J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q

The Oklahoma Sooners, still clinging to an outside chance of earning a BCS Bowl Game this season, did not play their best football of the season but played well enough to defeat the Baylor Bears in Waco 36-10 to run the OU record to 9-2. This was an ambitious car trip for yours truly as Waco is approximately a 5 hour drive south of Norman right down I-35. I drove down Friday and picked up former Sooner football star and the MVP of the 1981 Orange Bowl Bud Hebert in Dallas and we stayed at the OU team hotel Friday night in Waco. I just tell you that if you are ever in Waco make a point to eat at George’s, the home of the big O, as I indulged on their famous chicken fried steak with their equally famous giant frosted mug of iced cold beer. I don’t encourage this for you “clean eaters” but for one night I had a heck of a meal and then raced back to the hotel to make sure I took my Lipitor. The Sooners performance on Saturday was marred by too many turnovers as the team committed 5 of the costly errors which is probably 5 too many to be able to defeat Oklahoma State this Saturday in Stillwater. For OU to have any chance of securing a lucrative BCS Bowl bid it will take Texas A&M upsetting Texas this Friday in Austin (a long shot) and OU winning another road game up in Stillwater against a vastly improving and dangerous OSU team. This was an 11 a.m. central time kickoff which worked well for me as I had a 5 hour drive back to Norman, Oklahoma when the Big 12 contest was over. It wasn’t a bad trip as I got to listen to the Ohio State-Michigan game on the radio on the ride home. Plus when we got back to Dallas I had a little BBQ meal to break up the trip. You know my theory about combining BBQ and football, it is never a bad deal. I also enjoyed the game from the sideline along side country music star Toby Keith who attended in route to a gig in San Antonio for Ford Trucks. The Sooner defense had another great game holding Baylor to -48 yards rushing and only allowing one score, a field goal in the first half. Baylor scored their only TD on a fumble return. OU’s defense has been magnificent and these defenders will have to “bring it” this Saturday in T. Boone Pickens Stadiums which should manufacture one of the wildest atmospheres of the year in college football. In-state rivals located only a couple of hours apart with friends playing friends are the ingredients for a combustible Saturday afternoon of Slobber-Knocking physicality for each team’s last regular season game of the year. The Sooners “must win” this game to be able to parlay the bowl game of their liking but 5 turnovers against an aggressive OSU team on the Cowboy’s home turf will spell disaster for OU. I will be attending the Bedlam Game in person, which is no surprise, Saturday and am really looking forward to it. Growing up in Oklahoma I have no “hate” for OSU but make no mistake about it I am a Sooner fan through and through. My friends Jack and Jerry Brisco both were wrestling stars at OSU as this game provides the three of us with some interesting dialog this time of the year. In a perfect world for me, OSU would win every game they play but one, the OU game. The Sooners hopefully will get emerging star running back Allen Patrick back this week after missing the last two weeks with a sprained ankle. The local and national media are also anxiously awaiting the return of Adrian Peterson who “might” get cleared to play this week in Stillwater. That’s a mighty big “might” as it seems more likely that AD will make his return to active duty with his teammates in OU’s Bowl Game. We will know more about this matter when another round of X-rays are taken to further evaluate Peterson’s broken collarbone. I talked to AD Saturday and he said he was feeling “great”. This is a great time of the year for us college football fans with so much riding on the few remaining games our favorite teams have to play. Michigan and Ohio State had a classic in Columbus Saturday afternoon and congrats to both teams especially James Laurinaitis’ Buckeyes as it must have been “What a Rush” for the middle linebacker and son of Road Warrior Animal as the Buckeyes played their way into the national title game in Glendale, Arizona in January. I had a feeling Ohio State would win at home but not cover the 6 point spread. The home field advantage in college football can be a huge asset if the home crowd is emotional as was the over 106,000 fans in the “Horseshoe” in Columbus. I still think a great argument can be made that Michigan is still the second best college football team in America. J.R.