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Bradford comes up short in Heisman winners matchup
By JEFF LATZKE, AP Sports Writer

Posted January 09, 2009
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MIAMI(AP) Sam Bradford walked slowly off the field, still confused at what had happened. He bent over next to Josh Heupel, his quarterbacks coach and childhood icon, and then took a look up at the play that brought an unhappy ending to Oklahoma's season.

Bradford didn't have many disappointing moments in a record-setting season that won him the Heisman Trophy. To see top-ranked Florida literally rip a national championship away was tough to take.

After Florida's Ahmad Black snatched the ball out of receiver Juaquin Iglesias' hands for Bradford's second interception, all the Heisman winner could do was watch idly as Tim Tebow led the Gators downfield for the clinching touchdown in a 24-14 victory in the BCS championship game.

"You're in competitive games with other good teams, you're going to have those tough plays," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "And they didn't go our way."

Bradford finished with 256 yards on 26-for-41 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions at critical moments. His other pick, only his eighth of the season, came from the 6-yard line with the Sooners trying to take the lead in the closing moments of the first half.

It was the second straight drive for No. 2 Oklahoma that came up short from inside the 10-yard line.

"In the first half we squandered some opportunities to score points; that really hurt," Bradford said. "But in the second half when we needed to make plays, we just couldn't do it."

Bradford continued a trend of subpar performances by Sooners quarterbacks in BCS bowl games. During a five-game BCS losing streak, Oklahoma's quarterbacks have thrown 11 interceptions against eight touchdown passes.

Bradford's numbers were respectable for just about any other quarterback, but well short of expectations following a season in which he threw for 4,464 yards and 48 touchdowns with six interceptions. He joins former Oklahoma quarterback Jason White among the Heisman winners who have struggled with the national title on the line.

"Obviously it's very disappointing to end your season on a loss, especially in a game that we felt like we had a chance to win," Bradford said after being held to fewer than 300 yards passing and throwing multiple interceptions both for only the third time this season.

The result was an Oklahoma offense that hardly looked like it led the nation with a 54-point average and was the first in more than nine decades to score 60 points or more in five straight games. Before the championship game, the least the Sooners had scored was 35 points in a loss to Texas.

"We're not going to place the blame on the offense," safety Nic Harris said. "That's something we're not going to do."

What's next for Bradford is still uncertain. He has a week to decide whether he'll leave for the NFL draft after his sophomore season, or come back and try to win a national title.

"I think he's a great quarterback, either way he goes," Iglesias said.

Bradford simply hadn't faced a defense of Florida's caliber all season long in the scoring-happy Big 12.

After getting sacked only 11 times in Oklahoma's first 13 games, Bradford was harassed by the Gators' speedy defense and forced to work on the move. He was sacked on a rollout pass to snuff out the Sooners' first drive, and even a string of 12 straight completions in the first half produced only one score on a 6-yard toss to tight end Jermaine Gresham.

"As far as being just on a whole different level from the defenses we saw in the Big 12, I wouldn't go that far," Bradford said. "But I would say that they are a very good defense."

Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson tried to shoulder some of the blame, suggesting that he tried to go for too many deep balls instead of higher percentage throws.

"Sometimes you can skew those numbers and look at percentages, but those stats," Wilson said, "are for assistant coaches and losers."


 
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Oklahoma

Bob Stoops
  Oklahoma Head Coach