UAB The Sooners began their season on September 2 against the UAB Blazers coached by
Watson Brown. The Sooners' offense performed well with quarterback
Paul Thompson completing 58% of his passes for 227 yards. Heisman hopeful
Adrian Peterson performed well also, rushing for 139 yards, plus an additional 69-yard reception and two
touchdowns. However, the Oklahoma defense did not perform as well as expected, giving up over 300 yards of offense.
Bob Stoops himself said that "they weren't nearly as good as they were billed to be." Nevertheless, Oklahoma avoided another opening game upset and won 24–17.
Washington On September 9, the Sooners took on the Huskies of Washington coached by
Tyrone Willingham. Washington began with the ball and on the opening offensive play,
Kenny James squeezed through Oklahoma's line and dodged
Keenan Clayton's tackle to race 54 yards for a touchdown. Before the end of the 1st quarter,
Paul Thompson hit wide receiver
Malcolm Kelly in the back of the endzone to tie the game 7–7. Washington answered with a field goal early in the 2nd quarter and Oklahoma and Washington continued to trade field goals to end the 1st half tied 13–13. Oklahoma, however, came out strong in the second half and took the game away from the Huskies. Oklahoma scored 24 consecutive points before Washington scored a late-game touchdown to bring the final score in favor of Oklahoma, 37–20.
Adrian Peterson continued his march up the Oklahoma record books with 165 rushing yards. Peterson was named the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. Quarterback Paul Thompson improved over his season debut, going 21-for-33 including 9-for-11 in the second half. Some began to see the emergence of a "dynamic trio" in Thompson, Peterson, and Kelly.
Oregon Heading into the game against
Mike Bellotti's
Oregon Ducks, Oklahoma defensive coordinator
Brent Venables made some major changes to the defensive depth chart after giving up four long running plays through the heart of the defensive line against Washington. The starters at defensive tackle, cornerback, and strong safety were all demoted, opening opportunities for some freshmen to step up. D.J. Wolfe was replaced by Marcus Walker at cornerback while senior Jason Carter started in place of
Keenan Clayton at strong safety. Carter replaced Clayton in the game against Washington after a missed tackle by the freshman led to a Husky touchdown on their first offensive play. Even though all four players at defensive tackle had almost the same number of plays, Steven Coleman was moved off the top of the depth chart as well. After a controversial ending, the Oregon Ducks defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 34–33 giving Oklahoma their first loss of the season and making their record 2–1. Oklahoma led Oregon by 13 points late in the game, but Oregon scored a touchdown with 72 seconds remaining, bringing the score to 27–33 in favor of Oklahoma. Oregon then tried for an
onside kick and was awarded the ball by the officiating crew despite an Oklahoma player ending up with the ball and over the protests of the Oklahoma sideline who claimed that the ball did not travel the required 10 yards before being touched by Oregon. The
instant replay officials took several minutes to review the call while the on-air commentators came to the conclusion that the ball should go to Oklahoma, effectively giving Oklahoma the win as well. The network also questioned the
Pac-10 policy of using conference officiating crews for inter-conference games. The replay official,
Gordon Riese, requested and was granted a leave of absence for the remainder of the season. Reise was quoted as saying, "I feel so bad I missed that call, it's driving me crazy," and that he was "struggling" with his mistake. On-field official David Cutaia had his suspension delayed so that he could officiate the September 23rd game between the
University of Southern California and the
University of Arizona due to a shortage of Pac-10 conference officials. He said he favored changing the Pac-10 rules so that out-of-conference officials will be brought in for non-conference games. Less supportive of Oklahoma was
Bob Knight, head basketball coach of the
Texas Tech Red Raiders. Knight had called for Oklahoma to forfeit its basketball game against Tech in 2003, when the Sooners won 69–64 because of two bad timekeeping decisions. The controversial Knight stated "...[H]ad Oklahoma forfeited that game against us like I suggested, they would have gotten far more positive publicity out of that than if they had gone to the Final Four that year. Now I guess the 'duck' is swimming in the other pond." Oklahoma and the Blue Raiders had not played against each other before. The Blue Raiders' star players (linebacker J.K. Sabb, a
Butkus Award hopeful at the beginning of the season, and quarterback Clint Marks, who was on the list for the
Davey O'Brien Award) had mixed results against their counterparts from Oklahoma. Marks ended the day 3-for-9 with 40 yards and an interception, but Sabb was able to make a game-high 6 solo tackles with four tackles for loss. Other than linebacker coach
Art Kaufman, all of the Middle Tennessee coaches were in their first year at the school (including head coach
Rick Stockstill).
