In the press box before Wednesday night’s Orange Bowl, Bears personnel director Mark Hatley spoke with awe about a left-handed quarterback. Unfortunately his name is not Cade McNown.
“Tough son of a gun,” Hatley said of Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel, the unMcNown. Not that McNown isn’t tough, but McNown has missed games with a sprained knee and separated shoulder during his two seasons in Chicago. In two seasons at Oklahoma, Heupel has thrown 972 passes without missing a down.
Heupel has been blitzed and battered and always he has stared back at his attackers the way an Apache brave gazes impenetrably at his captors.
“We brought people at him from everywhere,” said Nebraska defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who terrorized Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl, “and he just kept making plays and never changed expression.”
If only Hatley could pour some of Heupel’s serenity and savvy into McNown. If only McNown’s sidearm wobblers were as accurate as Heupel’s. They aren’t pretty, but they work. Heupel, a coach’s kid from South Dakota, is Shane Matthews in a Cade McNown package. He’ll dink you to death.
Heupel fights the Cade in his psyche–he’ll try to do too much with his minor-league arm and throw an occasional interception. He’ll turn out to be a much more valuable college quarterback than a pro, though Oklahoma QB coach and former Iowa star Chuck Long predicts “a Mike Shanahan or Mike Holmgren will draft Josh–a coach who knows a quarterback when he sees one.”
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But even more than coach Bob Stoops, Heupel put Oklahoma football back on the map. Heupel made this program believe it was no longer meat on the Texas hoof. Players speak of Heupel as if he’s powerful medicine, somehow destined, generating even more “Sooner Magic” than ex-coach Barry Switzer once did.
So there he stood–his helmet looking a little too big, his heavy-legged frame the “before” to Daunte Culpepper’s “after”–guarding the door to the national title. Heupel was runner-up to Chris Weinke in the Heisman balloting because he didn’t put up sensational numbers against inferior foes. His No. 1-ranked team was a heavy underdog because Vegas kept waiting for Heupel to turn back into an unathletic slow-baller. Heupel? You’re Joshin’.
Hatley said as many as 18 FSU seniors could be drafted–and only three Sooners. You doubt Oklahoma could beat Miami on a neutral field, but you doubted Oklahoma could beat 10-point favorite Texas and 9-point favorite Kansas State. Heupel just kept making plays while his defense quietly got better and better.
The hype around Heupel kept all but Sooners fans from realizing a Stoops-coached defense was absurdly underpublicized. No Selmon brothers. No Brian Bosworth. Just lots of punishing speed in clever schemes, led by linebacker Torrance Marshall, Orange Bowl MVP. Hatley loves him, but so do all the scouts. Marshall could be gone before Hatley drafts.
Weinke obviously missed his favorite receiver, Marvin Minnis, who was declared academically ineligible. Offensive coordinator Mark Richt couldn’t have been completely focused on preparing for Oklahoma after taking the Georgia job. But these are the breaks Heupel has been inspiring all season. How often does a team play 13 games without one serious injury? Heupel’s did.
On the sideline a bleach-blond Tiger Woods, Alex Rodriguez and Denzel Washington looked on in amazement as FSU, leading the nation in scoring with 42 a game, couldn’t find the end zone. When Heupel’s offense wasn’t nibbling away at the clock and FSU’s resolve, the Sooners were punting FSU deep in its territory. When FSU freshman Brett Cimorelli wasn’t missing a field goal, Sooners defensive backs were beating FSU to Weinke’s throws.
Oklahoma came to Florida to eliminate the need for a recount. Oklahoma came to Miami to silence Hurricanes fans poised to light the sky with “We’re No. 1” fireworks. Oklahoma hit the field wanting to make former Miami coach Jimmy Johnson eat his pregame words.
After being inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame, Johnson gloated over the P.A.: “I can’t remember, did Miami ever play Oklahoma?” Johnson had Switzer’s number, beating him in the 1988 Orange. Switzer had lots of gazelles at quarterback, lots of Mildrens and Holieways, but he never had a Heupel. Who else could lead a team to a lucky 13-0? This college season belonged to the unCade.