Sooner head coach Bob Stoops gets a victory bath in San Diego |
by Jay C. Upchurch
SAN DIEGO — Replay or no replay, Oklahoma wasn’t leaving Qualcomm Stadium
without a victory Thursday night.
Clint Ingram made sure of that when he intercepted a Brady Leaf pass in the
final minute to preserve a 17-14
Holiday Bowl triumph for the Sooners.
Ingram’s fifth pick of the season killed sixth-ranked Oregon’s hopes for a
win or a possible game-tying field goal
that would have forced overtime. The senior linebacker leapt in front of Demetrius Williams to snag the Leaf offering at the OU 10-yard line with 33 seconds remaining.
The Sooners (8-4) then ran out the clock to claim their sixth win in seven games, the lone loss coming via a controversial ending at Texas Tech where the contest was decided by several questionable replay calls in the final
seconds.
On this cool night in front a record Holiday Bowl crowd, it was a decision by officials not to replay an Adrian Peterson fumble on the goal line that kept the Ducks’ hopes alive and set up a wild finish. Oregon (10-2) cut the lead to three with just over three minutes left and then drove deep into OU territory on
its final possession, after taking over at its 22.
“It kind of typifies our whole season,” said coach Bob Stoops, momentarily reliving the final quarter of what looked like an OU runaway at one point. “We’ve been fighting all year and was another game where we needed basically every play to decide the outcome. But the main thing is I’m proud of our kids and the way they held it together and finished.”
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