OKLAHOMA SOONER FOOTBALL

Sooners Taken Down by Bulldogs

2010-01-02T19:11:00.005-06:00

Starkville, MS--In the final regular season game of the season for the Oklahoma Sooners, they hoped to get a very solid road victory over a ranked Bulldog team. After another season of too many losses and not enough wins, the Sooners had to be thinking they'd be happy when this season of disappointment was over. Today added another entry on the list of disappointments.

Oklahoma took the early lead on a 55 yard field goal by Tress Way. The second quarter saw MSU get their only offensive touchdown on the day when QB T. Kilpatrick ran the ball in from one yard out. MSU would score again off a returned INT (below) from 49 yards out one minute later and would only score FG's the rest of the way. OU added another FG (52 yards) in the second quarter to make the score 14-6 in favor of the home team heading into the half.The third quarter only saw 6 points scored (two MSU FG's) to make the score 20-6 after 3 quarters. Quarter #4 saw the Sooners score a TD, MSU nail another FG (below, game winner) then OU score another TD as time expired.The basic story of the game was the brutal INT for a TD in the second quarter. OU put themselves into a hole they could never come back from. MSU's careful offense and stout defense kept the Sooners far enough behind to where they could never overcome the hole they were in.

GAME NOTES:

The Players of the Game were MSU kicker B. Robinson who hit 3 of 3 FG's with a long of 43 yards. For Oklahoma it was LB Jaydan Bird who had 7 tackles with 1 interception (at the goalline). The teams were nearly identical in total yards (OU 232, MSU 239). The teams ran for 36 & 46 yards and threw for 196 & 193 yards. Each team had one INT but OU also had a lost fumble (RB Jermie Calhoun as he entered the endzone early in the game).

Sooners: Losing in Lubbock (33-37)

2009-12-22T22:48:00.005-06:00

Lubbock, TX--The Oklahoma Sooners came into today's game against the unranked Texas Tech Red Raiders ranked #9 in the latest BCS poll. They had the Big XII South title wrapped up so a loss here woulnd't hur their chances to play the winner of the North for the Big XII Championship. Texas Tech had lost seven straight conference games so everyone expected another loss for Tech. It was an epic game that would send one set of fans home with a tear in their beers, real or imaginary.Oklahoma's inability to capitalize on Texas Tech mistakes basically cost them this game, not to mention a fumble on the one inch line by Jermie Calhoun as he tried to rumble into the endzone. Two times OU had to settle for FG's when they should have scored. It came down to the fourth quarter as it always seems to do with these Sooners. OU scored two times to start the fourth quarter. They had their lead up to 9 points and knew it'd take two Tech scoring drives to win the game. Maybe the players let up. Noone outside of the OU locker room will ever know. Tech scored at the 1:19 mark to knock OU's lead down to 2 points (33-31). The Sooners knew an onsides kick was coming and it did. The unexpected thing that happened was Tech recovering the kick. The Sooner defense wasn't able to hold the Red Raider offense and they went in and scored another TD but missed the two-point conversion for a final score of 37-33. The win gave the Red Raiders their only Big XII conference win of the 2011 season and continues the troubles OU has had in Lubbock since Mike Leach took over after the 1999 season.

Bears Push Sooners to O.T.

2009-12-20T20:38:00.010-06:00

Norman, OK--Knowing the history of the Baylor-Oklahoma football series (21-0, Sooners have never lost to BU) you'd expect this game in Norman to be the usual creaming of the Bears. It was not to be. The Bears still have Robert Griffin at QB and they have John Salubi at RB. The tandem didn't start off too well (see below, option picked off by the Sooners).OU would go on to score 14 points in the first quarter while Baylor was held to zero.The second quarter saw Baylor turn the tables and score 14 quick points to start the quarter. OU answered with an TD run from Sooner QB Jordan Thomas. Baylor's Salubi scored for the second time in the quarter on a 8 yard pass from Griffin. OU would tack on a 48 yard field goal with 3 seconds left in the half to make the game 24-21 in favor of OU at the half.The third quarter saw a big slow down in the scoring as Baylor was the only team to score when they took an INT in for a TD but missed the extra point. At the end of three it was Baylor in front, 27-24.Quarter #4 was one big back and forth affair. The Sooners started it off followed by BU, then OU and then at the 0:31 mark, Baylor scored on a G. Martin TD run from 6 yards out. The Sooners had less then 30 seconds to tie this game or else the Bears would get their first win against the Sooners. Basically, a long pass down the left sideline to Ryan Broyles got the Sooners near the redzone and they were able to get the score on another pass to Broyles as time expired from 5 yards out. Tress Way converted the extra point and they were headed to overtime.In the first OT, Baylor took the ball and scored on the first play when S. Williams took the ball in from 25 yards out. The crowd went silent. OU got the ball back and kept the ball on the ground. RB Jonathan Miller scored from 8 yards out to tie the game and send in to double OT. In the 2nd OT, the Sooners scored on a 4 yard rush from FB Buck Buchanan. When Baylor got the ball they were unsuccessful on downs 1, 2 and 3. On fourth down they went for another pass to the back corner of the endzone but it was knocked down by the OU defender (see above) for the Oklahoma win!!

Oklahoma Recruiting Update

2009-12-20T20:05:00.005-06:00

Norman, OK--As the college football season gets closer to the end, many recruits are starting to narrow down their options for college and more importantly, they're narrowing down who they'll play college football for. The Oklahoma Sooners are having a good, but not great, season. They've lost two games by a combined 6 points (#1 Georgia Tech & Texas A&M). Despite the two losses, recruits know Oklahoma is a school that will always be playing for championships, playing in nationally televised games and fighting for the best recruits in the nation. Today they announced the hard commitments of three new recruits that have decided to join the Sooner Nation. They are:

1) David Jackson, 4*, T, Schuyler, NE: Jackson is the 11th rated Tackle by EA Sports. The 6'4", 343 pound beheameth chose OU over Miami, Nebraska, North Carolina and Michigan. Most felt he was a hard lean to OU all along which kept the schools named above from officially offereing the future All-Conference tackle. Jackson is expected to redshirt in 2012.

2) John Williams, 2*, G, Kenmore, WA: Williams (6'5", 277lbs) comes to Oklahoma from Washington state and is rated the #83 guard by EA Sports. Many were surprised to hear the Sooners had offered Williams but the Sooner staff saw some of his workouts and felt like his Pass Block skills (B+), Run Block skills (A-) and Strength (B+) were legit and felt he'd excel at OU, esp. once he got more experience playing guard. Williams will likely redshirt in 2012. He chose OU over offers from Washington St., Syracuse, Nevada and Connecticut. He also had a late push from Penn St. but they backed off several weeks ago. The Sooners feel they have found a diamond in the rough with Williams.

3) Tim Daniels, 4*, T, Erwin, NC: Daniels (6'2", 306lbs) comes to Oklahoma from North Carolina. He is rated as the 9th best tackle in this class. He is known as having good footwork and is rated highly at both pass blocking and run blocking. Daniels is expected to redshirt in 2012.

Gray Carries Aggies To Victory in Norman

2009-12-16T00:01:00.010-06:00

Norman, OK--Cyrus Gray (#32, top) was a known commodity across the Big XII region. He was known as a highly touted recruit coming out of DeSoto, TX and was expected to do big things for the Aggies. Today, he proved why he had those expectations placed upon his shoulders.The first quarter saw the Aggies break off two plays of 50+ yards for scores. The first was a swing pass from A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill to back-up RB Christine Michael (#33, above) that went for 52 yards. The other was a Gray run from 72 yards out that brought the Aggie fans to their feet at Memorial Stadium. The run was not only impressive for the great speed Gray showed but the power he displayed as he plowed over a Sooner defender who tried foolishly to make a one-on-one tackle in the open field. At the end of the first quarter, the game was tied at 14 points each.The second quarter was all Oklahoma. Jermie Calhoun's (above) second TD of the half at the 5: 56 mark put OU up 21-7. Forty-eight seconds later the Sooners scored again when senior middle linebacker Austin Box picked off another Tannehill pass and scored. Box's INT for a TD was the second of the day for the Sooners. Cornerback Demontre Hurst did the same thing in the first quarter to tie the game at 7 points each. At the half, Oklahoma had the lead, 28-14.Quarter #3 didn't start off so well for the Sooners. An interception at the 6:17 mark turned into a touchdown as A&M's G. Nichols took the misfired football 51 yards for the score. When the 2:30 mark of this quarter hit, the Aggies had scored again. This time it was a 13 yard run from Gray. The game is now tied at 28. Oklahoma came back and re-took the lead at the 5:59 mark of the fourth quarter when senior receiver Brandon Caleb caught a laser from Jordan Thomas from 6 yards out. Sooners lead 35-28. A&M finally answered at the 0:58 mark when N. Trice caught a 23 yard TD pass from Tannehill to tie the game. The following OU possession saw them fail to gain a first down. They had to punt back to the Aggies. A couple of nice passes later they're in field goal range for E. Coe. They get the field goal team on the field for a 47 yard attempt to win the game.When Coach JHeb was asked after the game what his thoughts were during that FG attempt, he said "It was a long kick. The pressure was on that kid. I thought he might shank it with all the noise our crowd was making. I saw the ball come off his foot funny. My heart raced thinking he missed it. These are the breaks. Not much you can do about it. He nailed it. Barely got it in. Hit the bottom right part of the pole but he got it in. It's a great kick. That's all."

The Players of the Game were:

Texas A&M: RB Cyrus Gray, 17 carries for 207 yards with 2 TD's plus 3 receptions for 36 yards.
Oklahoma: RB Jermie Calhoun, 22 carries for 93 yards with 2 TD's plus 2 receptions for 12 yards.

Wilson Makes His Decision

2009-12-15T20:18:00.003-06:00

Chesterfield, MO--The big announcement coming out of Chesterfield High School today has made fans of the Oklahoma Sooners very happy. The reason? The star of the football team, Justin Wilson, announced his intention to go to school and play football for the University of Oklahoma in the Fall of 2012. Wilson, rated as the #17 running back in the nation by EA Sports' recruiting service, made his announcement this morning in the school's gymnasium. Wilson chose Oklahoma over offers from Iowa and his home state Missouri Tigers. He confirmed to this reporter that he was under a lot of pressure to stay in-state and play at Mizzou as his father did but he said in the end he had to go where he felt the most comfortable and where he felt like he was being called to attend. He said the connection he made with Coach JHeb was a huge factor for him in choosing the Sooners. Wilson will join a crowded Sooner backfield when he comes to campus this Summer. It is expected he'll redshirt his first year on campus as he will likely be behind proven runners Jermie Calhoun (Jr.) and Jonathan Miller (Soph.). Many think Calhoun will leave early for the NFL but reports from the Calhoun family, including his mother's updates on Twitter seem to indicate that Jermie will still be in Norman come the 2012 football season.

