No. 1 Sooners Head To Big 12 Championship Game

Nov. 27, 2000

* B. Stoops Audio
* T. Marshall and D. Mackey Audio

By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nobody is prouder of Oklahoma's return to the top of college football than the players who put a stop to a decade of coaching chaos and on-field failure.

"It's a good feeling for Oklahoma to be back on the map," receiver Damian Mackey said. "It's one of the outstanding programs in college football. For me, it's a special occasion."

Unbeaten, ranked No. 1 and hoping for their first national championship since 1985, the Sooners will meet No. 8 Kansas State in Arrowhead Stadium Saturday for the Big 12 championship.

If they win, they're off to the Orange Bowl and the BCS national championship game. If they lose, they'll be the third Big 12 team in five years denied a shot at a national title because they lost in the conference championship match.

It happened in 1996 when Texas upset Nebraska, and in 1998 when Texas A&M rallied for an overtime victory over Kansas State.

The Sooners are determined not to let it happen to them.

"I just think it's exciting," said Bob Stoops, who coached the Sooners to a 41-31 victory over then-No. 2 Kansas State on Oct. 14. "It's another game to play. We're fired up about it. I don't have any part of setting up the BCS game so I'm not going to worry about it. Let's go play and have fun with it."

The Sooners certainly had fun with Kansas State in their first meeting. Josh Heupel hit 29 of 37 passes for 374 yards and two touchdowns, and Oklahoma bolted to a 17-point halftime lead.

That was the day that knocked the Wildcats out of national-title contention and put Oklahoma in the thick of the fight.

By beating the team that dashed their dreams, the Wildcats (10-2) could get a bid to a BCS bowl, possibly the Fiesta.

A loss might leave them in the Alamo Bowl for the second time in three years.

"Obviously, we're going to have to play much better than we did in the initial game," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. "I don't think we could make a lot of wholesale changes defensively. We have to do what we do."

This time, the Wildcats might take a cue from a few teams that slowed Heupel with a zone defense.

"We've just got to correct the mistakes we made," defensive end Chris Johnson said. "If we do that, we'll be fine. We made many mistakes playing that (first) game. When you play a team like (Oklahoma), you just can't make mistakes like that."

A key could be the pass rush.

"You have to get a great four-man pass rush," said Johnson. "It will be very important. That goes with any game. Maybe we didn't do it as well as we did in other games.

"It will be very vital to get him out of rhythm. We'll put our defensive backs in a bad position if we give him all day to throw the ball."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 1 Sooners Head To Big 12 Championship Game

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