Sooners Sack the Ducks

The Sooner defense set the tone for the game early and held off a late Oregon rally to win the Holiday Bowl last night.

Oklahoma linebacker Clint Ingram made a leaping interception of Leaf's pass at the 10-yard line with 33 seconds left in the Holiday Bowl to preserve the Sooners' 17-14 upset of the No. 6 Oregon Ducks on Thursday night.

Ingram missed the call for a blitz on second-and-9, so he was in position to get in front of Demetrius Williams for the pickoff.

"This was the biggest play that I've ever made in any sport," Ingram said. "Everything we've gone through, everyone made plays and I just made the last one."

"As soon as I saw him go up for the ball I knew it wasn't going to be dropped," coach Bob Stoops said. "He doesn't drop balls."

Oregon led 7-3 after the lowest-scoring first half in Holiday Bowl history, and thanks to the Sooner defense the Duck’s offense was a no-show for most of the second half.



Sooner running back Adrian Peterson was held in check in the first half by the Oregon defense rushing 8 times for 8 yards but exploded in the second half, finishing with 84 yards on 23 carries. The Sooner offense took control when Rhett Bomar threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to fullback J.D. Runnells for a 10-7 Oklahoma lead with 9:20 to play in the third quarter. Then late in the quarter Kejuan Jones scored on an 8-yard run to make it 17-7. Bomar finished 17-of-30 for 229 yards, with one interception and the touchdown to Runnells.



Oklahoma would have put the game away early in the fourth but Peterson fumbled on the Ducks 1 yard line as he was reaching forward to try to put the ball across the goal line. That fumble gave the Ducks new life and they would eventually close to within 17-14 before Ingram’s interception iced the game for Oklahoma.

Don’t Buy the Lies
Two things you are going to hear in the next few days are that Oregon was over-rated and that they were distracted.

First, this was a very good Oregon football team. They finished the regular season at 10-1 with that loss being to the undefeated USC Trojans. I have often stated that the Pac 10 is an over-rated conference but this Oregon team would beat a lot of other teams in other conferences. The Ducks are solid on offense as well as defense and could be the second best team the Sooners have faced this season.



Second, there was no distraction after being left out of the BCS for Oregon. The Ducks showed up with their game faces on, they just didn’t have an answer for a Sooner defense that sacked their quarterbacks three times, held them to under 100 yards rushing and came up with the big interception to end the game.

New Rule, Celebrate With Your Helmets On
Sooner running back Adrian Peterson had to receive stitches on his forehead after his head collided with a teammate’s helmet during a sideline celebration following JD Runnells third quarter touchdown reception.

Oklahoma's win over Oregon puts the Big 12 at 3-1 in bowl games.