What if you could organize a game that would feature the best OU players under Barry Switzer – in their prime, of course – against a football team made up of the best players who played under head coach Bob Stoops. Which team would prevail in such a fantasy contest.
In the third installment of our “Grand Dame of Oklahoma Football Games” fantasy matchup, pitting Barry Switzer’s All-Timers against the best Sooner players from the Bob Stoops era, we break down the game itself.
We come down to both the hard part and the fun part of this fantasy Sooner Showdown: Imagining how the game would go and predicting the outcome. Here’s how this writer and lifelong OU fan would see events unfolding.
It’s Game Time
The Stoops All-Stars win the coin toss and defer, electing to kick off the start the game and receive to begin the second half.
After a modest return of the opening kick, the Switzers start on their own 25-yard line. They manage to pound out a first down on their first possession, but come up short on the second series of downs and are forced to punt the ball away.
Nov 7, 2013; Waco, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops prior to the game against the Baylor Bears at Floyd Casey Stadium. Baylor beat Oklahoma 41-12. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
A booming punt by Mike Winchester is fielded by the Stoops All-Stars’ Antonio Perkins on his own 20-yard line and returned 15 yards to the 35.
Employing a combination of intermediate pass completions to Ryan Broyles, a pass over the middle to Jermaine Gresham and a bubble screen to DeMarco Murray for a 20-yard pickup, the Stoops All-OU squad moves the ball down inside the 10-yard line. On first-and-goal from the eight, Sam Bradford hooks up with Broyles on a fade route to the back right corner of the end zone for the first score of the game. Garrett Hartley adds the extra point, and the Stoops All-Stars jump out to an early 7-0 lead.
Behind the elusive running of Billy Sims and Greg Pruitt, the Switzer All-Stars move the ball 70 yards on their next possession before stalling out on the Stoops All-Stars’ 15-yard line and having to settle for a field goal by Uwe von Schamann. The Stoops All-Stars get a 42-yard field goal from Hartley, and the first quarter comes to a close with the Stoops squad leading the Switzer All-Timers by a score of 10-3.
Quarterback Steve Davis gets the Wishbone offense rolling in the second quarter. On third-and-two from their own 49-yard line, Joe Washington takes a last-second option pitch from Davis and breaks clear down the right sideline for a 51-yard touchdown scamper. Von Schamann’s point-after ties the game at 10-all.
The defenses of both teams hold the opposing offensive units to back-to-back three-and-out series, before Adrian Peterson of the Stoops All-Stars finds daylight behind a crunching block from Jammal Brown midway through the second quarter. The man who bears the nickname “All Day” bangs and bursts his way to 35 rushing yards on three successive carries, moving the ball deep into the Switzer All-Stars’ territory.
From the 15, Bradford finds Gresham open at the 5-yard line, and Peterson finishes the drive off with a 5-yard touchdown run behind right tackle Trent Williams.
That score puts the Stoops’ All-Stars back out in front as the first half draws to a close.
Halftime score: Stoops All-Stars 17, Switzer All-Timers 10
Part IV on Tuesday – The second half of the “All-Time Sooner Showdown”