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 Sunday, October 7, 2001
OU didn't miss a beat
By Jack Arute
Special to ABC Sports Online
DALLAS -- What a game by Oklahoma backup quarterback Jason White.
I thought what Gary Danielson said was so appropriate in that White found himself in a position at the end of two-a-days where he could have slacked off once the leadership of the team was handed off to Nate Hybl.
He could have been in a situation where he didn't study the game plan as much as the starting quarterback. But that wasn't the case on Saturday.
When White came off the bench, OU didn't miss a beat. In fact, they picked things up a bit because Hybl had injured his shoulder.
|  | | Oklahoma's Andre Woolfolk runs up field after intercepting a pass intended for Texas' Roy Williams. |
After the game, I asked White what he said to the huddle when he first walked in there. He smiled and said he told them: "Let's go after it."
I was impressed with that. You usually don't see that out of a backup quarterback. They usually have a few jitters. This kid is still just a sophomore and was very impressive.
That says a lot about the coaching philosophy at Oklahoma. Bob Stoops has always said that they take it one game at a time and that he doesn't care where his team is ranked as long as they get a shot at the national championship.
I think that attitude filters down the team to a backup quarterback that says, "Okay. Maybe I'm not starting. Maybe I don't have ABC interviewing me before the game. But I'm ready. And if I'm called on I'll go out there and perform."
And that is exactly what White did. Adding the option to the OU offense was one of the keys for how effective Oklahoma was today.
What can you say about OU's defense? Dick Vermeil always taught me that the team that wins the turnover battle is the team that wins the ball game 90 percent of the time.
Everybody wanted to focus on wide receiver Roy Williams of Texas. But Oklahoma defensive back Roy Williams made the plays when he had to along with the rest of the OU defense.
What was really effective was the fact that co-defensive coordinators Brett Venables and Mike Stoops kept mixing it up and getting after Chris Simms.
The pooch punt after the fake field goal attempt took the wind out of the sails for Texas and backed Simms up. Then it was a case of just swarming to the ball. That's basically the philosophy OU lives and dies by: Wherever the ball is, swarm to it and play tough.
The Texas defense played a good game in what was a defensive struggle all day. That's refreshing in this offensive minded era of college football. We always talk about the Florida States and other high-powered offenses.
This was game that was settled the way a game should be settled -- on the defensive side of the ball. The tougher defense was victorious.
|  | | Texas QB Chris Simms showed improvement but could not penetrate the OU defense. |
Simms was poised today and is getting better. I think we all wanted to rush at the beginning of the season in talking about Simms as a possible Heisman candidate. I don't think he is ready for the Heisman trophy. Everybody forgets that this is only the ninth game that Simms has started. He is still learning and fitting into the offensive philosophy.
Simms continues to improve. However, Oklahoma won the game because they had a better defense.
Field position also came into play. That was one of things that I thought indeed was going to dictate the game. Being able to back Simms up into his own end zone forced the mistakes that broke the back of the Texas offense.
Jack Arute is an ABC college football sideline reporter and contributes weekly to ABC Sports Online.
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 Bob Stoops says Jason White provided great leadership in Nate Hybl's absence.
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 Oklahoma's Quentin Griffin turns the corner and gets into the end zone (Courtesy:ABC).
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OU's Roy Williams causes the loose ball and Teddy Lehman goes in for the TD (Courtesy:ABC).
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