Titanic Sooners May Have Hit An Iceberg

Wow, that was fast. Just a week ago, the Oklahoma Sooners were the third ranked team in the nation and a championship contender. The team had a returning Heisman trophy winner and a nasty defense.

A week later, the sparkle of a season that seemed so refulgent has disappeared quicker than Mel Gibson's career. One game. That's all it took. Don't laugh, it could happen to your team next.

Oklahoma was supposed to handle BYU. It might have been close for a half or three quarters, but the Sooners were to pull it out pretty easily. And the game was played in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium, so all the talented high school football recruits in the Lone Star State could see how great Oklahmoa was. Great tactic by Sooners coach Bob Stoops in his constant battle to recruit Texas talent.

Things didn't go as planned though. First of all, superb tight end Jermaine Gresham turned out to be injured and couldn't play. Then halfway through the second quarter, Heisman winning quarterback Sam Bradford was tackled hard and laid on the turf holding his shoulder in agony. You could hear the collective breath leave the Sooners fans. Bradford was done for the night and while the OU defense played well, the Sooners couldn't avoid being upset by the team from Mormon Country.

That is how quickly a promising season ended for the Sooners.

Today we find out that Gresham may have to get knee surgery which will effectively end his final season in Norman. Bradford should be able to come back, but his throwing shoulder will be in constant pain. Maybe he'll be fine, maybe he won't. Either way, with an upcoming trip to Miami and the big showdown with Texas in the middle of October, the Sooners have a season that has suddenly gone from promising to frightening. Only time will tell if the BYU fiasco was just a bump in the road or an iceberg for the Titanic Sooners.