As someone who was born and raised in Alabama and spend 6 years of my early adult life in Tulsa, I am a “bammer” with a fondness for OU (and OSU for that matter).
I will say something for Lincoln Riley’s teams versus Bob Stoops’ teams: they don’t give up. A few years ago, if an opposing team got 17-ish points ahead of a Bob Stoops team, they would meltdown and crumble. OU liked to carry a lead, not fight from behind. I used to always joke about “big game Bob”. I’d pull for them and then that would just lay an egg either against a much lesser opponent or get a little behind the sticks and simply give up. I think it was a characteristic of the leadership that bled over into the players.
Lincoln Riley has really instilled a never give up attitude in his players. They’ve fought back from behind a lot this year (due to their defense woes) and they have never given up. When they went down by 28 to the Tide, I was having flashbacks to the Stoops era. I felt like they were going to crumble again. I was pleased to see that one shot during the broadcast of Riley pumping his guys up in that massive huddle.
OU will be back. If they could simply develop a smidgen of defense they would be a very, very dangerous team. I think they will, just gonna take a couple of years. They’ve always had good offense. If they can develop an uncharacteristically good defense (for the big 12), they might be unbeatable.
I’m happy my Tide ended with a W, but I’m also glad to see the culture that Riley is instilling. It is almost like the physicality that Jimbo has taken to A&M......night and day difference. I hope Riley stays around for a while.
I’m sure we will bump heads again really soon!