CLASSIC!!

2009-12-14T23:46:00.008-06:00

Norman, OK--Despite the dominance of Oklahoma over Oklahoma St. in this Bedlam match-up over the years, the current crop of Sooners know the Cowboys of today aren't the pushovers of their brothers past. Coming into today's matchup, the Cowboys were ranked #21 while the Sooners were ranked #8. Both sides told media before today that they knew today's game was going to be a close, tough game. They had no idea how close it'd be.O-State's Jeremy Smith started the game off with a 63 yard touchdown scamper at the 6:32 mark of the first quarter. OSU leads 7-0. Oklahoma then responds with 21 unanswered points to make their lead 21-7 at the 3:44 mark of the second quarter. OSU would go on to score a TD with 21 seconds left to make the score 21-14 at the half, Sooners lead.The third quarter saw OU score another touchdown and OSU score a FG. At the end of three it was OU 28, OSU 17.The Sooners would push in another TD at the 5:03 mark of the fourth quarter to put them up 35-17. The Sooners were just about to feel comfortable when the INT's started flying and the Pokes started scoring. The next thing the Sooners knew OSU had scored 19 unanswered points and had a one point lead, 36-35, with only 56 seconds left in the game. The Sooners were in shock.Redshirt Freshman QB Jordan Thomas (above) really needed to respond here. This would be a drive that could be the beginning of a great legacy at OU or it could be the beginning of the end for the young gunslinger. Today was his first start and it was in Bedlam in front of the home crowd.

Thomas calmly led the team down the field with sharp passes across the field to his trusty crew of receivers. The Sooners had a full compliment of timeouts and used them well. As the clock dwindled to under 10 seconds remaining, the Sooners ran one more run play to set them up in the middle of the field for a Tress Way field goal attempt.

Two seconds remained.

OSU calls a timeout to ice Way.

The team resets and approaches the line.

Way hears the chants from the OSU crowd saying "Miss that kick! Miss that kick!"

Palms were sweaty.

His heart was racing.

Landry Jones, now the holder, called for the ball.

The snap was straight and low.

The hold was good, laces out.

Way kicks...

It's...

It's...

It's...

GOOD!!!!Sooners win! The Soooooooners win!!

Oklahoma Recruiting Update

2009-12-13T23:23:00.005-06:00

Norman, OK--Having already announced the commitment of 4* DE Cole Burnette, the Sooners have announced the commitment of four more high school phenoms. They are:

1) 5* SS Tyrone Green, 6'1", 203lbs, Tallulah, LA: Rated as the #2 SS in this class by EA Sports, Green will come in and is expected to push for PT as a true frosh but will likely redshirt while junior-to-be Javon Harris takes over at the position from current senior Sam Proctor. Green is known to be a vicious hitter and has a knack for getting to the ball.

2) 4* CB Brandon Gore, 5'9", 189lbs, Baker, LA: Rated as the #6 CB in this class by EA Sports, Gore joins a crowded depth chart at CB for the Sooners. Depending on how his summer and fall practices go, he is a candidate to redshirt while he develops better strength and gets used to life on campus. Gore would start for most teams in the country as a true frosh. He's one of the fasted players in the country and is already an NFL caliber talent when it comes to man coverage.

3) 4* CB Corey Mays, 6'2", 172lbs, Gateway, CO: Mays (CB#11) joins Gore as two of the best corners in the country going to Norman to play football. Mays will also likely redshirt but depending on his time on campus, could make his way to the field in '12. Mays is known in recruiting circles as being great in zone coverage with great acceleration to get to the ball.

4) 4* G Patrick Patrick, 6'2", 297lbs, Deland, FL: Patrick was a surprise commitment for the Sooners. The coaching staff felt he was a hard lean to Florida St. but after his Week 7 visit to Norman, he knew where he wanted to be for the next 4 to 5 years. "PP" as he known to friends, will redshirt for true frosh season as he works in the OU S&C program and learns how to play guard in major college football.

47-20 Thrashing in Aimes

2009-12-13T23:10:00.005-06:00

Aimes, IA--As expected, Oklahoma came into Aimes and tore apart the Iowa St. football team. OU scored evenly in each quarter (14-13-10-10) and dominated the game. The lone bright spot for ISU was wide receiver Pat Mulcahny. The reciever from Limas, IA had 3 catches for 64 yards and 2 TD's and was named the ISU Player of the Game. The POG for OU was kicker Tress Way who was 4-4 on FG attempts with a long of 55 yards. Many OU fans as well as a large portion of the media felt Jordan Thomas would get the start at QB today for the Sooners but he did not. Landry Jones started as is the norm and had a "good" day (16-21, 231 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT). Jordan did get in the game late and went 2-4 for 24 yards. The Sooners ground game was featured today as Jermie Calhoun ran 20 times for 113 yards (5.6ypc) while Jonathan Miller also ran the ball 20 times for 110 yards (5.5ypc). Calhoun had one rushing TD to Miller's two. Reserve fullback Maurice Ralph also got a TD late in the game in mop up duty. The Sooners had 677 total yards to ISU's 391 and had 27 first downs to ISU's 10.

Tigers Fall Short in Comeback Bid

2009-12-13T23:00:00.003-06:00

Norman, OK--A good Missouri team entered Norman knowing the Sooners rarely lose at home and have been especially tough since the program was resurrected under Bob Stoops in 1999. Today, the outcome was no different. The Sooner win in a game that in the end looks closer than it was. Two 4th quarter TD's by the Tigers brought them within distance of winning the game but the Sooners never broke and won the game, 30-21. The main point of interest that came out of the game is the long-term standing of Landry Jones as the starting QB for the Sooners. Jones threw two more INT's today and was again replaced by redshirt freshman QB Jordan Thomas. Thomas was 2 for 2 (41 yards) after he came in for Jones. The Sooners face Iowa St. next week and many in the Norman and Oklahoma City media feel a lesser opponent like ISU may be a good time for the team to give Jordan and chance to start a game to see how he does.

Frosh QB Saves Sooners in Dallas

2009-12-13T21:54:00.012-06:00

Dallas, TX--The unquestioned starter for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2011 was always Landry Jones. The native of New Mexico, Jones paid his dues sitting behind Heisman winning quarterback Sam Bradford for 4 seasons before being named the starter for his senior season. Jones has led this team before. He stepped in admirably when Bradford was hurt in 2009, leading the team to many victories and a Big XII Championship. Jones has refused to be interviewed this season, telling teammates he feels like he'd jinx the season, but if we were to guess, he'd tell us his performance thus far this season has not been what he expected. The Sooner Nation would say the same.Entering this epic game against Texas, Jones had about as many INT's as he had TD's and that's not a ratio a quarterback wants. Many fans on message boards and sports talk radio have been calling for the back up and as any sports fan knows, the back up is always the most popular man on campus. In this case, the back up is Jordan Thomas, the #1 QB in the recruiting class of 2010.Back to the game. Jones started off in fine fashion. A five yard scamper found Jones in the painted part of the field with his Sooners now on top of the hated 'Horns, 7-0. The second quarter saw the high turn to a low as Jones was picked off by Earl Thomas. Thomas took the gift 103 yards for a 'Horn touchdown. At the end of one half, the game was tied, 7-7.The third quarter saw more sloppy play from both teams. Two more INT's by Landry Jones led to his benching and the entrance of Jordan Thomas. Thomas led the team to a score (Thomas to J. Owens from 6 yards out) at the 3:46 mark of the third to put the Sooners up, 14-7.The Sooners scored again at the 4:05 mark of the fourth on Tress Way's 35 yard field goal. The Sooners lead 17-7. Texas was able to rally and score quickly (2:38 mark) on a 61 yard pass and run to former 'Horn QB John Chiles. It's now 17-14. Try as they did, the 'Horns came up short but it was close. The Sooners had to punt after that last 'Horn score. The 'Horns were driving with under 30 seconds and about to score but an errant pass (above) from Texas QB G. Gilbert found the hands of SS Sam Proctor which sealed the victory for the Sooners.

Oklahoma wins, 17-14.

GAME NOTES:

The Players of the Game were: OU-Austin Box, MLB (6TKL, 1 INT, 2 DEFL), UT-N. Brewster (14 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 DEFL). OU out-first downed Texas 17-6. The T.O.P. battle was also won by OU (18:19 to 9:50). OU ran the ball 40 (106 yards) times compared to UT's 17 (41 yards). Passing yardage was about equal for the teams (OU 172-UT 179). Both teams lacked in converting third downs (OU 38%, UT 11%). OU next faces Missouri in Norman while Texas travels to Aimes to face Iowa St.

Sooners Bash the Buffs

2009-12-13T21:34:00.005-06:00

Boulder, CO--The thin air of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains can take a toll on even the best trained athletes. It's an advantage Colorado has long cherished and benefited from. They expect brash, arrogant football players to not take the thin air seriously then once they get on the field and start running around with adrenaline pumping, they're quickly exhausted and unable to play to their normal levels.This was not the case for the Oklahoma Sooners this Saturday late in September. The Sooners came out and dominated the Buffs. If it weren't for two returned interceptions for touchdowns, Colorado may have never scored a touchdown. The final score of 41-16 was a good indicator of how well OU played and how poorly CU played.

Game Notes:

The game featured three INT's returned for TD's (2 for CU, 1 for OU). The Players of the Game were: OU-Ethan Reese (TE, 8-89-2 TD); For CU-J. Carter (9TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 DEFL, 1 TD). OU dominated CU in the following categories: First Downs (22-9), Total Offense (352-186), Rush Yards (81-22), Pass Yards (271-164), Third Down Conv. Percentage (50-18), Time of Possession (16:39-11:31). OU next faces #7 Texas in Dallas while CU travels to Waco, TX to face Baylor.

#1 Yellow Jackets Prevail By A Knee

2009-12-05T13:39:00.011-06:00

Norman, OK--The top ranked team in the country came into Norman today looking to keep their hopes alive for a repeat as National Champions. They no longer had their flex bone trigger man, QB Josh Nesbit, and now were relying on new players in new roles. As for the #11 Sooners, gone is all-everything QB Sam Bradford and in his place is senior Landry Jones. The game was a national broadcast. The whole nation was watching. They were not disappointed.

