a winning record, but was still sputtering due to the lingering effects of the 1989-1991 probation and Blake's inept coaching. The 1996 Sooners lost to four teams with 4-7 records and a poor Texas A&M team that was 6-6, including a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.

 

[22LR]

Makes me puke to even hear his name.
He almost singlehandledly brought the Sooners to an all time record low.
And a so called Sooner fan wants to rejoice in a single win while he was here ruining the program?
Wow!

David Swank. THERE is the guy who did more to hurt OU football than Blake ever could. He tried his best to kill the football program.

I was no Donnie Duncan fan, but he had the cards stacked against him in a program where morale was rock bottom. The program was in total shambles.

Blake wasn't a good hire, but he and brand-new A.D. Steve Owens tried to right the ship the best they could. It wasn't until Joe Castiglione showed up for Blake's final year that there was a glimmer of hope.

If you want to take out "The Big Erasure" to OU football history, take it to Howard Schnellenberger's year. That was the all time low for Sooner football.

 

[CTOkie]

David Swank. THERE is the guy who did more to hurt OU football than Blake ever could. He tried his best to kill the football program.

I was no Donnie Duncan fan, but he had the cards stacked against him in a program where morale was rock bottom. The program was in total shambles.

Blake wasn't a good hire, but he and brand-new A.D. Steve Owens tried to right the ship the best they could. It wasn't until Joe Castiglione showed up for Blake's final year that there was a glimmer of hope.

If you want to take out "The Big Erasure" to OU football history, take it to Howard Schnellenberger's year. That was the all time low for Sooner football.

I feel the probation caused OU to resort to "hail Mary" efforts to keep the program upright in both the Schnellenberger and Blake hires.
Agree, it was Joe Castiglione who's foresight and genius starting in April of 1998, that got OU's program turned in the right direction.