No. 1 Curse Continues as Sooners Fall to Missouri

OU became the third straight No. 1 team to fall on the road to a conference opponent.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:00 pm

By: News On 6

No. 1 Curse Continues as Sooners Fall to Missouri

Originally Published: Oct 23, 2010 11:9 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

COLUMBIA, Missouri – The Oklahoma Sooners became the third consecutive No. 1 team to fall on the road with a 36-27 loss to the Missouri Tigers Saturday.

The Sooners (6-1, 2-1) have struggled in the fourth quarter all season, and the trend continued. They carried a 21-20 lead into the final frame, but could not hold onto it.

Missouri (7-0, 3-0) marched down the field on its first drive of the fourth quarter and capped it with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Blaine Gabbert to Jerrell Jackson. The Tigers failed the ensuing two-point conversion, giving them a 26-20 lead.

Landry Jones threw an interception – his second of the game – on the first play of the next drive, setting Missouri up inside the OU 25-yard line. The Sooners’ defense held Mizzou to a field goal, keeping it a one-possession game.

OU followed by going three-and-out and giving the ball back to the Tigers, who capitalized with a three-yard rushing touchdown by James Franklin to stretch the lead to 36-21. The Sooners could not recover.

Mossis Madu pulled off a miraculous kick return to set up the Sooners with great field position, and they capitalized with a touchdown run by Trey Millard. But they failed the ensuing two-point conversion, keeping things at a nine-point game. OU never threatened again.

The theme of the night was OU mistakes. The Sooners allowed Missouri to return the game’s opening kickoff for a touchdown for a quick 7-0 lead, and proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot several times in the first half.

OU committed two turnovers inside the red zone in the first half, kept a Missouri scoring drive alive with defensive penalties, and missed an easy field goal. In the first four times they made it inside the red zone, the Sooners turned only one of them into points.

OU was the No. 1 team in the initial BCS standings released earlier in the week, and promptly became the third straight No. 1 team to lose. They joined Alabama and Ohio State, and all three losses came on the road to conference opponents. This is the first time in more than 40 years that the top team has lost in three straight weeks.

With the OU loss, Baylor (6-2, 3-1) takes over as the top team in the Big 12 South. The Bears have not had a bye week yet, and thus have four conference games. OU and OSU have only played three.OU will return to Norman to face Colorado next Saturday at 8:15 p.m.