“The Tip” in Stillwater, OK

If you weren’t fortunate enough to have been watching the Bedlam Rivalry go down on Saturday in Stillwater Oklahoma then you’ll need to see this first.

I hope that this will come to be called “The Tip” at least to Stillwater, OK sports fans (as it will likely be the most exciting moment they will ever witness).  Certainly “The Tip” would have resonated a little more in the sports world had the Cowboys pulled off a home victory over the Sooners.  However, Landry Jones and the talented Sooners came out on top in what is the nation’s most historically lopsided intrastate rivalry with the OU teams winning 79.9% of the more than 100 games played.

Some people are calling this game the Landry Jones show and are using it as a landmark to show his improvement as a leader and gun-slinging quarterback.  I can only agree with the gun slinging.  In a game in which little pass rush was ever created, Jones managed 3 first-half interceptions and the lowest completion percentage since his sub-50% game against Utah St. to start the year, (the fact that Jones scraped by against a Utah St. defense should be the biggest indictment of his lacking experience), a game the Sooners narrowly won 31-24.  The one feature that is interesting is his late-game poise.  Jones doesn’t put up great numbers but the OU offense leans on him when games get tough.  In the shootout against Oklahoma State, Jones threw the ball a season-high 62 times and in their two losses against Missouri and Texas A&M, he had 50 and 59 passing attempts respectively.  One argument is that the more he throws the ball, the better the odds of a loss.  But I think it’s the fact that the offense rallies behind a quietly fierce quarterback who would rather go down swinging than passively let a team slip by.  Through their 10-2 regular season, Jones has 34 TD passes and last night, despite a slow start, he tied the OU school record for passing yards in a single game with 468 of them (and it’s his second 450+ yard game this year!) – and remember, NFL rookie of the year hopeful Sam Bradford went to OU.

Justin Blackmon tearing up the Troy defense for another 100-yd outing

The other big story of Saturday night (and of every Saturday this season) was OSU wide-out Justin Blackmon who was held to just 8 receptions for 105 yards.  I say just because it’s his worst performance of the year.  In every game this year Blackmon has had over 100 yards receiving and found pay-dirt at least once every game (two 3-TD games as well).  His stat sheet is packed!  The good news is that Mel Kiper has taken notice and now ranks him 3rd among receivers for the 2011 NFL draft behind Alabama’s Julio Jones and Georgia’s A.J. Green (though I think he has those two backward).  The bad news, he has two more years of eligibility if he wants to bring a championship back to northern Oklahoma.

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