The first quarter was a back and forth battle of defenses that was only interrupted by a Tress Way field goal at the 2:52 mark. Georgia Tech missed a field goal earlier in the quarter. OU lead at the end of one, 3-0.

Quarter number two was all Oklahoma. By the looks of it, the game was just about to be all Oklahoma. It started when OU scored at the 5:23 mark on an interception of Tech quarterback J. Luallen by safety Sam Proctor that Proctor took 82 yards to score a touchdown (above). This put OU up 10-0. OU was able to stop the Tech attack and when they got the ball back they were able to connect on a 28 yard field goal by Way (OU leads 13-0). Another Tech drive was snuffed out when Proctor again picked off a Luallen pass and took it 36 yards for another Oklahoma touchdown (below).

At the half Oklahoma leads the Yellow Jackets, 20-0. An injury of note in the first half was Sooner running back Jermie Calhoun. Calhoun was having a nice day (6 rushes, 36 yards, 6.0ypc) but was lost for the game with an undisclosed injury.

The second half started out by Tech scoring on a nice long drive that ended with their first points of the game. QB Luallen carried the ball in from the 3 yard line to make the score 20-7 in favor of the home team. Oklahoma would respond with a nice drive of their own that was looking promising. The Sooner coaching staff felt a field goal here (late 3rd quarter) would put their team in a great position to win the game. If they made a FG they'd be up 23-7 with only the 4th quarter left.

On their way down the field an error was made. Landry Jones had his X receiver open but as he threw to his open receiver on a slant from the left side of the field, the Tech defender slid up to make the pick.

The start of the fourth quarter saw Tech capitalize on the interception they swiped at the end of the third. Tech's Luallen again scored with his legs as he ran one in from four yards out at the 6:00 mark of the fourth. OU would once again mount a nice, methodical drive down the field. The Sooners has reached the Tech 35 yard line when disaster struck. QB Landry Jones had a man coming open to his right but for some reason whipped to his left and fired a pass to a receiver on an out route. The ball was timed perfectly, by the Tech defender (Sweeting, above), who took it 74 yards for a touchdown (3:14 mark). Tech now leads 21-20.

At this point, Landry Jones once again led his team on a nice drive. They were watching the clock. Tech used up timeouts and the Sooners kept pushing the ball, killing clock. When Jonathan Miller (RB) scored with 16 seconds to go, the Sooners began to celebrate. OU tried for a two point conversion to give themselves a 7 point lead but it was not successful. The Sooners now lead by 5, 26-21.

The following kick off would kill the celebration. Tech's R. Jones (above) took the kick down the left sideline to about the 15 yard line. Tech had 8 seconds left on the clock. The OU coaches figured Tech had two plays left to score a TD, as a FG would not give them a tie nor a lead. Luallen scrambles to his right from the left hash mark. He throws into the endzone. The ball was knocked out of his receivers hands at the last second. Now Tech has only 2 seconds left. Luallen scrambles this time to the left right up to the sideline and fires towards the left front corner of the endzone where 4 or 5 Sooner defenders roamed, as did his running back, R. Jones. Jones reaches up over his head, snags the ball and falls into the endzone (below). Time has expired. Game over. Tech wins. They went on to convert an ill-advised two point conversion that the Tech coach later apologized for. His players misunderstood what he told them to do. Tech wins, 29-26 in a thriller.

The Players of the Game were: Georgia Tech: J. Luallen (QB)--6/18 for 93 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT plus 13 rushes for 59 yards and 2 TD's. Oklahoma: Sam Proctor (SS)--9 tackles and 2 INT's (Both returned for TD's)

Bears Sent to Hibernate, 31-14

2009-11-24T22:41:00.013-06:00

Berkley, CA--The ninth-ranked Cal Bears came into today's early season brawl against the seventeenth ranked Sooners knowing this was their chance to show the country they were for real. The Bears have been the "little sister" to the Trojans of USC and the Bruins of UCLA for a lifetime and feel that now is their time to take over the top of the Pac-10.The game started out with Oklahoma receiving the ball. Prior to the game and prior to this season, the Oklahoma coaches talked a lot about running the ball more, being more balanced, using the talent they had on the team, fitting the offense to the talent on the team, and things like that. The bottom line sounded as if this OU team would not be airing it out as much as they did in 2010. Last week's was an indicator of this but today's game really let it sink in. Oklahoma is going to run the dang ball!The first score of the game came from Jermie Calhoun's 3 yard push to put OU up 7-0 (see above). OU found themselves up 14-0 only nine seconds later after a fumble on the kick off but it was reviewed and overturned. Cal would go on to score on an 18 yard TD run from senior running back, S. Vereen.This would not be the last time Vereen was heard from. He scored again at the 3:54 mark of the second quarter after Jermie Calhoun had just scored at the 6:12 mark for the Sooners. Vereen was hard to stop. In fact, he had over 100 yards in the first half alone. The only thing that stopped him was his dislocated ankle he suffered very early in the third quarter. At the half, it's a time game, 14-14.

The second half began and OU started to assert their dominance. A 47-yard TD run by back-up RB Jonathan Miller (see video, above) put the Sooners up 21-14. The Sooners were running the ball to either side and chose when and where they'd run the ball. The rest of the game was all OU. They went on to score another 10 points (Way-23 yard FG, R. Charles-1 yard TD run) and won 31-14.
The Players of the Game were: Jermie Calhoun for Oklahoma (21 rushes, 103 yards, 2 TD) while Shane Vereen took the honor for Cal (17 rushes, 124 yards, 1 TD).Game Notes: OU led in total offense (425-213). OU ran the ball 49 times for 249 yards to Cal's 133. Each team had two turnovers (OU-2 fumbles, Cal-2 INT's). OU dominated the T.O.P. (18:50 to 9:17). Cal only passed for 80 yards. OU had three backs get at least 10 rushes (Calhoun, 21-103; Charles, 12-67; Miller, 11-88).

Burnette Ready to Move to Oklahoma

2009-11-24T21:56:00.005-06:00

Norman, OK--In a surprise announcement, Oklahoma received it's first hard verbal commitment for the freshman class of 2012 when Mount Vernon, WA defensive end Cole Burnette pledged to play for the Sooners. The 6'6", 245 pound Burnette may have a chance to play in '12 with the departure of Frank Alexander and the lack of depth the Sooners expect to have there next season. Most recruiting experts expect the Sooners to grab another top flight DE this recruiting season to add to their depth. Burnette is known as a strong tackler with NFL-ready pursuit skills already. He's also known to be a great block-shedding end who'll knock your socks off if you get in his way.

Sooner Ground Attack Dooms Army

2009-11-22T00:28:00.018-06:00

Norman, OK--In a game that most expected to go south in a hurry, well, it went that way and it went that way in a hurry. The 17th ranked Sooners brought back a large portion of their 2010 squad that played for the Big XII Championship against Nebraska. The only major losses were at QB (Sam Bradford, Sr., NFL Draft) and DE (RJ Washington, Soph., NFL Draft). Army lost their usual number of seniors but were very excited for the debut of QB Denard Robinson after he sat out the 2010 season after transferring from Michigan.

The game started off with OU receiving the kickoff. They put together a nice drive and scored on a 2 yard run from Jonathan Miller after Jermie Calhoun carried the Sooners on his back all the way down the field. OU followed up that score with stout defense and got the ball back with good field position. They again reached pay dirt as Landry Jones hit Jameel Owens on a 30 yard strike to make the Sooner lead 14-0. Army was able to put together a nice drive to start the 2nd quarter and scored on Tyler Brigham's 3 yard plunge to bring the OU lead down to 7 at 14-7 at the 6:39 mark. The ensuing kickoff saw the Sooner's return the kick 84 yards (see below, video #1) for a score (Brandon Caleb, WR). The OU lead is back up to 14, 21-7 with 6:29 left in the 2nd quarter. Army was again able to put together a hold on defense then scored on offense when Denard Robinson put Army on the board again with a 2 yard run at the 2: 54 mark. Army kicked off and it was caught by third string TE Jarred Mills, who took the kick 68 yards for another kick return TD (see below, video #2) for the Sooners. The Army players looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. It didn't get any better from there. On Army's next drive, a late pass from Robinson to the end zone for his receiver was intercepted by DeMontre Hurst (see below, video #3) and returned for a TD (101 yards). At the half, OU leads 35-14.

The second half was more of the same. OU went on to score 17 more points while Army only manages 7. The final score of 52-21 likely could have been worse but there was no need to pile it on our future Army officers. The Players of the Game were: Tyler Brigham, RB, Army (12 rushes, 66 yards, 2 TD, 3 catches for 55 yards and he threw one pass for 16 yards). For Oklahoma it was RB Jermie Calhoun who ran the ball 19 times for 187 yards and scored 2 TD's (see videos #4 and #5 below).

Game Notes: Army had 410 yards of total offense to OU's 291. Oklahoma passed the ball only 4 times (4-4, 74 yards, 1 TD). Army's TOP was 19:17 to OU's 8:43. Army had four INT's today. OU had zero turnovers. #17 Oklahoma travels to play at #10 Cal next week while Army faces Mississippi St. at home.

Recruiting Class of 2011:

2009-11-19T23:15:00.005-06:00

Rank	Stars	Position(rank)	Name & Overall	State
11	*****	RB(3)	Anton Richardson-83	TX
56	********	CB (4)	Ricky Davis-83	AL
50	********	MLB (4)	Steven Porter-80	TX
68	********	WR (9)	Brett Phillips-80	FL
102	********	OLB (11)	William Oliver-79	SD
133	********	OLB (15)	Ryan Jacques-76	CA
225	********	C (5)	Dave Hamilton-76	NV
249	********	QB (17)	John Harvey-74	TX
269	*******	OLB (22)	Sean Johnson-75	FL
286	*******	WR (23)	John Atkins-77	PA
473	*******	TE (27)	Chris Reid-79	TX
480	*******	T (23)	Adam Wood-75	OK
673	*******	TE (38)	Jarred Mills-78	AL
727	*******	WR (65)	Eric Simmons-77	CO
679	*******	T (35)	Morris Gray-72	MI

3 Sooners Pre-Season All-Americans

2009-11-19T23:10:00.003-06:00

Three members of the 2011 Oklahoma Sooners football team were expected to be named EA All-Americans when they were announced today and the expectations were validated. Wide receiver Ryan Broyles and tight end Ethan Reese were named First Team All-Americans while WR Jameel Owens was named a second team selection. Oklahoma did not make the players available for comment.

