Justin Brown, we hardly knew ye. Thanks for some great memories in your short stint as a Sooner.

Who could forget his 90-yard punt return against Kansas? Brown stretched out and dove four yards into the end zone. He also caught a 52-yard pass from Landry Jones to set up a fourth quarter touchdown for a 52-0 lead.

Brown had an electric game in his home debut against Florida A&M. He returned a punt 43 yards to set up OU’s second touchdown, caught a 51-yard pass to set up the Sooners’ third score and had a 62-yard punt return to the FAMU 8-yard line setting up Oklahoma’s fourth TD.

Ever since Oklahoma's final game against TCU wrapped up, I've been trying to decide if this season should be considered a success for the Sooners.

It was fun. OU overcame plenty of adversity to win 10 games and managed to pull out some nail-biters. The only losses came against teams that went a combined 23-1. And the Big 12 claims the Sooners won another conference championship.

I guess the most appropriate mark I could give these Sooners on their year-end evaluation would be "meets expectations." In fact, this is exactly where I expected they would end up in the first place.

Let’s get to it: Justin Manning chose Texas A&M. It’s a huge blow for Oklahoma's recruiting, mainly due to the fact that he was probably the best defensive tackle in Texas. There are very few elite DTs in Texas this year (Manning and UT verbal A’Shawn Robinson). There are none in the state of Oklahoma, again.

Manning was not going to be a freshman star like Tommie Harris, but after a redshirt year, he could be a factor as a 3-technique DT in OU’s scheme. Of course, there’s also a downside with Manning. He’s not overly big – would he maintain his speed and explosiveness after adding some weight?

The situation with Manning illustrates a number of  real concerns for OU's recruiting:

Bob Stoops will match wits with one of his former lieutenants in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4, but it’s not the first time he’s encountered one of his former assistants.

Kevin Sumlin is in his first season as Texas A&M’s head coach after spending four years as head coach for the Houston Cougars. Sumlin, who served as a Sooners assistant from 2003 to 2007, might be the best former assistant from Stoops’ coaching tree.

In four years at Houston, Sumlin compiled a 35-17 record. He twice led Houston to the Conference-USA Championship Game, capturing the title in 2011. When the Texas A&M job came open, Sumlin jumped at the chance, since he formerly coached there as an assistant a couple of years before his OU tenure. He has led the Aggies to a 10-2 record this year, which includes a stunning upset over Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

(Editor's note: With the 2012 regular season in the books, we'll be reviewing the performance of the different position groups for Oklahoma. We start with quarterback and a look at the play of Landry Jones and understudy Blake Bell.)

What did we think/hope would happen?

Landry Jones would start every game and Blake Bell would continue to provide short-yardage support. With a refreshed and restocked wide receiver corps, Jones would regain the form of 2010 and shake off his poor play at the end of 2011.

It's a short list this week due to the abbreviated schedule, but here goes.

A 10-2 record and co-champions of the Big 12. Don't blame Bob Stoops or the players; blame the Big 12 for sending the Trophy.

In yet another cardiac win, OU showed how much it hates prosperity at times. All year, the Sooners have been unable to combine offensive and defensive success to separate from teams and win games by a comfortable margin.

Still, a win is a win, and this team hit a nice mark despite all kinds of gaps on defense.

Oklahoma’s 2012 season couldn’t have ended much more appropriately than it did Saturday in Fort Worth.

The Sooners did their fair share to keep the TCU Horned Frogs in the game. OU alternated between playing brilliantly and cluelessly. Texas Christian nearly stole the game away in the fourth quarter with some late heroics. Yet, when the final gun went off, the Sooners had again held on for a 24-17 win.

After two consecutive close shaves versus Oklahoma State and West Virginia, the Sooners’ play was ragged throughout the contest. Senior quarterback Landry Jones, playing in his final regular season game for the Crimson and Cream, struggled to find his rhythm. He completed just 22 of his 40 pass attempts and threw his once-per-game horrendous interception, which set up a short touchdown run for TCU.

No. 11 Oklahoma (8-2) at TCU (7-4)
Dec. 1, 11 a.m.
Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas)
TV: ESPN
Line: OU -6.5

Oklahoma is a game away and some help from ending the season at 10-2 and a BCS bowl berth. After the negativity and bad ending of last year, that would be an excellent rebound for the Sooners.

While OU is probably playing a less explosive offense this week than in the past couples of games, OU is playing a much better defense as well. TCU is sky high off its humiliation of Texas in Austin, and it's not a stretch to wonder what OU has left in the tank after back-to-back battles for 60 minutes.