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Oklahoma Football: Six Bowl Losses Sooner Fans Would Like to Forget

By Chip Rouse

Sep 13, 2014; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners fans during the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 13, 2014; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners fans during the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners mascot prior to the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl against the Clemson Tigers at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Duyos-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners mascot prior to the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl against the Clemson Tigers at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Duyos-USA TODAY Sports /

2005 Orange Bowl – No. 1 USC vs. No. 2 Oklahoma

Oklahoma played out the entire 2004 season – from preseason through championship week – as the nation’s No. 2 team. The Sooners finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record behind 2003 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jason White.

Their reward for ending the regular season undefeated was a date in the 2005 BCS National Championship game in the Orange Bowl against top-ranked USC and the reigning Heisman winner, quarterback Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and the fully loaded and nearly invincible Trojans.

This game marked the first time in college football history that the two past Heisman winners opposed each other in the same game.

The national title game began with a bang for Oklahoma. The Sooners took the game’s opening kickoff and marched the length of the field in fairly easy fashion to go out in front 7-0. Little was it known at the time, but that would be one of the few Sooner highlights in this game.

Thanks to five Oklahoma turnovers, including three interceptions thrown by White, USC steamrolled the Sooners for 55 unanswered points following OU’s brief 7-0 advantage.

The Trojans played a nearly flawless game and moved the ball against the Sooner defense virtually at will, piling up 525 yards of total offense. Oklahoma scored nine meaningless points during trash time at the end of the game. Otherwise, the final accounting would have been even worse than it was.

This was the second straight season that the Sooners had appeared in the BCS Championship game. They lost to LSU 21-14 the year before in the Sugar Bowl.

The loss to USC four days into the New Year in 2005 will go down as Oklahoma’s worst bowl loss in terms of the score margin, as well as one of the most devastating defeats in Sooner football history.

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