'11 Pre-Season All-Big XII Announced

2009-11-19T22:52:00.004-06:00

Kansas City, MO--The Big XII Conference today announced the pre-season All-Big XII football team for 2011. The teams includes four players from Kansas, the most on the first team. Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech all had three while Oklahoma St., Texas A&M, Missouri and Iowa St. had two. Baylor, Nebraska, Kansas St. and Colorado had one each. The first team is:

QB: Blaine Dalton, Jr., Missouri
HB: Christine Michael, Jr., Texas A&M
HB: Jeremy Smith, Jr., Oklahoma St.
*WR: Ryan Broyles, Sr., Oklahoma
*WR: Jameel Owens, Sr., Oklahoma
*TE: Ethan Reese, Jr., Oklahoma
LT: Casey LaBrue, Sr., Oklahoma St.
LG: Blake Behrens, Sr., Colorado
C: Jeremiah Hatch, Sr., Kansas
RG: John Williams, Jr., Kansas
RT: Kelechi Osemele, Sr., Iowa St.

RE: Jason Ankrah, Soph., Nebraska
LE: Brandon Harold, Sr., Kansas St.
DT: Colby Whitlock, Sr., Texas Tech
DT: Kheeston Randall, Sr., Texas
MLB: Patrick Neal, Sr., Iowa St.
ROLB: Huldon Tharp, Soph., Kansas
LOLB: Elliot Coffey, Sr., Baylor
CB: Greg Brown, Jr., Kansas
CB: Nathan Stone, Sr., Texas Tech
FS: Earl Thomas, Sr., Texas
SS: Zaviar Gooden, Jr., Missouri
K: Matthew Williams, Sr., Texas Tech
P: Justin Tucker, Jr., Texas
RET: Jeff Fuller, Sr., Texas A&M

SECOND TEAM:

HB: Jermie Calhoun, Jr., Oklahoma
CB: Lamar Harris, Jr., Oklahoma
SS: Sam Proctor, Sr., Oklahoma

Two Sooners On Heisman Watch List

2009-11-19T22:38:00.007-06:00

New York City--An informal poll of sports writers, former athletes, coaches and administrators was anonymously taken to see who they felt were the favorites for the 2011 Heisman Trophy. The Top 5 was:

1) WR Jamal Smith, Utah, Jr.--Smith put up 96 catches, 1435 yards and 14 TD's in 2010 and is expected to do more of the same for the Utes' arial attack.

2) QB Kellen Moore, Boise St., Sr.--A 38-4 TD-INT ratio along with 3767 passing yards for a team fighting for a BCS bowl is going to garner some attention and Moore has done just that. The left handed senior QB looks to be the first Boise Heisman winner.

3) RB Christine Michael, Texas A&M, Jr.--1396 rushing yards and 16 rushing TD's plus 520 more yards through the air and 4 receiving TD's for a Top 25 team will put a playing on the radar of just about every NFL team not to mention Heisman voters.

4) WR Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma, Sr.--Broyles may have seen less action between the 20's in 2010 to Owens but when it came to the redzone Broyles' 13 TD's were huge. It didn't hurt that he caught 79 balls for 1132 yards in 2010.

5) WR Jameel Owens, Oklahoma, Sr.--Owens has gone from the doghouse in 2008 as a true freshman to one of the best WR's in America. His 95 catches and 1700 yards were very impressive, even for a pass attack like Oklahoma had in '10. He hauled in 7 TD passes and his tandem with Broyles is the best in the country.

Pre-Season Ranks Released

2009-11-19T22:20:00.011-06:00

The pre-season rankings are out for the 2011 season. The Sooners come in ranked #17 in both the Coaches Poll and the AP Poll. The Sooners are expected to once again contend for the Big XII South and Big XII Conference titles with a strong offense and improved defense. The Coaches Top 25 is listed below.

1) Georgia Tech (33)
2) Florida (24)
3) Notre Dame (1)
4) Michigan (2)
5) Nebraska (1)
6) Alabama
7) Oregon
8) LSU
9) West Virginia
10) Cal
11) Virginia Tech
12) USC
13) Texas
14) Rutgers
15) South Florida
16) Penn St.
17) OKLAHOMA
18) Arkansas
19) Florida St.
20) Iowa
21) Cincinnati
22) Texas A&M
23) Colorado
24) TCU
25) North Carolina

Also receiving votes for the Top 25: Georgia, Utah, Boise St., Maryland, Washington, Miami (Fl), Ohio St.

Other Big XII schools:

35) Missouri
38) Oklahoma St.
40) Texas Tech
41) Kansas
45) Kansas St.
86) Baylor
100) Iowa St.

Pre-Season Big XII Standings:

SOUTH:
1) Texas
2) Oklahoma
3) Texas A&M
4) Oklahoma St.
5) Texas Tech
6) Baylor

NORTH:
1) Nebraska
2) Colorado
3) Missouri
4) Kansas
5) Kansas St.
6) Iowa St.

Ducks Have Sooners For Dinner

2009-11-19T20:32:00.005-06:00

San Diego, CA--The Sooners came out and looked flat in another national appearance. The Sooners lost the Holiday Bowl to a two-loss Oregon team (37-42) in the 2010 Holiday Bowl.

All-Big XII Controversy Brewing

2009-11-15T01:28:00.009-06:00

Norman, OK--Something that was initially viewed as a rather large error on the All-Big XII football team has now turned in to an outright controversy. The issue at hand is not the whole team, no, not at all. Rather, it's about the selection of the first-team tight end, Mike McNeill, from Nebraska, over Oklahoma TE Ethan Reese. You see, McNeill had a great season and was part of the Big XII Champions Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was a starter for them all season and put up nice stats. The issue appears to be in the fact that Reese, in his first season with the Sooners after playing junior college football as a freshman, set the league on fire with his outstanding performances. Reese caught 100 passes this season for 1095 yards and 6 touchdowns while McNeill "only" pulled in 59 catches for 897 yards and 7 TD's. For the non-math majors out there, that's a difference of 41 catches and 198 yards and 1 TD in favor of McNeill. The feeling among Sooner fans is that McNeill didn't deserve the nod over Reese and they feel like he was named first team due to his team winning the Big XII Championship. The sports radio talk shows around Norman and Oklahoma City have been buzzing with fans calling in to voice their displeasure in the perceived snub.

Oklahoma All-Time Records Fall in '10

2009-11-15T00:34:00.003-06:00

Norman, OK--In this mostly disappointing season for the Sooners, many records were broken on the offensive side of the ball. The records broken were:

Passing Yards in a Game:
572--Sam Bradford v. Texas A&M, 10/30/10 (Previous Record: 476, Bradford, Texas, 10/2/10)

Passing Yards in a Season:
5030--Sam Bradford: This passes the previous record of 4720, set by Bradford in 2008. Bradford still has the Holiday Bowl on 12/30/10 to add to his total.

Passing Yards in a Career:
15,659--Sam Bradford: This crushes the next highest all-time amount of 7922 set by Jason White from 1999-2004. Bradford still has the Holiday Bowl on 12/30/10 to add to his total.

Receiving Yards in a Game:
216--Ryan Broyles v. Iowa St., 10/9/10 (Previous record: 206, Manuel Johnson, TCU, 2008)

Receiving Yards in a Season:
1479--Jameel Owens: This passes the previous record of 1425 by Mark Clayton in 2003. Owens still has the Holiday Bowl on 12/30/10 to add to his total.

Big XII All-Conference 2010

2009-11-15T00:14:00.004-06:00

The All-Big XII selections were announced today. Those honored as first team all-conference were:

OFFENSE:
QB: Sam Bradford, Sr., OKLA
HB: Christine Michael, Soph, TXA&M
HB: Quentin Castille, Sr., NEB
WR: Jameel Owens, Jr., OKLA
WR: Tramain Swindall, Jr., TXTCH
TE: Mike McNeill, Sr., NEB
LT: Britt Mitchell, Sr., TEX
LG: Blake Behrens, Jr., COL
C: Ben Habern, Soph., OKLA
RG: Micheal Huey, Sr., TEX
RT: Bryce Givens, Soph., COL

DEFENSE:
LE: RJ Washington, Soph., OKLA
RE: Jason Ankrah, Frosh, NEB
DT: Baker Steinkuhler, Soph., NEB
DT: Colby Whitlock, Jr., TXTCH
LOLB: Keenan Robinson, Jr., TEX
MLB: Luke Lambert, Sr., MIZ
ROLB: Tyrone Sonier, Sr., TXTCH
CB: Dominique Franks, Sr., OKLA
CB: Prince Amukamara, Sr., NEB
FS: Quinton Carter, Sr., OKLA
SS: Patrick Mahnke, Jr., COL
K: Alex Henery, Sr., NEB
P: Justin Tucker, Soph., TEX
RET: Niles Paul, Sr., NEB

Sooners Named All-Conference

2009-11-15T00:04:00.008-06:00

Today the Big XII announced their 2010 All-Conference teams. The Sooners had players spread all over the 1st and 2nd teams. The players honored were:

First Team:
QB--Sam Bradford, Sr.
WR--Jameel Owens, Jr.
C---Ben Habern, Soph.
LE--RJ Washington, Soph.
CB--Dominique Franks, Sr.
FS--Quinton Carter, Sr.

Second Team:
WR--Ryan Broyles, Jr.
TE--Ethan Reese, Soph.
DT--Adrian Taylor, Sr.
MLB-Austin Box, Jr.
CB--Lamar Harris, Soph.
FS--Desmond Jackson, Jr.

Sooners Named All-Americans

2009-11-14T23:32:00.004-06:00

Two University of Oklahoma football players have been named to the All-America team for the 2010 season. Named to the second team were:

--CB Dominique Franks, Sr., Tulsa, OK
--FS Quinton Carter, Sr., Las Vegas, NV

Bradford a Heisman Finalist

2009-11-14T23:14:00.004-06:00

New York City, NY--In today's Heisman Trophy ceremony here in New York City, Oklahoma's Sam Bradford was a surprise attendee. Most of you are thinking it should not be shocking to see him there since he is a past winner (2008) so he must have been there to be a part of the crowd, right? Wrong. Bradford was invited as one of the possible winners of the trophy. Bradford put up huge passing numbers this season but the concensus was that the three losses OU suffered prior to the Big XII Championship had knocked him out of contention for the prestigious trophy. In the end, it probably was, as Bradford came in 5th place behind winner Josh Nesbitt (QB, Georgia Tech) and runner-ups Andy Dalton (QB, TCU), John Brantley (QB, Florida) and Jimmy Clausen (QB, Notre Dame). Bradford was quoted as saying how it was an honor just to be invited back as a player one last time and how he'll always cherish his trophy and how he looks forward to coming back most years to participate in activities and of course to vote for who he thinks is the best college football player in the country.

