Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: The 5 best teams of the Bob Stoops era

By Chip Rouse

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: Head coach Bob Stoops of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts after a touchdown against the Auburn Tigers during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: Head coach Bob Stoops of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts after a touchdown against the Auburn Tigers during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 29: Oklahoma Sooners fans wait to enter the east side of the stadium before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks October 29, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 29: Oklahoma Sooners fans wait to enter the east side of the stadium before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks October 29, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

#2 — 2004 Oklahoma Sooners (12-1, 8-0), Big 12 champions

The Sooners ended the 2003 season with two crushing losses, but with most of their core players returning in 2004, there was plenty of optimism that Oklahoma would rebound and have another very successful season. The national media bought into that optimism, ranking the Sooners No. 2 in the Associated Press preseason poll.

Oklahoma began the season No. 2 behind top-ranked USC. Like the previous year, the Sooners rolled through the regular-season schedule, including all eight Big 12 opponents, posting a 10-0 record. Unlike the 2003 season, however, OU did not stumble in the Big 12 Championship game, easily taking care of business against Colorado by a score of 42-3.

In a rare turn of events, the same two teams that began the season one and two in the rankings, USC and OU, were both 12-0 and headed for a national championship showdown as No. 1 vs. No. 2.

The Sooners drew first blood, engineering a 92-yard drive for a touchdown midway though the first quarter and a 7-0 lead. USC responded in a flurry, scoring 28 unanswered points and 55 of the next 58. Oklahoma  didn’t help itself, committing five turnovers (three interceptions and two fumbles).

Oklahoma ran 13 more offensive plays than the Trojans and had the ball for 10 more minutes in the game, but the USC offense, behind Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart (the Sooners’ Jason White won it the year before), was much more efficient and productive.

The final score of 55-19 was gut-wrenching and very difficult to watch. It also was the worst loss by a Bob Stoops-coached Sooner team up to that point (equaled in a 40-6 loss to Clemson in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl), and cast a wet blanket over what otherwise would go down as one of the best OU football seasons on record.

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