Before Bradford Was Down, Oklahoma Was Already Out

It was the kind of pain that you could feel even through your television set and might've left your remote feeling a little woozy.

BYU linebacker Coleby Clawson had just burst through the Oklahoma line with little more than a pat on the back from the Sooners blockers, bolted himself to Sam Bradford's midsection, and planted the reigning Heisman Trophy winners as deep into a stadium's turf as anyone since Jimmy Hoffa (allegedly) wound up beneath the Meadowlands.

So Bradford rolled. And wriggled. And writhed. And 70,000 Sooner fans watched through their fingers as their golden-armed golden boy finally headed off to the locker room just before the end of the second half.

Bradford would soon be out of his misery. Oklahoma wouldn't be half as lucky.

That second quarter blow knocked Bradford nearly out of his shoulder pads, of the game and out of the Heisman race. But Oklahoma's national championship credibility had already headed into the tunnel ahead of him.

"This loss hurts," Sooners offensive lineman Brian Simmons said succinctly.

It should've.

In the second half, Bradford stood on the sidelines in a gray t-shirt, his right arm tucked in a sling and his nose plugged with a wad of cotton, which was likely for the bloody nose he suffered, but just as well could've been a statement about the performance of his offense.

Oklahoma missed Bradford, of course. But as their offense sputtered even with their starting quarterback on the field, it was plenty clear the Sooners missed last year's city block of an offensive line just as much. When Duke Robinson, Phil Loadholt, Jon Cooper and Brandon Walker left Norman last season, the Sooners 2009 national championship hopes probably snuck out with them.

It just took till Saturday night to realize it.

After all, this was no elite pass rush unit the Sooners were facing, no matter what Clawson's postgame highlight tape might've made you think. The Cougars finished 80th in the nation last year in sacks, and, though they returned a strong defensive line, they're just a scale model compared to the pass rushes that wait in the Big 12, a league that placed three teams other than Oklahoma in the top 20 of sacks recorded last year. Yet Bradford managed just 96 yards passing in the first half and backup Landry Jones fared even worse.

And if the Sooners weren't struggling to block, they were struggling to get the snap count right. Oklahoma committed three false start penalties on the opening drive alone.

When Jones was thrown into the fire to start the second half, the rest of his teammates just chucked on more kindling. The freshman's first two drives started with a first-and-24 and a first-and-20 after an illegal block by wide receiver Frank Broyles and a hold by tackle Cory Brandon.

The Oklahoma ground game couldn't save the Sooners either, with or without Bradford. When Oklahoma needed its star running back tandem of Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray to take over the offense, the returning 1,000-yard rushers barely cracked 100 yards between them.

Perhaps, had Bradford played the second half, the Sooners might've won. When Jones bounced into the offensive line on third-and-goal early in the fourth quarter, Bradford was, in another universe, somersaulting through the air and toward the end zone as he did against Oklahoma State last year. And it's a certainty that Bradford wouldn't have let the play clock expire as Jones did on the subsequent down, an error that forced Oklahoma to relent on fourth-and-goal and kick the field goal that would leave eventually leave the Sooners one point short.

But, even had the Sooners won, it would've been far from an endorsement for the national title. Even when Bradford was on the field, last year's NASCAR paced offense never materialized. Oklahoma finished with just 264 yards, a total that looks like a rounding error compared to last year's record numbers.

The Sooners will get three weeks to lick their wounds, with Idaho State, Tulsa and open date up next before a Week 5 showdown with Miami. But Saturday made it clear the Big 12 will be doing no favors for the Sooners, to say nothing of USC, the SEC and a host of title contenders. If Colorado beats Colorado State Sunday, Oklahoma will be the only team in the league without a win.

And after last year's controversial tiebreaker with Texas and Texas Tech and a recent bowl history right out of the Big Ten's playbook, poll voters might not be inclined to give the Sooners another crack at the crystal trophy.

If history is any guide, at least one spot in the BCS title game will go to a team with a loss on its record (LSU even won the national title two years ago with a pair of them), and if you're going to lose, Week 1 is the time to do it. But even with the return of All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham and Bradford, the Sooners have little margin for error, an offensive line full of unanswered questions.

Bradford, even with all the pain he suffered, seems likely to return. Oklahoma's national title hopes, however, likely won't.

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BYU players celebrate by performing a haka following their NCAA college football game against Oklahoma, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Arlington, Texas. BYU won 14-13. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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BYU players celebrate by performing a haka following their NCAA college football game against Oklahoma, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Arlington, Texas. BYU won 14-13. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)