Sooners Earn Bowl Bid

2009-11-14T22:47:00.006-06:00

After a season of many highs and lows, the Oklahoma Sooners have earned and accepted a bid to play in the Holiday Bowl (presented by Pacific Life Insurance) on December 30th, 2010 at 8pm (Pacific) in San Diego, CA. The Sooners finished 4th in the Big XII for the 2010 season and played Nebraska in the Big XII Championship on December11th (L, 30-35). Joining the Sooners in San Diego will be the #2 team from the Pac-10, the Oregon Ducks. Oregon finished ranked #11 in the country with only two losses (Cal, @ Arizona). The Sooners will be looking to break a string of poor bowl performances that goes back to early in the decade.

Big XII Title Game: Kansas City Classic

2009-11-14T14:04:00.053-06:00

Kansas City, KS--In a rematch of the 2009 Big XII Championship, the #7 Sooners (9-3, 6-2) and #5 Huskers (11-1, 8-0) showed why they were the teams to make it to the final conference game fighting to be the Big XII Champion. The 2009 championship was won by Oklahoma (41-10) but that was before Coach Wildcatter took over the Husker program that offseason.The hype leading up to the game was as expected. The Huskers had dominated the Big XII North, going undefeated in conference play having only lost to LSU early in the season. The Sooners had some letdowns as they lost to #1 Florida in Gainesville (by 3), to #9 Texas in Dallas (by 3) and to then #6 Colorado (by 1 on a missed field goal as time expired). They had assumed the Big XII Championship was out of reach as Texas was winning games and had the look of a title contender. Losses by Texas to Nebraska (in Lincoln) and Kansas State (Manhattan) left OU in a tie with Texas and Texas A&M for the Big XII South title. OU would need a loss by Texas to Texas A&M, in Austin, in the last game of the conference season to get into the title game. Somehow A&M was able to beat the hated Horns (34-24), sending Oklahoma back to the Big XII title game to face their long-time rivals, Nebraska.The cold December air in Kansas City figured to be an implication of the teams cooling off, slowing the game down, running the ball, keeping the score low, defense dominating, battles for field position, ball control, etc. Not so fast! Coach JHeb and Coach Wildcatter didn't appear to change anything about their offenses. Coach JHeb noted before the game he had no plans to put the clamps on Sam Bradford (below) and Coach Wildcatter said his balanced attack of running with Castille and passing with Lee (below, second from top) would be the same as it had all season long.Sam Bradford (Sr): 4635 Passing Yards, 33 TD Passes, 3 Rushing TD's, 2008 Heisman Trophy WinnerZac Lee (Sr): 3670 Passing Yards, 31 TD Passes, 3 Rushing TD'sOklahoma won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. OU kicked off to the Huskers in hopes of getting the first stop of the game then capitalizing on that stop with a score to take the first swing at gaining momentum for the game. Nebraska quickly killed that plan as Zac Lee hit TE McNeil (above) for the first score of the game at the 5:07 mark from 19 yards out. NEB 7 - OU 0. Oklahoma followed up with a Tress Way (below) field goal (52 yards) at the 2:24 mark to make it a 7-3 game.The next score came at 0:01 left in the first quarter as Husker QB Lee ran in from 12 yards out to put his team up 14-3. The Sooner sidelines were looking concerned. Through one quarter the Sooners were completely unable to stop the Husker attack. Meanwhile, the Husker D was shutting down the Sooner attack. They hoped for better in the second quarter.Quarter number two started out with two consecutive field goals by Tress Way (53 & 57 yards) to make the score 14-9 in favor of the Huskers. Sooner HC JHeb was wondering what his team could do to stop the Husker attack. He had to hope for their offense to stall or for his defense to force a turnover. At about that time his D was able to force a Nebraska punt but was only able to turn it into a FG from Way (mentioned above). Once the Huskers got the ball back they again hit paydirt (Henry pass from Lee, below) at the 0:40 mark to put their team up 21-9.Oklahoma had a chance to get downfield with their 2 minute offense with a great passing attack (below). Bradford appeared to be on fire as he hit his receivers in stride to get the team downfield and in position to possibly score their first TD or at least a FG.All they had to do was complete one more pass or at least not turn it over and they'd have their chance. Bradford stood behind center in a shotgun formation.As he looked for areceiver to come open, Nebraska's DE J. Ankrah crushed Bradford (below). Since OU had used all of their timeouts to get downfield, the clocked ticked down to zero. Coach JHeb was furious on the sidelines.The second half started and it appeared the Sooners had made some adjustments. They appeared to completely abandon the run game and turned exclusively to the pass. If they were going to come out of this 12 point hole, they were going to have to do what they know best and that's passing the ball. Oklahoma got the ball to start the third quarter. They scored with 4:23 left in the 3rd on a Ryan Broyles (below) TD reception from 10 yards out to make the score 21-16 in favor of Nebraska.Nebraska returned to their first half ways and again scored on a nice drive capped by another Zac Lee TD run from 4 yards out (1:18 left in the 3rd quarter). The score is now Nebraska 28, Oklahoma 16.

Oklahoma quickly responded with a score of their own at the 0:31 mark when a pass down the left sideline found it's target (Jameel Owens) and he turned it into a 56 yard score. The lead shrinks from 12 to 5, and at the end of three quarters Nebraska leads 28-23.To start the fourth quarter, Nebraska did their usual and scored another TD. This time it was FB K. Thomsen pushing the ball in from 2 yards out. Oklahoma was able to quickly answer when they scored at the 3:09 mark of the fourth on another Ryan Broyles TD reception from Bradford. Nebraska leads 35-30.

From there, the Huskers burned clock and did enough to keep the ball until time expired, not allowing Oklahoma to get the ball back and givin them a chance to score. Final score: Nebraska 35 - Oklahoma 30.

The Players of the Game: Nebraska's Zac Lee (16-19 for 289 yards, 2 TD's; see below).For Oklahoma it was Sam Bradford (35-46 for 396 yards, 3 TD's; see below)Game Notes:
OU ran the ball 6 times for 47 yards not counting Bradford's two sacks. OU had 425 yards total offense while NU had 428. OU had 20 first downs while NU had 18. Nebraska ran the ball 27 times for 139 yards and 3 TD's. Both teams did well on 3rd Down Conversions. OU was 6-9 (66%). Nebraska was 3-4 (75%). Neither team went for it on 4th down. The game only had one punt (Nebraska, 43 yards). OU was in the redzone 3 times and scored on 2 of them (66%). Nebraska was in the redzone 5 times and scored on 4 of them (80%). The one time they failed to score was when they kneeled on several downs to run the clock out. Neither team committed a turnover. Time of Possession favored Nebraska (15:10 to 12:50). Quinton Castille ran the ball 14 times for 92 yards. Doesn't seem like much but his runs were timely and killed some of the Sooner spirit. Nebraska's B. Steinkuhler had two tackles for loss (see below) while J. Ankrah had one TFL and one sack.

Oklahoma All-Time vs. Nebraska

2009-11-12T00:01:00.004-06:00

Follow the link if you care to see how the all-time series between these two historic programs has gone over the years.

OU-Nebraska Football Series on SoonerStats.com

UT Falls, OU Climbs Into Big XII Tilt

2009-11-10T00:20:00.004-06:00

Norman, OK--In what was being viewed as a very disappointing season for the Sooners, news has reached Norman and the nation that Texas A&M upset Texas in Austin which now allows Oklahoma to represent the Big XII South in the Big XII Championship game for 2010. After Oklahoma lost to hated rivals Texas then again to Colorado on a missed short FG as time expired, most expected the Sooner season to be all but over. Since then, OU has ripped out 5 consecutive wins and have put themselves in a spot with a chance to win the Big XII and still play in a BCS bowl.

It appears that OU will play long-time rival Nebraska in the championship game as they have gone undefeated in conference play and only have one loss on the season (LSU).

Sooner Magic!

2009-11-09T22:42:00.013-06:00

Norman, OK--Everyone knew #3 TCU came into this game with #10 Oklahoma on Owen Field with a great chance to win. They've won here in the recent past (2005) and they're known nationally as a very good program with a tendancy to have great defenses. Detractors will tell you they're overhyped due to playing in the Mountain West Conference where they don't face top tier talent like the BCS schools do. Most will take today's game and tell themselves that these non-BCS schools can play and they can give a well-paid head coach from a BCS school high blood pressure and make them never put those kinds of schools on the schedule ever again.

The game started out with chants of "Boomer!" and "Sooner!" echoing from the west side of the stadium to the east, back and forth. Was TCU intimidated? By the way their first drive ended, this writer would guess the answer was a resounding "NO!". TCU connected on an 80-yard touchdown pass at the 6:08 mark in the first quarter to stun the Sooner faithful as well as the players. TCU goes up by 7.

Surely the Sooners would be next to score. At the 5:05 mark a touchdown was recored but it wasn't from a player in Crimson, it was TCU's S. Bledsoe after he took a Bradford INT to the barn from 48 yards out to put his Horned Frogs up 14-0. You could hear a pin drop at Memorial Stadium.

From this point out the Sooners gained their focus and settled down. All-American WR Jameel Owens pulled in a 20 yard TD pass at the 2:55 mark to bring the score up to 14-7 in favor of TCU. TCU answered at 0:39 with a J. Cavness TD run at the goalline.Quarter two was all OU.The defense tightened up and started smashing the TCU players like they should have all along (above). Scores from RB Jermie Calhoun (2 yard rush) and Tress Way (27 yard FG) left the score at 21-17 at the half. Home team down by 4.

The second half was expected to be all Oklahoma as most people figured the team would get chewed out all halftime long then would come out ready to fire. That was not the case. TCU was able to hold OU on their first possession of the 3rd quarter then scored when QB Andy Dalton, the Heisman candidate, hit paydirt on a 3 yard run (4:34). TCU is now up 28-17.

OU gets the ball. An errant pass from Sam Bradford leads to a Pick 6 from TCU's C. Jones (4:06). The crowd goes silent. Fans are seen filing out of their seats. OU is now down 35-17.

