 "Photo: The Daily Toreador")
Marlon Winn compared the moment to “drinking the most spoiled milk in the world.”
“It kind of tasted like that in your mouth and it was just an awful feeling,” said the senior Texas Tech tackle.
He remembers “80-year-old women” standing out of their wheelchairs and dancing to the unofficial theme song — House of Pain’s “Jump Around” — during a heartbreaking 65-21 loss in 2008 to the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, Okla.
The consequences were drastic, and the memories still are brutal.
For example, Tech linebacker Bront Bird can’t listen to that song anymore.
“I don’t know what their stadium holds, 80,000 or whatever it is,” he said. “When that came on, every single person in the stadium was jumping around. It was kind of one of those deals where they were just starting to pull away from us.
“It was definitely kind of demoralizing to say the least. Hopefully that never happens again. I hate that song by the way.”
The undefeated season ended for Tech, emphatically crushing the Red Raider’s dreams of a national championship and a Heisman Trophy for quarterback Graham Harrell.
The teams switched roles. OU went to the national championship game while quarterback Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy. Tech’s miracle season fizzled as the Red Raiders needed a comeback to beat Baylor one month before losing to Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl.
And it all happened so fast. Tech didn’t cross its own 45-yard line until the sixth offensive possession. The Red Raiders finished with one third down conversion all night. The Sooners had 299 rushing yards and led 52-7 midway through the third quarter.
“Over and over again people were up having nightmares about that I would assume,” Winn said. “It was one of the worst feelings that you could ever have.”
But now the Red Raiders have a chance to redeem themselves when they take on Oklahoma at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium.
With Winn and Bird discussing last year’s loss to the Sooners and how it’s been a point of reference among the team, coach Mike Leach said it shouldn’t even be on players’ minds.
“They need to not worry about it,” he said. “They need to forget it. All that counts is the next game. Nothing from that game impacts this game. There’s not one play that we made or they made that affects this game. Any reflection on that is a complete waste of time.”
The Sooners are coming off a 65-10 win against Texas A&M, but have been riddled by injuries all season — most notably Bradford, who declared for the 2010 NFL Draft after settling for season-ending should surgery.
They also lost 2008 All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham, offensive lineman Brody Eldridge, Jarvis Jones and defensive end Auston English.
A mainstay in the polls, the Sooners were dropped from the Top 25 rankings after a loss to Nebraska two weeks ago. It marked the first time since 2005 that coach Bob Stoops didn’t have his team in the polls.
Coming off a missed opportunity to steal a road win against Oklahoma State, the Red Raiders still need one more win to become bowl eligible. Despite the Sooners not winning in Lubbock since 2003 and having a down 2009 campaign, Bird said counting out a team with that much talent wouldn’t be a good idea.
But it would still be nice to find a way to forget about that loss in 2008, even if just for a night, he said.
“That was embarrassing and probably the most embarrassing loss I have ever been a part of, and I am sure the rest of the team feels the same way,” he said. “So, like I said, getting a win this week would get that out of our memories and get that sour taste out of our mouths. So, that is what we are working on for this week.”
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