Malcolm Kelly broke a school record for receiving yards in a quarter that had stood since 1962 when he pulled down 134 yards in the first. He ended the day with 164 yards on 5 receptions and one touchdown.
Adrian Peterson gained 128 yards on 27 carries and did not play after Oklahoma's first possession of the second half. Coach
Stoops forced him to sit out because of the chance that "something freakish could happen" and he would be unavailable for the game against Texas.
Paul Thompson had a good day as well, throwing 13-for-18 for 257 yards and three touchdowns. On defense, linebacker
Zach Latimer and cornerback
Nic Harris each had an interception; Latimer returned his 22 yards for a touchdown while Harris was pushed out at the one-yard line. Oklahoma had 462 total yards of offense (272 through the air, 190 on the ground) while limiting MTSU to only 95 total yards. The 59 point loss was the largest for the Blue Raiders since 1933.
Texas (Red River Rivalry) The Longhorns and the Sooners met at the
Cotton Bowl in
Dallas for their annual rivalry game known as the Red River Rivalry (previously called the Red River Shootout). This marked the 101st meeting between the schools. Texas came into the game leading the series 56–39–5 overall and 44–35–4 at the Cotton Bowl. In 2005, the Longhorns broke a five-year losing streak on their way to win the national championship in the
Rose Bowl against
USC. of the
State Fair of Texas. The teams alternate home and away each year, and this year the Sooners played host. They occupied the bench under the press box and wore their red home jerseys while Texas wore their all-white road uniform. The stadium, as usual, was split down the 50-yard line with Sooner fans sitting on the south side of mid-field. The division is visually striking and the difference in crowd noise levels from one end of the stadium to the other almost always has a direct impact on the game. As intense as the rivalry between the schools is, there were many factors that tied the programs together in 2006. Texas head coach
Mack Brown was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners in 1984 (the Red River Shootout ended in a 15–15 tie that year). He is also the brother of
UAB head coach
Watson Brown, who lost to Oklahoma at the beginning of the 2006 season. Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach
Bobby Jack Wright was an assistant coach at Texas from 1986 to '97. Oklahoma also had two Austin natives on their roster, QB Hays McEachern and WR Fred Strong. McEachern's father was the Texas quarterback in 1977 and 1978 and his mother was a Longhorn cheerleader. There were few bright points for the Sooners after half-time in this installment of the Red River Rivalry. Though they held the Longhorns to only a single offensive yard in the second quarter, the defense gave up two big pass plays on Texas' first series of the third, including a 33-yard touchdown pass to
Limas Sweed that broke the defense's will. The offense seemed equally under-motivated in the second half, going three-and-out on their opening drive. Oklahoma also committed numerous turnovers in the second half, including a bad lateral pass that turned into a Texas touchdown, and two interceptions of quarterback
Paul Thompson. Texas quarterback
Colt McCoy had solid, albeit mediocre, numbers, but was central to the drive that put the Longhorns ahead for good. Bob Stoops said after the game that McCoy "managed the game for [Texas] in a really good way."
Iowa State Both teams came into this game after losses the previous week. Iowa State dropped to 3–3 (0–2 Big 12) with a 28–14 loss to Nebraska in
Ames. There were three Cyclone touchdowns negated by the officials in that game (one called caught out of bounds, two on offensive penalties). Oklahoma lost to Texas for the second straight year in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas and was unable to mount a successful offensive drive for the entire second half. The Sooners also committed 11 penalties (a full third of their season total at the time) and five turnovers in that game. After equally disappointing weeks, both teams were looking to rebound. Oklahoma held a significant advantage in contests between the schools with the series record at 65–5–2. Iowa State had not won in Norman since 1990 and had dropped nine straight games to the Sooners. The Cyclones' head coach
Dan McCarney was 0–5 against Oklahoma while Bob Stoops was 3–0 against Iowa State and 22–3 against teams from the North Division of the Big 12. Iowa State took some outstanding players to Norman, but in the end it was not enough to win. Quarterback Brent Meyer was the all-time leader in passing yards and total offense at ISU. He finished the season with the Cyclone record for career touchdowns as well. Meyer was complemented by wide receiver
Todd Blythe who led the nation in career yards per catch (19.0) and was fifth on the career touchdown receptions list (25) before the game. ISU linebacker
Alvin Bowen also led the nation in tackles per game this season and had 17 against Nebraska. The special teams of the Cyclones was led by Ryan Baum who was averaging 18.0 yards per punt return and had scored one touchdown. A win by Oklahoma where they never trailed was marred by an injury to
Adrian Peterson. At the end of a 53-yard run in the fourth quarter, Peterson dove into the end zone and, as Stoops put it, "when he landed, he landed wrong." The result was a broken collarbone that put him on the sideline for the remainder of the regular season. During the post-game press conference Stoops said, "the earliest [Peterson] would be ready to play would be a bowl game." This put an end to Peterson's chase of the Oklahoma all-time rushing record; he was 150 yards from breaking Billy Sims' mark set in 1979 at the time. Other Sooners also had big days against Iowa State.