Bradford gets the ball back and immediately and swiftly leads the team to a TD drive, capped off by DeJuan Miller's 16 yard reception (3:13) that brings the Sooners deficit from 18 to 11 (35-24). TCU then tosses an interception that OU turns around and scores on when Ryan Broyles hauls in the Bradford pass from 10 yards out (2:55). TCU's lead is now down to 4. At the 0:07 mark in the third quarter, fill-in FB Eric Mensik (aka TE Erik Mensik) pushes the ball over the goalline to give his team their first lead, 38-35.

Quarter #4 arrives. The crowd is going nuts. How will this end?? The Sooner sidelines are in a frenzy. TCU's ball to start the quarter. They again drive the ball with short and efficient passes. OU can't stop them. Score. TCU hits the endzone with 4:08 left to go up 42-38. Does OU have one more score left?

They do. OU puts together their own efficient drive and scores on Jermie Calhoun's dive over the goalline. OU retakes the lead, 45-42 with 1:54 left in the game. The Sooner coaches know too much time is left (almost 2 minutes!).

TCU drives. OU defenders drop at least two INT's and fail to recover two fumbles. Dalton drops back inside OU territory looking to keep his team's undefeated season alive.

He looks for a receiver...

The rush is coming...

He cocks his arm back...

He throws...

Chip Downing makes the catch! The only thing is, Downing plays for OU! Interception (see below)! Oklahoma wins the game...

A few kneels later and OU upsets #3 TCU.

Important Videos:

EA Sports: NCAA Football 10 Video

(Above) TCU breaks a big pass/catch for the game's first score...

EA Sports: NCAA Football 10 Video

(Above) Bradford's INT leads to 7 more TCU points...

EA Sports: NCAA Football 10 Video

(Above) Calhoun's nice gain ends with a crucial lost fumble in Q3...

EA Sports: NCAA Football 10 Video

(Above) Calhoun makes up for the lost fumble with this 1 yard TD push...

EA Sports: NCAA Football 10 Video

(Above) Fifth string CB Chip Downing makes the game saving INT with 39 seconds left in the game...

Oklahoma All-Time vs. TCU

2009-11-08T16:02:00.007-06:00

Follow the link provided to see the all-time series information between Oklahoma and TCU. Link provided by SoonerStats.com.

OU-TCU Football Series on SoonerStats.com

Recruiting Update #3

2009-11-08T15:26:00.005-06:00

Norman, OK--Now that the season is nearing an end, recruiting is heating up. The high school studs of America have had time to be treated like royalty and have been flown across the country in recruiting trips as they decide which school will be so lucky to earn their signature on Signing Day 2011. The Oklahoma Sooners have earned a few more hard commitments from some of those high school all-stars. They are:

--5* RB Anton Richardson, 6'1", 205lbs, Leon Valley H.S., Leon Valley, TX, #3 RB Overall, #11 player overall. Richardson is expected to redshirt but could play as a true frosh if incumbant starter Jermie Calhoun doesn't return for his Junior (RS) season. OU fought with Texas and Texas A&M for Richardson's services.

--3* TE Chris Reid, 6'5", 230lbs, Athen H.S., Athen, TX, #27 TE, #473 player overall. Reid is expected to redshirt as a frosh since he'll have super stud TE Ethan Reese (current sophomore) and James Hanna (current sophomore) ahead of him. OU fought Penn St. for Reid's commitment.

--3* WR John Atkins, 6'6", 193lbs, Progress H.S., Progress, PA, #23 WR, #286 player overall. Atkins was recruited by Oklahoma for his excellent height and knack for making the amazing catches. He isn't a "fast" receiver but the Sooner coaching staff didn't bring him in to be a burner. The Sooners gained Atkins' commitment over a very aggressive Ole Miss coaching staff.

--3* WR Eric Simmons, 6'2", 190lbs, Applewood East H.S., Applewood, CO, #65 WR, #727 player overall. Simmons was brought to OU for his stability, his great attitude and his openess to sit and learn as he matures into a starting college wideout. He's not known to be "amazing" in any one category but is more of a "pretty darn good" in all things. OU was Simmons' only major scholarship offer from BCS schools.

Baylor Bears Come Out Clawless

2009-11-08T13:59:00.007-06:00

Norman, OK-In what was expected to be a major blowout by the Sooners, they surprised everyone when they didn't go through the air for most of their offense. Instead, the Sooner coaching staff wanted to see how the team would react to a more run focused attack.

Oklahoma still passed the ball 27 times, completing 20 of them for 230 yards and one touchdown. A nice performance but those amounts are far from the totals the Sooner fans are used to seeing. Instead, they saw the Sooners run the ball 43 times. Sophomore running back Jermie Calhoun saw the bulk of the carries as he toted the ball 26 times for 87 yards. Not impressive numbers to say the least, esp. against this Baylor run defense that stands at 29th worst in the nation at rushing yards allowed. The Sooner coaching staff knows they have to do better running the ball this season and in seasons to come.As for the game, the final score of 26-14 was an easy win for Oklahoma. Long drives by Oklahoma often led to FG's by Tress Way (4 FG's) as the Sooners chose to try and run for first downs more often than not. OU had some success in doing so as they accumulated 19 of them compared to BU's 9. Baylor failed to really get anything going all game long. They started off strong as they scored on a 34 yard run by Jay Finley (RB) to take the 7-0 lead but would not score again util the 4:51 mark in the 4th quarter when Finley again scored on a 4 yard run.The Players of the Game were: Quinton Carter (SS) for Oklahoma. Carter (above) had 4 tackles and 3 INT's. For Baylor it was Jay Finley. The running back ran the ball 17 times for 97 yards and 2 TD's.

The Sooners have a bye next week before facing TCU in two weeks. This was Baylor's last game of the season. With a record of 3-9 (0-8), they will not be bowl eligible.

Recruiting Update: 3 New Commitments

2009-11-03T21:20:00.004-06:00

The Sooners announced today the commitment of three new recruits for the 2011 class. They are: Ryan Jacques (OLB #15, Altadena CA, 6'3", 256lbs), Steven Porter (MLB #4, Andrews TX, 6'1", 231lbs) and Brett Phillips (WR #9, Ormond Beach FL, 5'11", 160lbs). All three are expected to redshirt their first season on campus barring any unexpected transfers, early entry draft announcements or injuries. Some speculate that Porter could see playing time as a true frosh but with the MLB class OU pulled in last year, it's expected he'll take a year to redshirt, learn the defense and get ready to contribute in 2012.

Oklahoma All-Time Vs. Baylor

2009-11-02T23:58:00.003-06:00

The Sooners next travel to Waco, TX to face the Baylor Bears. If you care to see how the all-time series has gone for the two teams, click on the link below. You'll be taken to SoonerStats.com where you can see all games played, scores, locations, coaches, etc.

OU-Baylor Football Series

Oklahoma All-Time Vs. Texas Tech

2009-11-02T23:45:00.006-06:00

The Sooners beat the Red Raiders this year (2010) as you can see below. If you care to see how the entire series has gone, follow this link to the Oklahoma/Texas Tech series stats, etc. from SoonerStats.com.

OU-Texas Tech Football Series

Red Raiders Shoot Blanks in Norman, 45-21

2009-11-02T22:45:00.010-06:00

Norman, OK--Not many teams can say they have traveled to Norman, OK and came away with a win, esp. in the Bob Stoops and Coach JHeb eras. The teams that have accomplished the feat can be named on one hand. TCU ('05), Oklahoma State ('01 & '09), Colorado ('10). If you're looking to add another team to the list, it won't be today. Oklahoma blasted Texas Tech by a final score of 45-21.A scoreless first quarter was a boring beginning to what would turn out to be three quarters of scoring football. The fans would be treated to 65 points over the next three quarters and saw the Sooners own the 2nd and 3rd quarters, as they scored 35 points in that time comparted to Tech's 7. Tech and OU would both score 14 more in the 4th. This was never a ball game, as most never are on Owen Field.The Players of the Game were: R.J. Washington (DE, Oklahoma) who had 5 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks. For Tech it was J. Franks who had 7 catches for 146 yards and one TD.

Game Notes:

The teams combined for 13 turnovers. Texas Tech had 8 (4 INT's, 4 Fumbles Lost) while OU had 3 (INT's). Sam Bradford threw for 361 yards with 4 TD's but also had 3 INT's. Tech's Potts threw for 337 with 2 TD's but had 4 INT's.

Sooners Endure A&M Onslaught, Win Easily

2009-10-30T21:29:00.016-06:00

College Station, TX--In what has become one of the toughest venues for the Oklahoma Sooners to play in, Kyle Field again proved to be tough for the Sooners, at least for one half.The three-loss Sooners came into the game to face the division-leading Aggies as they tried to get into the Big XII Championship game for the first time in the 2000's. Oklahoma knew it was going to rough. They just didn't know how rough.

To say Aggie running back Christine Michael was ready for this game is probably the understatement of the college football season thus far. Michael came out ready to go and did he ever tear into the Sooners. Michael, the sophomore from Lufkin, TX started out the game playing like he was Superman. "Number 33" as he was referred as after the game by Sooner coaches and players, started the game with 3 carries for over 100 yards and had already accounted for 2 touchdowns on the day, one receiving and one carrying the ball. Number 33 helped his Aggies to a 21-0 lead with over 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Sooner defenders were bouncing off him like pins at a bowling alley.The Oklahoma coaching staff knew their only bet was to turn their balanced attack over to the arm of Sam Bradford and hope he could pull them out of the funk they were in. It worked. Bradford immediately led the Sooners on a long TD drive to to move some of the momentum over to the Sooner sidelines. The Sooner D finally figured they'd better key on Christine Michael. It must have helped b/c from this point until late in the fourth quarter, they wouldn't score a single point.As stated above, the Sooner defense really came to life. Led by sophomore defensive end R.J. Washington (below), the Sooners shut down Michael and the rest of the A&M offense.
Oklahoma would go on to win this game by a wide margin (55-28) behind the amazing performance of QB Bradford (39-55, 572 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, Long of 36, sacked once) and the rest of the Sooner offense.

The Players of the Game were Bradford and A&M's Michael (19 carries, 194 yards, 3 TD, Long of 95 yards, 1 rec for 65 yards).

Sooners Survive Tiger Attack

2009-10-30T21:11:00.006-06:00

Columbia, MO--In what was expected to be more of a blowout win for the Sooners, they had to survive costly mistakes by their best player.

