OU coach Stoops still hot over bad call

NORMAN, Okla. -- A phone call from Oregon coach Mike Bellotti was nice, but it did absolutely nothing to soothe Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops over an incorrect officials' ruling that likely cost his team a victory over the Ducks.\n"He just apologized and said that it's unfortunate that the two of us have got to be in the middle of it," Stoops said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "I said, 'Well, you didn't do anything wrong but play hard, and that's the same thing we were trying to do.'"\nStoops still was speaking out after Saturday night's 34-33 loss in Eugene, Ore., a game in which a blown call on an onside kick led to Oregon's winning touchdown in the final minute.\nThe Pac-10 Conference admitted Monday the onside kick was touched by an Oregon player before it traveled the required 10 yards, and, therefore, possession should have been awarded to Oklahoma. The league suspended the officials responsible for one game, and Commissioner Tom Hansen apologized for the mistake.\nHad Oklahoma been given the ball, the offense could have run out the clock for a 33-27 win.\nAt Oregon, Bellotti said some might view the win as tainted.\n"I feel very fortunate for us to have won that football game, not for the officials' errors, but for how our team played," he said. "We were lucky, we made plays and we never gave up. It's unfortunate that any team had to lose or the efforts of my players are questioned because of officials' errors."\nBellotti told Stoops when officials determine the outcome it's not good for either team.\n"And I can understand their frustration," Bellotti said.\nAlthough Stoops said his team could have done things differently to prevent the game from becoming so close, he was still upset at the result.\n"We can't sit here and say OK," Stoops said. "It's unacceptable and inexcusable, to (the players) and to us because we can't get it back, and they earned it. That's the hard truth of it, and now our situation is severely altered."\nStoops said he was addressing the issue "for the last time" so his 17th-ranked Sooners (2-1) could get ready to play Middle Tennessee State University.\n"I've said all this in this way because I feel the right to stand up for my football players," he said. "I'm not sitting up here, me babying or whining about it."\nStoops also disputed a pass interference call on the winning drive. The league reviewed that play, too, but found there was not indisputable evidence to reverse the call.\n"Instead of being criticized for winning or how we could have played better, now we have to sit here and deal with the loss and not have the satisfaction of being 3-0 and improving our position in bowls and everything else when clearly it was not correct what happened," Stoops said.\nHe also said OU might consider canceling its game at the University of Washington in 2008 if the Pac-10 doesn't change its rule requiring league officials to be used at its home stadiums for nonconference games. Jim Muldoon, associate Pac-10 commissioner, said the league will examine the issue when athletic directors meet Oct. 12.\n"The underlying philosophy is officials are honest," Muldoon said. "In light of the attention that's been brought to it, we'll put it on agenda ... and see if they want to revisit it."\nAs for his team improving, Stoops said he'd like to see quicker starts on offense, better play in the secondary and a stingier run defense. But he refused to say what he thought the Sooners could have done to avoid the end-of-game scenario.\nSooners quarterback Paul Thompson said the team still feels "like we got a win that was taken from us."\n"You're glad that they understand what they did and what they did was wrong, but at the same time, it really doesn't affect much. That was a big mistake, and you can't really do much to change that," Thompson said. "We accept the apology, but it doesn't do much in the way of changing things."\nSports Writer Anne E. Peterson in Eugene, Ore., contributed to this report.