The atmosphere at a college football game is awesome. As I have been able to do for the past few years I made the trip to Oklahoma City and then to Norman on Saturday to watch the Sooners play the UAB Blazers. Last year the Sooners got dumped by TCU. Hey, this year they won 24-17. And promptly fell 5 places in the polls. You got to love it. More on the game in a minute. But first the touch of atmosphere.

I love college football and a lot of the reason for that is ATMOSPHERE. I love going to Norman, OK for a Sooners game. Walking around the campus with 85,000 people who want the same thing you do. Watching the band warm up and march through the campus on the way to the stadium. Watching all of the Sooner fans tailgating. Seeing the OU logo or the word Sooners stretched out over just about anything that moves, from the extremely curvy to the mechanical. And the history  just adds to the excitement. Saturday they revealed a statue to honor Steve Owens, the 1969 Heisman Trophy winner. Next year they reveal the statues for Billy Sims and Jason White at Heisman Corner. But that just sets you up for going into the stadium.

When we got to our seats the Sooners were going through their warm-up. My dad said his hellos to people who he goes months without seeing or talking to and within seconds they are chattering away like great friends. These people constitute those who sit three rows in front of him and three rows behind him and  5 to 7 seats around his seat in every direction at every game year in and year out. After a few years now as a regular they even include me in the conversation, even though, to them, I am from Minnesota. "Hayyylll, its cold up there.!" We talk Sooner football with giddy anticipation of the blowout we are sure to see tonight. We talk about how stupid Bomar is but, hey, don't sell Thompson short...yet. And after all the chatter the Sooners are preparing to take the field (my god, how did we miss them leaving it after their warm-up?). But before they do we look up at the big screen and watch the introduction. It is a video of players present and players past recognizing each other. It is Adrian Peterson saying there is only one Steve Owens followed by Steve Owens saying there is only one Adrian Peterson. There is Bob Stoops saying there is only one Barry Switzer with Switzer saying the same about Stoops. This goes on for a minute and then it is Brian Bosworth saying, "There is only one..Oklahoma! And man, if you are living with the Crimson and Cream you get chills, I mean chills. It is ATMOSPHERE, man, pure ATMOSPHERE! And when Bosworth says that this years edition of the OKlahoma Sooners, ranked 10th in the country, comes flying out of the tunnel followed by their coach, Bob Stoops. And we continue standing and cheering them on through the opening kickoff and first couple of possessions before we even think about sitting down. AND NOBODY YELLS SIT DOWN! Because everyone is up! ATMOSPHERE!!!

And then we sit through some interesting football. We watch Peterson get 9 touches in the first half. We watch a defense that Stoops has said has the potential to be the best he has had since he came to Oklahoma over pursue and tackle like 12 year olds most of the night. The defensive ends contain nothing and are out of position a lot. And they are part of the strong points of the defense. One of our corners gets burned on two huge pass plays and then gets lucky that a wide open receiver couldn't handle another long pass. Rufus Alexander and Zach Latimer come to play but even they are not what we expect out of our linebackers on this night. We expect the defense to be strong and solid and we expect that Adrian Peterson will have the game in control by half way through the second quarter. Our biggest concern is at QB. Paul Thompson is back at QB after losing his job to Rhett "Mr. Selfish" Bomar last year. Bomar is ousted for violating team and NCAA rules so Thompson steps back in the fold. Our biggest question mark was our brightest point in the first half. The score is tied at halftime at 7's.

Then, apparently, Stoops made a point at halftime. Peterson touches ball 11 of 12 plays and scores. Defense can't do much and soon we are tied again at 14's. OU turnovers, 2 ints and 2 fumbles and then we are down 17-14. Spread offense gets Peterson the ball on a pass and 69 yards later another touchdown. OU up 21-17, add a field goal later for 24-17 final. Defense tightens up in 4th quarter and makes some big plays to stall a couple of UAB drives and Sooners leave with a victory. It ain't pretty but it is a win. And the Sooners drop 5 places with it. They didn't drop that far at one time when they lost their opener last year. YOU GOT TO LOVE IT!

There is no question that the Sooners have a lot of work to do. Kevin Wilson, their new Offensive Coordinator, called Peterson out after the game saying he needs to not be so tentative and just play the game. Limited touches make him want to bust the big play instead of doing what he does best.  Stoops says he needs to have the ball, no doubt about it. Then give it to him. UAB's coach said he is quite possibly the best player he has ever seen. When he took the ball on the quick pitch and turned the corner he was awesome to see. And if a safety or corner came up on him he put his shoulder down and flat busted them. He came with speed and power. He touched the ball 24 times on Saturday night. He needs to see it another 10-15 times a game. He did it 2 years ago and says he can do it again. The local papers are all a buzz about his work ethic and what kind of shape he is in. Let everybody see it.

Thompson passed his first test. He wasn't great but he wasn't that bad, either. He finished 14-24 for 227 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. One interception was tipped and the other was a poorly thrown ball. His receivers dropped some balls and he made a couple of bad throws, especially missing Malcolm Kelly who was wide open on scoring attempt. But, hey, for a guy who stepped in because, as he told Stoops, "Bottom line it is an opportunity to be on this field and make plays for this team", he did a decent job. It will get tougher, no doubt, but for an opener he did alright. And keep throwin the ball to Joe John Finley.

The defense needs to pick it up...BIG TIME. This is a group that Stoops has said could very well be the best defense he has had at OU. If I was Calamus, Lehman, Dvoracek, Williams, etc., etc. I would be a tad upset. Outside of Rufus Alexander, Zach Latimer and Reggie Smith they weren't anything special. D.J. Wolfe cannot continue to get burned on deep routes or continue to blow coverages. The entire group has to tackle. And I mean tackle. You cannot arm tackle in college football these days, even if you are playing UAB. This defense is missing the same thing OU defense's have missed since Mike Stoops went to Arizona. INTENSITY. A get all over the ball mentality and do it like you freakin' mean it. Brent Venables does a good job or it is my guess he wouldn't be where he is today. But Mike Stoops said stick them or I'll stick you and his players played hard. And this defense better find it and they better find it soon.

Washington and Oregon are next on the Sooners schedule. Here, for us Sooner fans, is to hoping Adrian sees the ball 35-40 times, and to hoping Paul Thompson improves over last week, every week, and to hoping the defense finds some intensity and crush the opponent mentality. And, as Stoops said in his post game, "you won't many games with 4 turnovers." There is a ton of talent there. We just need to play smart and do the little things that make good teams great.

And as long as I am rambling on, UAB did a pretty good job on both sides of the ball. They may have found a QB in Sam Hunt . Their game plan was good and they executed it pretty well. I think OU has superior athletes and ultimately that is what was the difference and that is to be expected when you look at the history of each program. It is not a slam to UAB. I was as impressed with them as I was unimpressed with OU. But I get to do that because I am still, first and foremost, a Sooner born, and a Sooner bred, and when I die, I'll be a Sooner dead!!!

You win and you still drop 5 places in the polls. Polls suck! Fortunately, as a coach, I know that todays poll is tomorrows bird cage liner. Let's play 'em on the field boys!!!

Ya'll have a good now, ya hear!!!