The Sooners, led by the arm and brain of Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, normally rely on Bradford to calm the team, lead by example and his NFL ready arm. Today, Oklahoma had to overcome what Bradford did.The first half started and ended slowly. The Sooners scored 10 while Mizzou settled for a goose egg. The second half saw the Tigers get on the board after a Sam Bradford interception was taken 33 yards for a touchdown by C. Gettis. The Sooners moved on but once again they saw their star give up a huge play. At the start of the fourth quarter, Bradford threw another interception that was taken in for a TD, this time from 62 yards out by S. Richardson. They converted a two-point conversion to bring the score to 24-21 in favor if the Sooners.OU would go on to knock in a 44 yard field goal (Tress Way-above) to make the final score 27-21 in favor of the road team. The players of the game were: RJ Washington (DE) for OU and Z. Gooden for Mizzou. Gooden had 14 tackles and one interception. Washington had 6 tackles, 2 for a loss and 2 forced fumbles on the day.

Buffs Stampede Sooners, Win by 1

2009-10-23T23:25:00.009-05:00

Norman, OK--In what has turned out to be a disappointing season for the Sooners, they once again failed to live up to expectations and lost their third game of the season to the Colorado Buffaloes.Turnovers were the name of the game for both teams. The Buffs and Sooners combined for THIRTEEN turnovers, ten of them interceptions (see above as CU QB C. Hawkins is intercepted by OU's Lamar Harris) to go along with three fumbles. The Sooners led at one point late in the 2nd quarter 31-3 but still managed to lose the game. Shortly after that 31-3 was put on the scoreboard the Buffs managed a 37 yard TD pass as time expired. The score was nothing more than an annoying end to the first half for most Sooner fans because surely no one knew that was the start of a major comeback and was a precursor of a Sooner meltdown.The second half saw Oklahoma watch as CU scored 23 points in the third quarter before OU scored 8 at the end of the third on an 80 yard bomb from Bradford to Jameel Owens to make the score 39-36 in favor of Oklahoma as they entered the fourth quarter.

The final period saw OU score first on a 36 yard Tress Way field goal to put OU up by 6. The teams traded turnovers and blown opportunities until the Buffs scored with 38 seconds left on a 45 yard touchdown pass from Cody Hawkins to M. Simms to put CU up 43-42.It was desperation time for the Sooners. A long Bradford to Broyles pass put OU in field goal position with about 20 seconds left in the game. A couple of short runs to position the ball was all OU had to do in order to be set up for a very short field goal. Once in position, the Sooners called their final timeout, leaving only 3 seconds on the clock.

The snap was solid.

The hold was perfect, laces out.

The kick looked good, but...

But...

But, if faded right in that short distance...Sooners lose. Again.

Cyclones Fizzle Out, Lose by 55

2009-10-23T22:44:00.008-05:00

Norman, OK--If there was a sports writer, sports radio personality or fan of either team that picked Iowa State to win this game, well, that person might need to be checked out at their local psychiatric hospital because this game was over before it began. To sum it up, Oklahoma was up 30-3 at the half then went on to score 28 more in the second half. The final score of 58-3 could have been worse but the Sooners put in back-ups and got the game over with.
The win moves Oklahoma to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big XII. ISU moves to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in conference. The Sooners move on to face an undefeated Colorado team next week in Norman while Iowa St. faces Texas Tech in Ames.

Game Notes:

The Sooners led in 1st downs (28-9), total offense (592-224), passing yards (540-139) while ISU led in turnovers (4-0). The Players of the Game were: Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma (36-45 passing for 444 yards with 3 TD's and no INT's) and D. Sims for ISU (18 tackles).

Sooners Land First Commit for 2011 Class

2009-10-19T23:21:00.002-05:00

Norman, OK--Dave Hamilton. Noone really knows how his career will turn out but one thing he can say is that he was the first committment for the Oklahoma Class of 2011. Hamilton, a center from Battle Mountain, NV is rated as the 5th best center in this class and chose OU over offers from Cal and Arizona State. Hamilton (6'2", 280lbs) is expected to redshirt his freshman season as he'll be behind current Sooner center Ben Habern (Sophomore).

Fourth Quarter Failure Dooms Sooners

2009-10-19T21:53:00.006-05:00

Dallas, TX--In what was being talked about as the last roadblock for the Sooners to win another national championship, the Red River Rivalry turned out to be just that, a roadblock. The game started out with Texas hitting on a big 48 yard touchdown pass from Sharrod Harris to B. Collins to put the Horns up by 7 (see below). Oklahoma followed up with an impressive drive of their own, killing about 4 minutes of clock as Mossis Madu caught a 14 yard strike from Sam Bradford to tie the game at 7.

The second quarter saw Texas take the lead and stretch it out a bit as they held the Sooners scoreless. The Horns hit on a 12 yard TD run from Vondrell McGee then on a 34 yard field goal as the second half expired. At the half, Texas 17, Oklahoma 7. The third quarter saw OU take the momentum as they outscored UT 14-7 on a TD reception by tight end Ethan Reese and a TD run by Jermie Calhoun from 1 yard out. At the end of the third, Texas still led by a score of 24-21.

The only Sooner lead of the game came at the 3:16 mark of the fourth quarter when OU scored on a Jameel Owens TD grab from Bradford from 9 yards out. OU goes up 28-24. This is when the "fourth quarter failure" began. On the ensuing kick off, Texas' M. Williams took the kick back 103 yards to give Texas the lead 31-28. The "MO" was back with Texas. The following Sooner drive saw Sam Bradford thrown with supreme accuracy all the way down the field. That was until Blake Gideon intercepted Bradford in the redzone and took it all the way back for a Texas touchdown. The Sooners were crushed. Texas leads 38-28 with about 1:20 left in the game. Oklahoma mounted a very fast scoring drive behind the arm of Bradford but it was not enough. Timeouts had been burned by the time Texas got the ball back. They kneeeled the game away and get out of the Cotton Bowl with the 38-35 victory.

The Players of the Game were: Texas' M. Williams with 6 catches for 131 yards and 1 TD plus his kick return for a touchdown. For OU it was Bradford who threw for 476 yards on 36-55 passing with 4 TD's and one INT. Oklahoma (3-2, 1-1) faces Iowa St. next week while Texas (5-1, 2-0) gets Baylor at home.

Game Notes:

On paper it'd appear the Sooners won the game but it was the 4th quarter INT for a TD and the kick return for a TD that ended the Sooners chance for a win. The 35-38 loss for OU was the same score as their other loss this season (Florida, 35-38).

'Boys Bashed in Bedlam

2009-10-18T22:54:00.010-05:00

Stillwater, OK--In what is normally a tough environment for Oklahoma to play at, Stillwater was a friend to the Sooners this year as they roughed up the Cowboys, 45-28. The win moved their record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Big XII play.This 105th Bedlam meeting was a Sooner affair from the start, although the scoring would indicate otherwise. Oklahoma State started off with a 39 yard field goal by D. Bailey. The Sooners rallied with a long drive, capped by a 8 yard TD reception by TE Ethan Reese from Sam Bradford. From there, OSU hit another FG in the 2nd quarter and then a returned INT for a TD to make the score 13-7 in favor of the Pokes. OU followed up with scores at 2:11 and 0:03 by Calhoun (2yd rushing) and Broyles (16 receiving) to go into the half up 21-13.

The second half was all Oklahoma. Three scores involving Sam Bradford put the Sooners up for good. First wa a 27 yard Bradford pass to DeJuan Miller. Next was a Bradford 2 yard run and finally, a 42 yard scoring strike to Ryan Broyles. At the end of three, OU 42-13.

The fourth quarter saw OSU score two TD's while OU knocked in one final score, a 21 yard field goal from Tress Way. Final score, 45-28 in favor of the visiting Sooners. The Players of the Game were: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma (33-42 Passing for 463 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 1 Rushing TD) and Ugo Chinasa, Oklahoma St. (11 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks).

OU next travels to Dallas, TX to face the Longhorns in the annual Red River Rivalry while Oklahoma State travels to Manhattan, KS to face Kansas St.

Game Notes:

OU had (-3) rushing yards on the day. Their top rusher was Jermie Calhoun with 31 yards on 8 carries. OU had two 100 yard receiving days (Broyles & Owens). Both teams combined for only 1 penalty for 5 yards. OSU had 12 return yards to OU's 148. OU had 3 TO's to OSU's zero and still won by 17. Each team gave up 6 sacks. Bradford passed for 463 yards. Weeden passed for 348.

Golden Eagles Grounded By Sooners

2009-10-11T18:51:00.017-05:00

Norman, OK--The dynamic duo of Austin Davis (QB) and DeAndre Brown (WR) came into Norman getting lots of respect from the Sooner coaching staff as well as the Oklahoma players. The duo from Hattiesburg, MS are feared wherever they go because everyone knows Brown is a lock to be a first round NFL draft pick once he leaves Mississippi and Davis will end up being one of the most, if not the most celebrated quarterback in the history of Southern Miss football, well, besides Brett Favre.

The game started off well for USM as they held OU to a field goal on their first drive then followed that up with a touchdown. Half way through the first quarter they led, 6-3 (missed extra point). From that point until the 4:10 mark of the fourth quarter, Southern Miss wouldn't score another touchdown and would only manage a field goal in the second quarter. The Sooners went on a run that saw them score six touchdowns to USM's lone field goal.At the start of the fourth quarter USM was able to score when Austin Davis hit J. Morris on a 14 yard TD pass then again with 1:50 left on a T. Lampley TD run from one yard out. In between, the Sooners chipped in two Tres Way field goals from 31 and 57 yards out. The final score of the game saw the Sooners win going away, 51-23. The Players of the Game were Austin Davis for Southern Miss and Sam Bradford for Oklahoma. Davis went 24-49 for 254 yards, 2 passing touchdowns and no interceptions. He also contributed in the ground game with 4 rushes for 19 yards. Bradford went 28 of 38 for 416 yards and 3 TD's and no interceptions. He also recorded a rushing TD in the third quarter from 11 yards out.Oklahoma dominated the number of first downs 26 to 14 and had 205 more yards of total offense than the Golden Eagles. DeAndre Brown was held to 72 yards on 6 catches with none of them going for a score. Oklahoma ran the ball 36 times for a total of 16 yards when Bradford's sacks are counted in. Sophomore (Rs) Jonathan Miller toted the ball 25 times for 59 yards in the place of Jermie Calhoun who was out for the game due to an abdominal tear. Calhoun is expected back for the game in Stillwater in two weeks after the Sooners bye week in Week 4.