Paul Thompson went 16 of 27 for 195 yards and two touchdowns, both to
Malcolm Kelly. Kelly had a total of four receptions for 50 yards on the day while sophomore
Manuel Johnson had four grabs for 48 yards. Linebacker
Rufus Alexander pulled down his first interception of the season in the third quarter. Iowa State's only offensive points came on a 31-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter from Meyer to standout receiver Todd Blythe.
Colorado This week was homecoming for the Sooners, and there were some special celebrations planned. All season, Oklahoma had been remembering and recognizing the career of the late
Prentice Gautt, the first African-American football player at the university. Gautt's jersey number (38) was not issued this season to any players and for the game against Colorado the 38 yard-line on both halves of the field was highlighted with crimson. This year also marked the 50th anniversary of the 1956
National Championship won by the Sooners. At least 34 members of that team were expected to attend the game, including former
All-Americans Bill Krisher,
Tommy McDonald, and
Clendon Thomas. Going into the game, the series between Oklahoma and Colorado stood at 38–16–2 with the Sooners taking the advantage. Stoops was 4–1 against Colorado with a four-game winning streak. Before the first of those wins (in Norman on November 2, 2002), the Sooners dropped nine straight games to the Buffs, the most consecutive losses to a single opponent in the history of the program. Two of Stoops's wins over Colorado came in Big 12 Championship games (2002 and 2004). Colorado coach
Dan Hawkins was in his first year at the school and had not coached against Oklahoma before. From the beginning, this game went heavily in the Sooner's favor. Both defenses played well, but Oklahoma's squad was able to limit Colorado to only 113 total yards, 51 of which came on the Buff's only scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma's offense was also held down, totaling only 271 yards mostly on runs and short underneath passes.
Allen Patrick, filling in for the injured
Adrian Peterson, was the player of the game and was the first person all season to run for over 100 yards against Colorado. He managed 110 yards on 35 carries with one touchdown run early in the fourth. For 218 consecutive games across 18 years, the Buffaloes had not been shut out; kicker
Mason Crosby saved the streak with a 39-yard field goal into the wind late in the game.
Missouri Gary Pinkel's Missouri team was the surprise of the conference in 2006, having already matched their win total from the previous year. They shared the lead for the Big 12 North division with Nebraska (who they lost to November 4 in Lincoln). The Tigers won their homecoming game against Kansas State 41–21. The Sooners also won their homecoming game against Colorado by a score of 24–3. This was the beginning of a long road stretch for Oklahoma; they played four of their last five games on the road. This was the 91st meeting between the schools with the Sooners holding the advantage 63–23–5. In the words of Coach
Bob Stoops, the Sooners played "opportunistic" football against Missouri; converting four take-aways into 19 points (and adding a touchdown on a drive that saw new life after a "roughing the kicker" penalty) to beat the Tigers in Columbia. It was the first home loss of the season for Missouri and broke an eight-game home winning streak that stretched back into the 2005 season. Missouri quarterback
Chase Daniel was 23 for 44 with 248 yards and no touchdowns, but he did throw three interceptions. Daniel rushed 20 times for 75 yards and a TD while the rest of the Tigers' offense was only able to add one rushing yard on seven carries. The Sooners' QB
Paul Thompson went 11 for 19 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 28 yards and a score while
Allen Patrick added 162 yards on 36 carries.
Texas A&M This game was
Bob Stoops's 100th as head coach at Oklahoma; it was also the 25th meeting between the programs. The Sooners held a narrow 14–10 lead in the series going into the game, though A&M had won five of the eight played in
College Station. Both the Sooners and the Aggies were coming off a four-game winning streak. The two programs were very similar in their offensive philosophies. Texas A&M came in averaging a very balanced 213.7 yards per game rushing and 209.1 passing while the Sooners averaged 178.4 yards on the ground and 204.8 through the air. Oklahoma was surrendering an average of 36 fewer yards per game on defense. The game started well for the Sooners.
