Bob Stoops is not over the Sugar Bowl loss to LSU

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined last week for spying on another team. Alabama coach Nick Saban was an assistant under Belichick with the Cleveland Browns. You can see where I’m going with this.

Alabama plays Georgia this week, and Georgia coach Marc Richt has closed his team’s practices. Why? Because the only way to beat a Marc Richt team is by cheating.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops lost to Saban’s LSU team in the BCS Title Game a few years ago.

Why bring this up now?

Because Stoops thinks LSU fans might have spied on his practices.

Stoops told ESPN’s Ivan Maisel that he regretted holding his practices leading up to the game inside the Superdome.

“I’m not saying that in any negative way toward Nick. I’m just saying there were too many people to track or keep up with,” Stoops said. “And those people were there at Nick’s direction and were spying on us. Their information was given to him. Not Nick, but the other LSU coaches including the head coach.”

Saban says he has never spied on anyone.

“I never did that,” Saban said. “Here’s what happened in the Sugar Bowl. OU had that gimp at quarterback, but they called a bunch of deep routes without giving him enough protection. We took away that slant pattern to (Mark) Clayton, and we blitzed the gimp. Did Chinless think they were still playing Texas or something?”

Stoops said he doesn’t recall any specific plays that LSU might have stopped with inside information. He does recall a play in the 4th quarter when OU still had a chance to tie the game, but quarterback Jason White overthrew his intended receiver.

“If they looked for it,” Stoops said of LSU, “they didn’t do a good job. Jason got a little more pressure. He leaned back and just overthrew him. There wasn’t a guy within 10 or 15 yards of him. So I don’t know.”

“That loss was on Jason. That’s why he’s selling sporting goods, and I’m the head coach at Oklahoma. But Jason is like a son to me. Not a real son though because no son of mine would ever lose a football game.”

Maisel asked Stoops his thoughts on this year’s OU team, but Stoops would have none of it.

“I’m not blaming Jason,” Stoops continued. “But he lost that game.”