Meanwhile, in Norman...

Still can't get the image out of my head of Bob Stoops and his brother Mike looking totally helpless during the 41-13 Cotton Bowl beatdown at the hands of Texas A&M.

Johnny Manziel put on one of the more amazing performances you'll ever see, throwing for 287 yards and running for 229. And, really, the domination was worse than the score indicated; if not for a dropped ball in the end zone that resulted in an interception, it would have been worse.

You kind of felt sorry for the Stoopses and Oklahoma because this wasn't a case of being out-coached, a team not wanting to be there, or whatever the normal explanations. This was a case of them running headlong into a freakish athlete playing a virtually flawless game, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

Speaking of Oklahoma and defense, though, it's appropriate to look back at the Sooners' season and assess the validity of the year-ago notion that Brent Venables was the source of all their ills.

A very good friend of mine lives in Oklahoma and has been a lifelong Sooner fan. Last year, when Venables bolted for Clemson, my buddy's take was pretty much: "Good riddance." Late in the Cotton Bowl, with Oklahoma's defense in complete tatters, I shot him a text stating the following: "So I guess Venables wasn't the problem after all." He agreed, and one would think plenty of other Oklahoma fans have also revised their take on Venables.

Venables certainly has his work cut out for him at Clemson, as demonstrated in his first season here. Bottling up LSU creates some good offseason vibes, but it's not as though you just forget the ugliness that unfolded in the last two regular-season games against N.C. State and South Carolina.

That said, the ranting and raving about Venables in Oklahoma this time last year seemed excessive. It seemed way too convenient for fans to pin all their ills on the departing coach, and to cast the incoming coach (Mike Stoops) as the guy who would figure it all out.

Oklahoma gave up 22.1 points per game last year and 25.5 this year.

Yards per play allowed went from 5.15 last year to 5.74 this year.

Opponents rushed for 3.68 yards per carry last year and 5.17 this year.

Third-down conversion defense went from 30.6 to 41.5.

Opponents fumbled 20 times last year and just seven times this year. The Sooners recovered 12 fumbles last season and three this season.

LW