Allen Patrick had 101 yards on 14 carries and Oklahoma scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to A&M's one field goal. After Oklahoma failed to recover an early surprise onside kick, however, the Aggies closed the gap to 4 points with a scoring drive capped by a one-yard rumble from running back
Jorvorskie Lane. The defenses stiffened in the second half and both teams had to settle for field goals in the third and fourth quarters. In his second risky call of the game, Stoops had the Sooners attempt to convert a fourth-and-inches with 1:29 left to play and the ball almost to the offense's 30 yard line. The run by Thompson was successful but unnecessary as A&M was penalized for having too many men on the field and Oklahoma was able to run out the clock.
Paul Thompson had a disappointing day as he completed only three of his twelve passing attempts for a total of 39 yards. A&M's
Stephen McGee was slightly better completing 8 of 18 for 63 yards, though he was picked off by Marcus Walker in the third quarter;
Garrett Hartley kicked a field goal after the Sooners offense could not advance the ball after the turnover. The Aggies forced two fumbles of their own (one from Patrick and one from Thompson), but they were forced to punt after their own offense was also stymied. The player of the game was Allen Patrick, who finished the day with a career-high 173 yards on 32 carries and one touchdown. Texas A&M coach
Dennis Franchione dropped to 0–4 against the Sooners.
Texas Tech •
Source: With
Adrian Peterson still recovering from breaking his collar bone against Iowa State and
Allen Patrick on the sidelines in an ankle brace after suffering a late-game sprain the week before, many aspects of the offense were in doubt coming into this game. Paul Thompson responded by putting up a career-high 309 yards passing, completing 24 of 31 attempts. True-freshman running back
Chris Brown also stepped up to the challenge and ran for 84 yards and two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter; this was the first time in 16 games that a Sooner back did not run for over 100 yards. The only serious injury of the game came when wide receiver
Manuel Johnson was knocked unconscious after hitting helmets with Texas Tech defensive back Chris Parker. Johnson was unresponsive on the sidelines for about 35 seconds before he opened his eyes. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance, treated for "a real bad concussion," and kept overnight. According to Coach
Stoops, Johnson would not play against Baylor, but he returned for the regular season finale. Tech played well also, especially on defense where they were able to create four turnovers including Thompson's first interception in 99 pass attempts. Defensive back Antonio Huffman returned the pick 54 yards for a touchdown and put the Red Raiders up 24–10 late in the second quarter. Texas Tech was able to capitalize on the other take-aways as well, turning them into 14 more points and held the lead until the fourth quarter. Two missed field goals and a fired-up Sooner defense held the Red Raiders off, however, and the Sooners were able to put the game away with a two-yard touchdown run by Brown. This was the last game of the season for Baylor;
Paul Thompson had a career-high 309 passing yards against Texas Tech, including a string of 14 straight completions after throwing his sixth interception of the year. At the time, he was also sixth on the Oklahoma single-season touchdown passes list with 17 and eighth on the season passing yards list with 2,092. The Sooner defense played extremely well in Waco, limiting Baylor to 148 total yards and −48 yards of rushing. That was the fewest yards Baylor had produced all season and their worst performance on the ground in the program's history; it was also the second-best performance by an Oklahoma defense ever. Defensive back
Reggie Smith also pulled down two interceptions, returning the first one 42 yards for a touchdown. Oklahoma was also unable to avoid turning the ball over, however, losing four fumbles and throwing one pick. Baylor set up a field goal on the first fumble by Smith after he failed to catch a punt return and Baylor's Braelon Davis returned a fumble by
Chris Brown for a touchdown late in the game. Another fumble by Smith on a second return and one by
Malcolm Kelly put premature ends to other Sooner drives.
Oklahoma State (Bedlam Series) The
Bedlam Series between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State has been played all but two years since 1904 and is the most lopsided series between schools in the same state in the nation. Going into the game, Oklahoma led the series, 77–16–7. This was the last game of the regular season and held major bowl implications for both programs. Head coach
Mike Gundy had managed to bring Oklahoma State to bowl-eligibility with six wins, but they were still not guaranteed a bowl berth. The Big 12 had eight contract bowl spots this year and nine bowl–eligible teams. Since only teams with six wins can be selected for a bowl game after all available teams with seven or more have been selected, OSU needed Kansas to lose to Missouri to have any hope of a bowl game. After Missouri beat the Jayhawks 42–17, both Kansas and OSU had 6–6 records and the bowl selection committees would choose which team would be invited. Aside from the rivalry and bowl implications, this game also decided who would represent the South Division at the
Big 12 Championship Game in
Kansas City. At the beginning of the week, Texas and Oklahoma were tied for the lead with Texas holding the tie-breaker due to their win in the Red River Rivalry earlier in the year. However, since Texas lost to Texas A&M on November 24, a Sooner victory at State would win them the division outright and let them play Nebraska for the Big 12 title and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl (awarded contractually to the Big 12 winner if they are not selected to play in the
national championship game). As with the previous five games, the absence of
Adrian Peterson did not keep the Sooners from running the ball on the ground.
