Bob Stoops And Oklahoma Look For Happy Ending In Miami

No. 8 Oklahoma returns to Land Shark Stadium Saturday night, the building that has not been kind to Boomer Sooner in recent visits.

January 8th, 2009 was the last time they stepped foot on the Miami turf. They lost to the Florida Gators in the 2009 FedEx BCS National Championship 24-14. 

Bob Stoops’ greatest victory came at the stadium when it was then known as Pro Player Stadium. In only the head coach’s second season he led his undefeated and No. 1 ranked team to the 2001 FedEx Orange Bowl game, the site of the national championship game.

It was there in the middle of the field that he lifted the most prized trophy in college football; the crystal football. He beat the second-ranked Florida State Seminoles 13-2.

Since that game in ’01, Stoops’ visits to South Florida have been anything but festive for the coach. The Sooners have had their fair share of struggles and frustration, with five consecutive BCS losses.

What makes Saturday’s primetime storyline against No. 17 Miami juicier is their recent struggles at the same venue where Stoops once celebrated his first accolade as head coach. In the 2004 season the Sooners met the USC Trojans for the national championship in the ’05 Orange Bowl. 

A game perceived by many as a must-see slug-fest turned out to be a blowout in favor of the men of Troy, 55-19. It was a battle of the two-reigning Heisman Trophy winners, Oklahoma’s Jason White and Southern Cal’s Matt Leinart.

This year had a similar scenario when Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, the 2008 winner and Florida’s Tim Tebow, the 2007 winner, faced off in the title game.

The Bob Stoops-led Sooners once again make their voyage to Miami, albeit in October as opposed to January, and look to turn around their recent struggles at Land Shark Stadium. In January the Sooners played the Gators close, but played what many considered a conservative game which limited their chances to beat Florida.

Expect Stoops to have selective amnesia when he steps on that same turf at 8 p.m. to take on a much improved Miami Hurricanes team.