Instant Analysis: Oklahoma-Texas A&M

Oklahoma's trips to College Station are always dramatic, and Saturday night's tussle at Kyle Field was no exception. And as has been the case for most of the Bob Stoops era, the Sooners managed to persevere and claim a hard-earned road win.

On a day when various divisional races in multi-division conferences came sharply into focus, the Sooners all but handed the Big XII South to Texas by knocking off Dennis Franchione's Aggies. This year, the rival Longhorns will walk off with yet another piece of hardware, but the Sooners won't mind (at least not too much): with this win--a gritty, lunch-pail triumph forged under difficult conditions--a young Oklahoma ballclub showed a level of resolve that suggests a return to championship football next season in Norman.

As was the case with an LSU team that finally won a signature game at Tennessee earlier in the day, the importance of this win for Oklahoma was not connected to the 2006 season. This 17-16 win for Boomer Sooner was a statement game for the 2007 season, a time to cultivate the mental toughness and late-game discipline needed to prevail without Adrian Peterson, without Jason White, and without the various players that lifted the Sooners to dizzying heights in previous seasons. A miserable 2005, followed by the first two months of a 2006 season that possessed a considerable amount of hardships, forced the Sooners to stop chasing their past and start pursuing their future. Against A&M, Bob Stoops and his program showed real signs that they could indeed return to familiarly formidable form in the years to come. The swiftness of a relentless linebacking corps and the toughness of Allen Patrick give the Oklahoma operation reason to believe that its worst struggles are fully and finally over.

This was no juggernaut the Sooners were facing in Kyle Field, but then again, Dennis Franchione's Aggie offense had posted very impressive numbers against Big XII opponents entering Saturday night's showdown. Stephen McGee, Javorskie Lane and the rest of A&M's offense had scored at least 25 points in eight of their first nine games. The Aggies' option and spread looks, expertly run by McGee, a rugged blue-collar quarterback with a linebacker mentality, had managed to keep defenses off balance while posting touchdown drives in clutch situations. Without Peterson, the Sooners had to have two things in order to turn back A&M: a big night from Peterson's replacement, Allen Patrick, and a clutch performance from their defense.

Safe to say, Bob Stoops went two for two.

Patrick was a workhorse all night long, and most importantly, he rose to the occasion when the game's outcome hung in the balance. Most of America will focus on Stoops' gutsy decision to go for the first down on 4th and inches with just under 1:30 left in the game, which--when converted--sealed the Sooner win. However, the most significant play of the contest came two snaps earlier. On 2nd and 13 from the OU 17, Patrick--facing a very narrow crack in the A&M front--managed to dash through the gap while a futile arm tackle from an Aggie down lineman pawed nothing but air. The bold 11-yard dash didn't get a first down, but it was the play that truly got the Sooners out of trouble. From start to finish, Patrick provided power and production worthy of Peterson, his proud pal on the sidelines. The ability of No. 23 to spot No. 28 indicates that the Sooners should be able to run the ball effectively next season, taking needed heat off their quarterback.

On the other side of the ball, the Sooners were similarly able to hunker down when needed against an Aggie attack that isn't easy to defend. Simply stated, Oklahoma's defense was fast and smart enough to contain A&M's speed and prevent the big plays that have wounded past Sooner defenses in College Station. While the Aggies have been good at scoring crunch-time touchdowns in 2006, the Sooners forced A&M to kick field goals in the fourth quarter. When Patrick did his thing on 2nd and 13 and Bob Stoops' endgame gamble paid off, those two defensive stands managed to hold up.

Oklahoma won by just a point on a Saturday night in 2006, but that one point wasn't on OU's side in many of the past 20 games the Sooners have played. By gutting out a black-and-blue victory on the road, the program with the white-collar pedigree showed it can win with blue-collar determination. As a result, the long-term forecast just got better for the Oklahoma Sooners.