FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - If hindsight is 20/20 then second-guess vision is micrscopic in clarity. Football is a sport that lends itself to looking back for perspective and insight.

Oklahoma's 24-14 loss to Florida Thursday night in the BCS National Championship Game provides myriad opportunities for rehashing. As a writer who has witnessed a zip drive worth of meaningful games, there are some points worth pondering.

Karma is a ... witch
I'm convinced that in certain games, certain situations, it doesn't matter what a team does. The Football Gods look down from their lofty perches and decree, "Nope, sorry, not tonight."

In my mind, Oklahoma experienced what happened to Texas in Lubbock on Nov. 1. The Longhorns' only loss was not produced by inept play; I didn't get the impression that Texas was "flat" for its game at Texas Tech.

Untimely injuries suffered by Quan Cosby and Brian Orakpo, an uncharacteristic Colt McCoy interception returned for a TD, McCoy stepping out of bounds instead of turning toward the goal line, the dropped interception, the Graham Harrell-Michael Crabtree play for the ages. That's a lot of fate to overcome.

The Sooners' running game produced some big runs by Chris Brown but failed on three short yardage attempts. Sam Bradford, for the most part, had time to throw and OU's receivers got open but the passing game never produced a big play. The defense had its best effort of the season; for a team whose offense was averaging 54 a game, allowing 24 should have been enough to win.

"We played awfully well for a good part of the game," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "It doesn't take much to lose a tight game like it was."

Tempo slowed
Oklahoma's no-huddle offense never got into its usual rhythm. Some of that appeared to be the Sooners' fault.

More times than I can remember, Oklahoma lined up, appeared ready to snap the ball ... only to have quarterback Sam Bradford and the other 10 players stop and look the sidelines for an audible. Instead of snapping the ball and running a play, the Sooners gave Florida's defenders a chance to get their bearings.

The Gators often used a three-man defensive front and coach Urban Meyer said Friday he believes tha defensive coordinator Charle Strong's game plan helped slow OU's attack. Did Oklahoma over-prepare and try to out-guess Florida's defense? Only the Sooners know the answer.

The first quarter was scoreless and neither team got into a flow because the Atlantic Coast Conference officiating crew and the clock operator didn't have their act together. The first 15 minutes seemingly had more commercials than plays.

And then there was that karma factor again. Oklahoma's initial first down, a pass from Bradford from Manuel Johnson, was followed by a no-huddle running play to Chris Brown that gained nine yards. Back to back positive plays and some momentum? Nope. The officials blew the whistle before the snap on Brown's play because there was an instant replay review that upheld Johnson's diving catch.

Disconnected play calling
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, standing in the middle of the OU lockerroom after the game, acted like a play caller who wanted some do overs.

Three short-yardage running plays produced six negative yards. Three times Oklahoma went with "stretch" running plays. Those are plays where Bradford is under center, gets the snap and retreats to meet the running back for the handoff. It's a running play that can be slow developing.

With the score tied 7-7, an interception gave Oklahoma the ball at the Florida 26. The Sooners ran Chris Brown three straight times and the last attempt was downed inside the one. On third-and-goal and fourth-and-goal, Brown was tackled both times by sophomore reserve defensive tackle Torrey Davis, who broke through the right side of the Sooners' line to penetrate and blow up the play.

Trailing 14-7 in the third quarter, the Sooners drove to the Florida 28. On third and one, another stretch running play to Brown and another tackle for loss. Jimmy Stevens' 49-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

By the way, from this side of the laptop, OU's decision to score a touchdown on fourth-and-goal was correct. A field goal for a 10-7 lead would have been an emotional boost for Florida's defense.

This second guess involves the play calls. On third and fourth down, with one of the nation's best offensive lines, with a strong QB, facing a defense that specializes in speed instead of strength, both running plays should have been quarterback sneaks.

Sam, bam, interception
Oklahoma had a first-and-goal at the Florida 6-yard line with 10 seconds to go and no timeouts. It's a situation that called for a pass into the endzone resulting either in a touchdown or an incompletion.

Instead, Bradford tried to thread a pass to Manuel Johnson - who, had he caught the ball, probably would have come up short of the goal line. Unfortunately for the Sooners, Johnson tried to keep the play alive by batting the ball in the air. After several volleyball slaps, Florida's Major Wright secured the interception.

"It actually wasn't the coverage we were expecting to run that play," Bradford said. "But that's what got called. You know, I tried to force one in there, but I probably should have just thrown it in the back of the end zone and taken the three points."

Oklahoma, a team that entered the game leading the nation in red zone offense (76 scores on 80 trips inside the opponents' 20-yard line), came up with zero points on drives that could have produced a minimum of six and a maximum of 14 points.

Stoops' future
There will be another off-season of hearing that Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops "can't win the big one" anymore.

Dave Curtis of The Sporting News wrote this: "Stoops' stock has sunk, with five losses in six BCS bowls, earning him the weird game-coaching dichotomy of looking like Bud Wilkinson for 364 days each year and John Blake for one."

Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com wrote this: "In Stoops' first five seasons coaching the Sooners, his teams were 7-2 against rival Texas and in BCS bowl games. ... But since an embarrassing 55-19 loss to No. 1 Southern California in the 2005 Orange Bowl, Oklahoma is only 1-7 in such games. And of those seven losses, only one has been decided by fewer than 10 points."

This much is certain - if Stoops decides to try the NFL, it won't be because writers are critical or using him as a one-liner punching bag. He could care less what is written or said about him. If for some reason he decides it's time to try to coach at the next level, it will be his decision. He won't be forced to change jobs because of public opinion.