White Ends Sooner Career on Sour Note

MIAMI, Fla.-- Oklahoma quarterback Jason White helplessly stood next to tackle Jammal Brown on the sideline, waiting for another chance to make something happen for the Sooners in the Orange Bowl.

Instead, White watched as Southern California scored yet another touchdown. After a brief talk, Brown slapped White on the chest.

There was little that could have made White smile Tuesday night, and Brown didn't succeed. For the second straight season, White guided Oklahoma to the BCS title game and lost. This time, it was a miserable 55-19 defeat to USC - the most lopsided loss since coach Bob Stoops came to Oklahoma in 1999.

The Heisman Trophy winner came back to Oklahoma for a sixth season - two were halted by devastating knee injuries - for a chance to win a Big 12 title and a national championship. He'd talked about it all season, but ended up falling one game short.

"You make it all the way to the end to where you're really where you want and you don't get it," White said. "You know you left everything you had out there.

"I'm just disappointed and embarrassed. I think the whole team would say the same thing."

White's final game was one of his worst. He threw three interceptions for the first time in his Oklahoma career. By the time he got things going, his effort was all but irrelevant.

He threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns on 24-for-36 passing, but it was the interceptions that told the story.

"We turned the ball over and that killed us," White said.

Freshman star Adrian Peterson didn't fare much better. He had only 36 yards on 15 first-half carries and didn't have a run of 10 yards all game.

He still broke the NCAA freshman rushing record and the Oklahoma single-season record by finishing with 1,925 yards.

"It means nothing to me," Peterson said. "We did not win the game."

The Trojans were able to bottle up the Heisman runner-up at the line of scrimmage and prevent him from breaking away with his remarkable speed. Of his 15 first-half runs, 11 were for 2 yards or less. He had 82 yards on 25 carries for the game.

"They didn't do much different to stop the run," White said. "Like we said all week, they have a great front four. They're team speed is incredibly fast.

"They were coached to stop the run, and they did that. We tried to take advantage of it passing-wise, and we did the first drive. But after that, we didn't make plays."

White was brilliant on the Sooners' opening possession.

He connected with Will Peoples for an 18-yard gain on his first throw, and capped a 92-yard drive by rifling a slant pass to Travis Wilson to give the Sooners a 7-0 lead.

But White's game fell apart from there.

Under pressure early in the game, he tried to force a pass into quadruple coverage to his favorite target, Mark Clayton, and Jason Leach intercepted it at the USC 11.

"It was a horrible decision on my part," White said. "I should have just threw the ball away and I didn't. I tried to make a play and tried to throw it up so one of the receivers could jump up and get it, but it was stupid on my part. I should have threw it away."

The Trojans answered by driving 89 yards for a score.

Another pass under duress was thrown down the left sideline toward a well-covered Mark Bradley and was intercepted by Eric Wright. The Trojans scored three plays later to take a commanding 28-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Unlike last season, injuries had nothing to do with White's subpar performance. Fully healed from his knee injuries, White was able to scramble out of the pocket on several occasions.

Instead, he simply made too many poor choices.

"It's a roller coaster. Sometimes you're high, sometimes you're low," White said. "Right now, it's our low point. There's nothing I can do right now to change it. I can't come back next year and make up for it. It's a low point, but I'll be all right. I'll fight through.

"The sun will come up tomorrow."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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