The unexpected happened today in Dallas. What was supposed to be a grudge match between quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford was anything but after Bradford was knocked out of the game in the first quarter. And what was supposed to be an offensive slug fest actually turned out to be a defensive struggle.

Some may say it wasn’t pretty, but Texas earned a hard-fought 16-13 victory over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday. Bradford only attempted six passes in the game, completing two for 77 yards before suffering another injury following a first-quarter sack. On the other side, McCoy was just 12 of 39 passing for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

This game turned on the first possession of the second half. After Oklahoma took a 6-3 lead into halftime, the Longhorns came out in the third quarter utilizing a hurry-up offense that allowed McCoy to finally get into a rhythm passing. While the drive only produced a field goal, it instilled confidence in McCoy after the Sooners had frustrated him in the first half. This was the second straight year in which OU’s defense got the best of McCoy.

Freshman receiver Marquis Goodwin also played a huge role in the Longhorns’ victory. Oklahoma completely took emerging Heisman candidate Jordan Shipley out of the game by blanketing him in coverage, but Goodwin hauled in three passes and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from McCoy midway through the third quarter to give Texas its first lead. With Shipley held in check, Goodwin came up huge.

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With Oklahoma set to square off against Texas in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday night, I thought it would be fun to breakdown the quarterback matchup between the Sooners’ Sam Bradford and the Longhorns’ Colt McCoy to figure out who would make the better pro.

Colt McCoy vs. Sam Bradford: Who will be the better pro quarterback?

Arm Strength: Bradford.
Neither quarterback has elite arm strength, but Bradford can make all the throws, while McCoy excels at the short to intermediate passes. Lack of arm strength could be an issue for McCoy at the next level.

Size: Bradford.
Bradford is two inches taller than McCoy and nearly 15 pounds heavier. Bradford can probably add to his frame, where McCoy is essentially maxed out.

Accuracy & Decision Making: Push.
Both QBs have outstanding accuracy, get the ball out of their hands quickly and are excellent decision-makers.

Leadership: Push.
Bradford and McCoy’s leadership have been evident in how good their teams have been with them under center. Both players truly love playing the game and it shows both on and off the field.

Athleticism: McCoy.
Although Bradford does have decent athleticism, he loses this category by a long shot. McCoy has displayed excellent athleticism in his career while rushing for over 500 yards in each of his past two seasons. He’s also very mobile, which helps him elude pressure and buy extra time to find receivers.

Release: Bradford.
Bradford has a great release, but we’re probably splitting hairs in this category because both quarterbacks get the ball out of their hands quickly.

The Final Whistle:
Both of these quarterbacks have weaknesses in that neither runs a pro-style offense in college. So on most occasions, neither is forced to make difficult reads and neither has faced a consistent pass rush. They both benefit from playing in a conference with weak defenses and have out-of-this-world stats because of it. That said, Bradford has fewer question marks surrounding his pro potential than McCoy does. McCoy has never operated under center and that could be a huge problem once he gets to the next level. While Bradford doesn’t have the arm strength to zip the ball into tight windows, he can make all the throws at the next level. The same cannot be said for McCoy, who will struggle with the deep ball in the NFL.

In the end, the question of which quarterback will make a better pro comes down to what offenses they’re drafted into. If a team figures out how to use McCoy’s athleticism and accuracy to hide his lack of arm strength, then he could become an outstanding pro. But Bradford has more intangibles that pro scouts look for and thus, would be my choice to emerge as the better NFL quarterback.

Winner: Sam Bradford.

While every year has its own host of surprises, there are always those stories that simply fit the trend. Sure, it can get repetitive, but if we don’t look back at history aren’t we only doomed to repeat it? Every year has its fair share of stories that fell into this category, and 2008 was no different.

Our list of things we already knew this year includes the BCS’ continued suckiness (Texas-Oklahoma), how teamwork wins championships (KG, Pierce and Ray-Ray), and the #1 rule for carrying a handgun into a nightclub – don’t use your sweatpants as a holster. (Come on, Plax. Really? Sweatpants?)

Don’t miss the other two parts of our 2008 Year-End Sports Review: “What We Learnedâ€� and “What We Think Might Happen.â€�

Brett Favre can’t make up his mind.

The biggest story of the summer was all the drama surrounding Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. This saga has been covered to death, but there’s one detail that never seemed to get that much play. At the start, it looked like the Packers were making a bad decision by moving on so quickly even when Favre decided he wanted to return. But when the news broke about Favre’s near-unretirement in March, the Packers stance became much more clear. They were ready to take him back after the owners’ meetings, but he called it off at the last minute. At that point, the Packer brass was understandably finished with Brett Favre, much to the chagrin of a good portion of the Packer faithful. – John Paulsen

The Chicago Cubs’ title drought is not a fans-only phenomenon.

The 2008 Cubs were easily the best team the franchise has assembled in decades, but they still couldn’t win a single game in the playoffs, and the reason is simple: the pressure finally got to them. Sure, they said the right things to the press about how they didn’t care about what had happened in the past, but don’t believe a word of it; there wasn’t a single person in that dugout that wasn’t fantasizing about being part of the team that finally, mercifully, ended the longest title drought in sports history. Once ESPN picked them to win it all, however, they were doomed. Ryan Dempster walked seven batters in Game 1, which matched his total for the month of September. The entire infield, including the sure-handed Derrek Lee, committed errors in Game 2. Alfonso Soriano went 1-14 with four strikeouts in the leadoff spot, while the team as a whole drew six walks and struck out 24 times. The team with so much balance in the regular season suddenly became the most one-dimensional team in baseball; take Game 1 from them, then sit back and watch them choke. And now that this group has lost six straight playoff games (the team has lost nine straight dating back to 2003), it isn’t about to get any easier. Get a helmet, Cubs fans. – David Medsker

If you’re going to wear sweatpants to a nightclub, leave the gun at home.

If winning a Super Bowl is the pinnacle of an NFL player’s career, than shooting yourself with your own gun in a nightclub has to be rock bottom. Case in point: Plaxico Antonio Burress. Just 10 months after helping the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg while at a nightclub. Apparently the (unregistered) gun was slipping down his leg and when he tried to grab it to keep it from falling, the lucky bastard wound up pulling the trigger and shooting himself. And that wasn’t the worst of it because as Plaxico found out, New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. He was arrested, but posted bail of $100,000 and is scheduled to return to court on March 31, 2009. If convicted of carrying a weapon without a license, he faces up to three and a half years in jail. He shouldn’t expect special treatment, either. The mayor of New York wants to be sure that Burress is prosecuted just like any other resident of NYC. The Giants, meanwhile, placed him on their reserve/non-football injury list and effectively ended his season. While “Plax� definitely deserves “Boner of the Week� consideration for his stupidity, what’s sad is that in the wake of Washington Redskins’ safety Sean Taylor’s death, most NFL players feel the need to arm themselves when they go out. Maybe players can learn from not only Taylor’s death, but also Burress’s accident so further incidents can be avoided. – Anthony Stalter