PHILADELPHIA — The buses were rumbling, waiting to take the Oklahoma football players — dejected after a stunning loss to an unranked team spoiled their undefeated season — back to campus. They flew home from Kansas State in silence, drudged down the steps to the tarmac, and headed for their rides.
It was a painful day — “Around here, you lose one game and you think someone died,” wide receiver Nick Basquine said — and it would be over with a 30-minute bus trip from Oklahoma City to Norman. But before the players reached the buses, the Sooners were stopped on the tarmac by Jalen Hurts.
The quarterback, eye black still smeared on his face, was one of the first players off the chartered flight. He walked to his right, away from the noise of the airplane engines, and told his teammates to follow him.