Allen Patrick returned from missing the last two games with a sore ankle and put up 163 yards on 23 carries, including a 65-yard touchdown scamper to start the second half.
Chris Brown had an additional 19 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns as Patrick's backup. At the end of the day,
Paul Thompson only threw 11 passes, 7 completions for 77 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, and Oklahoma had 238 yards of rushing. Oklahoma State's passing attack was more active, with both
Zac Robinson and
Bobby Reid completing 8 passes (on 17 attempts for 149 yards for Robinson, 12 and 82 for Reid). However, they were still only able to connect for one touchdown (Reid to
D'Jaun Woods in the fourth quarter) and Robinson missed high on a last-second "
Hail Mary" that would have tied the game (the
PAT would have put the Cowboys up by one with only a few seconds left in the game). The Cowboys were also able to produce 119 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Nebraska (Big 12 Championship Game) Called "The Battle of the Big Reds", the rivalry between the
University of Oklahoma and the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln was one of the most heated contests of the old
Big Eight Conference. Played every Thanksgiving weekend for 71 years (from 1927 to 1998), this contest produced many memorable games – including the
Game of the Century in 1971. The rivalry cooled somewhat since the creation of the Big 12 as
Bill Callahan's Nebraska Cornhuskers and
Stoops's Oklahoma Sooners were split a home-and-home two of every four years. This was only the fourth time that the teams had met at a neutral site. The last time was the 1979
Orange Bowl where the Sooners won 31–24. Oklahoma held the lead in the all-time series with 42 wins, 37 losses and 3 ties and had never lost to Nebraska on neutral turf (one 7–7 tie in 1919 in
Omaha). Bob Stoops was 3–1 against Nebraska and had a two-game winning streak; Callahan had never beaten Oklahoma. This was the first time the two teams had met in the
Big 12 Championship Game to determine the Big 12 Conference champion. Nebraska played in the championship game three of the first four years, winning in 1997 and 1999, but had not made it back since. Oklahoma missed the first four games but represented the South Division four of the next six years, topping the conference in 2000, 2002, and 2004. Oklahoma had the most appearances in the championship game (5) and conference titles (4) of any team in the Big 12. Nebraska received the ball to start the game but
Maurice Purify fumbled on the first play from scrimmage. Oklahoma recovered the ball at the Nebraska 2-yard-line and scored a touchdown to take the lead 7–0 with 48 seconds expired off the clock. It was the fastest score in Big 12 Championship Game history. With 5:35 left in the first quarter, Oklahoma's quarterback completed a touchdown pass to
Malcolm Kelly to go up 14–0. With 4:37 left in the first half, Nebraska's Zach Taylor threw a touchdown pass and the extra point shaved Oklahoma's lead to 14–7, which was still the score as the game went to half-time. At the start of the half, Oklahoma started with the ball but was unable to advance, as Nebraska recorded their first
quarterback sack of the game and caused Oklahoma to punt after going
three-and-out. Later in the third quarter, Oklahoma used eleven plays, three minutes and 21 seconds, to go 99 yards and score a touchdown with 1:25 left in the third quarter. It was the longest scoring drive in Big 12 Championship history. The game took place on New Year's Day in the then-new
University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the
Arizona Cardinals. The Broncos led the Sooners the majority of the game, but the Sooners made up an 18-point deficit late in the game and led by a touchdown with a minute left in regulation. With 18 seconds left, the Sooners had the Broncos in a fourth-and-18 situation from midfield, but were stunned when the Broncos executed a
hook and lateral for the tying score. This would be only the first of three Boise State trick plays that helped elevate this game to epic status. The Sooners had the ball first in overtime, with
Adrian Peterson scoring on their first play. Boise State then drove the ball toward the goal line, but faced fourth-and-two from the five yard line. They then sent quarterback
Jared Zabransky into motion and snapped to backup wide receiver
Vinny Peretta, who ran an option pass and found
Derek Schouman in the end zone. The Broncos chose to go for the two-point conversion and the win instead of kicking for the tie. They then ran a
Statue of Liberty play, with Zabransky faking a pass to the right side and handing the ball behind his back to
Ian Johnson, who ran left and entered the end zone untouched, giving the Broncos a stunning 43–42 win. ==Rankings==