How One Play Put Oklahoma Football At a Turning Point

If one had to name the most appropriate defining play of the season for this year's Oklahoma football team, one could not go wrong by putting the Sooners' fake field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter Saturday night at College Station at the top spot.

Sure, there were plenty of plays in the Texas A&M game that made one wonder or maybe even scream, "What the HECK was that?," but this debacle takes the cake.

Executed to perfection, and the play would have won that game and sent a statement to the rest of the college football world about the team in Crimson and Cream: Take notice, these Sooners are a force to be reckoned with.

Though still early in the fourth period, the successful completion of this perfectly thrown pass by holder John Nimmo to tight end James Hanna would have completed the Sooners' rally from a 19-0 deficit and sucked the life out of the stadium's diehard Aggie fans. It would have been like popping a balloon. Poof.

Odds of winning for the Sooners if the pass is caught: 97.8941%. I did the math on my pocket calculator, so, trust me, I know.

Instead this beautiful pass, thrown to perfection, in stride, over the shoulder to an open tight end on the goal line was dropped. Though the Sooners still trailed by only two points with the majority of the fourth quarter left, suddenly the odds of an OU victory looked worse than the Democrats had been before the recent elections.

When the Aggies quickly marched down the field and scored quickly to go up by the score of 26-17, the Sooners were done.

This all because of a little something that is not given the respect it deserves in the game of football. I'm talking about momentum. Momentum is a tricky thing. One play can reverse this fickle element of the game 180 degrees, from one team to the other in the blink of an eye. And once gone, it is often hard recover.

Oklahoma had claimed it in the second half, but only after allowing yet another crushing kickoff return for a touchdown on the road. Down 12-0 at the half—the first time since 2007—the Sooners were held scoreless in the first half and they were hoping for a momentum-changing stand by their defense.

Instead, the special teams did the defense saved them from the pressure by simply allowing A&M kickoff returner Coryell Judie to sprint the length of the field virtually untouched on his way to a 100-yard touchdown.

Oklahoma did take back the momentum from that point and had fought their way back with the help of a smothering and opportunistic defense to get within 19-17. The Sooners faced fourth down at the A&M 32-yard line and lined up for a field goal to take the lead.

Then the defining play came for a Sooners team that has the talent, but not the heart.

Nimmo, the holder, popped up from his knees and placed a 40-yard spiral into the hands of an open receiver. If the tight end catches that pass, the Sooners crush the spirit of both the Aggies team and crowd, and, in doing so, sends a message to the country that Stoops Troops have figured out what playing through adversity on the road means.

The dropped pass aptly sums up the 7-2 Sooners' season. Good enough to battle hard and put themselves in excellent positions to win these games in hostile environments like Columbia and College Station, but not possessing enough intestinal fortitude to wrench the victory away from an opposing team.

This is what separates good teams from great teams, the ability to look fear in the eye and say, "That all you got?" 

Other Sooner teams have had that killer instinct needed to step on an opponents' throat on the road and grind their heel, crushing the will to win out of a team. They grabbed the momentum by smacking the home team around and made them like it.

This version has either too fragile a psyche and just don't have it in them, or maybe they have not had this killer instinct impressed upon them enough from the coaching staff.

With two more difficult road games still to play after a game against a Jekkyl-and-Hyde Texas Tech squad, the destination for this Oklahoma football team is still an open question.

Four straight victories could result in another Big 12 Championship and BCS bowl trip (again, on the road—yikes!).

A loss or three, and it could be "Hello El Paso" for a second consecutive season.

Whatever the case may be, this is yet another season that will have Sooner fans' wondering "What if" throughout the offseason. It was a team good enough to have its chances, but lacked the ability to take advantage of the opportunities when presented.

On the bright side, Sooner fans can at least hold their chins up, look at their 7-2 record and proudly proclaim, "Hey, at least were not Texas!!!"