Published: January 06, 2009 12:29 pm         

OU finds comfort on the road...

Sooners sound ready for hostile environment

Fort Lauderdale, Florida — Chances are, if there’s a Florida logo posted on BCS championship game sign around Miami this week, there’s an Oklahoma emblem right next to it. The gift bags doled out to players from both teams were exactly the same, and one school won’t be invited to more events than the other.

Forgive the Sooners, though, if they don’t find all things to be equal in South Florida.

They know the reality — the Bowl Championship Series title matchup Thursday night takes place in the Gators’ home state.

Even though that crystal trophy will be awarded 324 miles south of The Swamp in Gainesville, it seems much like a road game for the Sooners. Facing a hostile crowd in Miami will only make winning that much sweeter, they say.

“It’s in Florida. It’s where they’re from,” Sooners wide receiver Manuel Johnson said. “But we feel like it’s us against the world. And we’ve been great on the road this year.”

He’s not just saying that.

No team in the country was better away from home than Oklahoma.

The Sooners averaged 57.8 points in five road games, and that doesn’t even count the 62 they put up against Missouri in the Big 12 championship game at Kansas City. Only one other school this decade — Boise State in 2004 — averaged more than 50 in road contests. And only four schools finished this year unbeaten on opposing turf: Besides Oklahoma, there was Utah, Georgia and, yes, Florida.

“Obviously, we’re coming to Florida, so we know there’s going to be a lot of Florida fans here,” Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford said Saturday, the teams’ first full day in South Florida. “But we can’t let that affect the way we prepare and get ready for this game.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean Bradford and the Sooners won’t tap into that for a little extra motivation.

One of the end zones will be painted in each team’s colors, so it’ll seem even. By coincidence, the national championship logo has been done in a tropical blue and orange design — Florida’s primary colors — and the BCS logo itself is scarlet, looking almost identical to the same shade as Oklahoma’s helmets.

And while each school received the same number of tickets, some estimates suggest that Gator fans could outnumber Sooner backers by a 2-to-1 margin at kickoff.

“It could be a little something extra, knowing they’re probably going to have more fans than we are here, and that the whole stadium is probably going to be against us,” Bradford said. “There is a little bit of motivation in knowing that.”

Oklahoma didn’t just win on the road this season, it won big.

The closest of the five road games was a 61-41 win at Oklahoma State, a game where the Sooners scored the final 17 points. The others were full-fledged blowouts: 55-14 at Washington, 49-17 at Baylor, 58-35 at Kansas State and 66-28 at Texas A&M.

Consider: Oklahoma’s 289 points in five road games were more than 39 major-college teams scored all season — anywhere.

“You want to play the best,” Florida quarterback Tim Tebow said, “and we get a chance to do that.”

There’s a true home-game feel for some of the Gators, too — even though the game is being held in the stadium rival Miami calls home. Thousands of Florida alumni live within a 2-hour drive of South Florida, so interest has been overwhelming from the moment the Gators secured their spot in the title tilt.

“We try to take every game as a home game, try to make it our stadium,” said Florida safety Major Wright, who went to high school in nearby Fort Lauderdale — and has gotten dozens of calls from people looking to get one of his six tickets.

Thirteen Florida players won high school state championships at Dolphin Stadium, and more than a dozen Gators call the greater Miami area home. Plus, since Urban Meyer took over in Gainesville, his teams are 31-4 in games in the Sunshine State.

“We think about it and we’ve played other road games this year, so we’re not too, too worried about it,” said Oklahoma center Jon Cooper. “We’re going to take it like another road game.”

Until kickoff, that is.

Even with stands that’ll be dominated by fans in blue and orange, Oklahoma will be on the home sideline Thursday night.

     

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