Game Notes: Oklahoma back-up QB's Landry Jones and Drew Allen got into the game. Jones completed 6 of 9 passes for 98 yards and 1 touchdown while Allen went 0 for 1. Fullback Buck Buchanan scored a touchdown today and has become a nice goal line threat for the Sooners after being an afterthought for the Sooners in the Spring. Former Junior College tight end Ethan Reese continued his dominating performances with 11 catches for 165 yards (with 1 TD) and is quickly being considered Bradford's favorite target. Also topping the 100 yard barrier on the day were receivers Jameel Owens and Mossis Madu with 118 and 129 yards respectively. Madu, the former Sooner running back from Norman High School hauled in two touchdowns on the day. Neither team committed a turnover today. Neither team did well on converting third downs with OU hitting on 36% (7-19) and USM hitting 25% (3-12). Both teams were 2 of 3 on 4th down conversions. OU led the T.O.P. with 18:35 compared to USM's 13:26. Oklahoma has a bye week next week while USM travels to Louisiana-Lafayette.

#1 Florida Escapes #3 Sooners Grasps

2009-10-02T23:31:00.010-05:00

Gainesville, FL--It was the Game of the Week leading up to the game and it was the Game of the Week after it was over. It was hyped by ESPN as having a "national championship feel" due to the #1 and #3 teams battling it out. The two teams have faced each other three times in the last three seasons, with Florida winning the 2009 National Championship over the Sooners then beating them again in Week 2 of the 2009 season in Norman. In the end, this time was no different.

The Sooners received the ball first and drove down the field, ending with an 8 yard TD pass from Sam Bradford to DeJuan Miller. Sooners go up, 7-0. The Gators followed up with a methodic drive of their own ending with a 1 yard TD run by Jeff Demps. 7-7.

The second quarter saw more of the same. Oklahoma drove down to the Florida 1 yard line where they saw Sooner full back Buck Buchanan plunge over the goalline to put his team up, 14-7. Gator quarterback John Brantly was cool and calm. His 39 yard strike to T. Lawrence tied the game at 14. The Sooners answered with another Buchanan TD run, this time from 4 yards out. At the half, the Sooners lead 21-14.

The third quarter saw Florida move the momentum to their side of the field. They held OU scoreless while scoring twice themselves. They put the clamps on the Sooner offense while scoring on two Jeff Demps 1 yard TD runs (5:24 mark and :44 mark). At the end of three, Florida led 28-21.

The fourth quarter saw the teams once again exchange scores. OU started it off at the 6:21 mark with a Mossis Madu TD reception from 4 yards out. But before the Sooners could score, Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford was hit late by a Gator defender (penalty called) which knocked him out of the game for the rest of the quarter. Landry Jones came in to make the pass to Madu. Tie ballgame, 28 all. Florida hit paydirt again at the 4:59 mark with a Demps 5 yard TD run. Florida 35, OU 28.

OU's next drive was the responsibility of Jones, the redshirt sophomore from New Mexico. Jones, who led the Sooners to several wins last season when Bradford was injured, came in cool and collect. He went 10-10 on the drive and ended it with a 16 yard TD pass to running back Jeremie Calhoun, leaving 1:26 on the clock.

The Oklahoma coaches said after the game they were worried they left too much time on the clock but when you get a chance to score, you have to take it and not worry about the time left. The time left would be too much. The Gators drove down, killing some clock along the way, hitting Aaron Hernandez on some big passes and finally, nailed a 29 yard field goal as time expired. Gators win, 38-35.

A look at the game's statistics tells how the close the game really was. The teams each had the ball for about 16 minutes (OU 16:08, UF 15:52) and had nearly the same number of first downs(OU 20, UF 19). They also came really close in: total offense (OU 384, UF 349), third down conversion percentage (OU 7-8 for 87%, UF 9-12 for 75%), redzone conversions (OU had 5 entries w/ 5 TD's while UF had 6 entries with 4 TD's and 1 FG), punts (OU had 1 for 47 yards, UF had two for a 46.5 yards per kick average) and penalties (OU 2-15, UF 1-10).

The big difference in the game appeared to be turnovers (OU had 2 INT's, UF had none) and the running game. Oklahoma only managed 14 yards on 17 carries while Florida had 102 yards on 33 carries.

The Players of the Game were: RB Jeff Demps (UF) with 26 rushes for 108 (4.1ypc) yards and 4 TD's. For Oklahoma it was DE Frank Alexander with 7 tackles, 5 for loss and 3 sacks.

Stats of Note:

--Passing--

OU: Bradford 23-28 294yds, 1 TD, 2 INT

OU: Jones 10-10, 76yds, 1 TD, 0 INT

UF: Brantley 19-23 247yds, 1 TD, 0 INT

--Rushing--

OU: Calhoun 12-29yds, 0 TD

OU: Buchanan 2-5yds, 2 TD

UF: Demps 26-108, 4 TD

--Receiving--

OU: Calhoun 7-93yds, 1TD

OU: Miller 6-59yds, 1 TD

OU: Owens 5-75yds, 0 TD

OU: Madu 5-41yds, 1 TD

UF: Hammond 5-69yds, 0 TD

UF: Hernandez 5-69yds, 0 TD

UF: Lawrence 3-65yds, 1 TD

--Defense--

OU: Bird 14 TKL, 2 DEFL

OU: Jackson 8 TKL, 1 TFL, 2 DEFL

OU: Box 8 TKL, 2 TFL

OU: Alexander 7 TKL, 5 TFL, 3 Sacks

UF: Black 9 TKL, 1 DEFL

UF: Hicks 9 TKL

UF: Jenkins 8 TKL

UF: Lemmens 6 TKL, 3 TFL, 1 Sack

--Returns--

OU: Kenney 3 KR-75yds

OU: Franks 2 KR-46yds, 1 PR-19yds

UF: Thompson 4 KR-125yds

UF: Haden 2 KR-99yds

Cadets Fight, Fall in the End

2009-09-30T23:16:00.008-05:00

Westpoint, NY--This game had blowout written all over it. The mighty Sooners with their Heisman winning QB in tow, would surely come into upper New York and run, pass, smash or whatever they wanted, all over the Cadets. With respect of course, but they'd kill 'em. Right? Right?!

No. This Army team was ready. They knew they had to try and keep the ball away from the Sooners and they did well with that in the first half. They ran to the short side when OU expected the wide side. They passed when expected to run. Ran when expected to pass. Ran when expected to run. Up the gut, left and right. Heck, they led the game 10-0 at the half. The crowd was in a frenzy. Could it be? Could they be witnessing an upset of the mighty third-ranked Sooners on the Army home field? Yeah, maybe...

The second half was different. Oklahoma realized they are Oklahoma and this was Army. Oklahoma had elite athletes. Army had elite soldiers. The Sooners settled down, found a good defense to handle the Army flexbone and ran the ball more. They only allowed 3 points in the last two quarters while scoring 21. The game was finally all but over once OU scored in the 4th quarter and went up by 8 points. Army knew they had to pass and so did the Sooner defense.
Oklahoma goes on to win, 21-13.

The stars of the game for Oklahoma were:
Jermey Calhoun, RB (Player of the Game): 18 rushes, 66 yards, 2 TD's
Sam Bradford, QB: 18/26 for 233 yards (0 TD, 0 INT)
Eric Reese, TE: 5 receptions for 55 yards
RJ Washington, DE: 9TKL, 3TFL, 1 Sack

Oklahoma next travels to Gainesville, FL to face #1 Florida. Army stays home to face Eastern Michigan.

2010 Season Pre-View

2009-09-28T00:38:00.004-05:00

Norman, OK--The 2010 football season for the Oklahoma Sooners was expected to be a big season, even bigger than most expected when quarterback Landry Jones emerged from the despair of the Sam Bradford injury to perform very well under center for the Sooners. Jones led the team to many wins and helped them finish with an 11-3 record and once again won the Big XII Championship. When the news of Sam Bradford once again rejecting the NFL for one more season in Norman, the expectations for the 2010 version of the Sooners went even higher.

Tagging along with Bradford to boost the hype for '10 was senior stud defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who also could have been a very high NFL Draft pick had he left Norman for the riches of the pro football. Bob Stoops sure has to be giddy over the thought of having Bradford and McCoy back, although he'd never admit it. The 12th year head coach would have been fine either way but did tell media members that it was definitely a nice position to be in, having Bradford to start at QB with Jones waiting in the wings. On top of that, the Sooners just landed the nations top rated recruit when Jordan Thomas signed with the Sooners on National Letter of Intent day back in February.

Oklahoma's early season schedule is probably one of, if not the toughest in the nation. They travel to play at Army then hit the road again the next week to face off with 2009-10 national champs, Florida (ranked #1). After that they get a very tough Southern Miss team in Norman, a bye week after than then they go to Stillwater to take on #11 Oklahoma State. The Sooners finish off Bedlam then have to jump right back into the fire when they go to Dallas for the Red River Rivalry before heading back to Norman for Iowa State. Colorado, at Missouri, at Texas A&M, Texas Tech, at Baylor, bye week and their last game will be TCU in Norman.

The team lost great talent in the offseason in their seniors and to the NFL Draft. DeMarco Murray (Jr.), Jeremy Beal (Jr.) and Travis Lewis (RsSoph.) all entered the draft. The Sooners were lucky to not lose more and hope for a big push in '10 to win a national championship before doing some reloading in '11.

Expect big things from Oklahoma in 2010.

Pre-Season Conference Predictions ('10)

2009-09-28T00:02:00.005-05:00

Dallas, TX--The pre-season conference predictions have been released and the Sooners and Huskers are expected to meet in the Big XII Championship Game in December. The Big XII media recently gathered in Dallas for Media Days 2010 and voted on conference order among other things. The Sooners have won the last four conference championships and are expected win it again in 2010. The predicted order of the South division is: OU, Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech then Baylor. In the North, Nebraska is pegged as the eventual winner who'll face the Sooners in Kansas City. The predicted order there is: Nebraska, Kansas State, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa St. then Missouri.

They also voted on their pre-season all-conference teams. Surprisingly, the #3 rated Sooners only managed to get two players on the first team and three players on the second team. Those players chosen were as follows:

First Team All Big Twelve:
CB Dominique Franks (Sr.)
K Jimmy Stevens (Jr.)

Second Team All Big Twelve:
WR Jameel Owens (Jr.)
DT Gerald McCoy (Sr.)
SS Sam Proctor (Jr.)

Most were shocked when senior Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford was not picked for either all-conference team. Most felt he was a lock to be a first round draft pick in this year's NFL Draft if he had entered. He instead chose to come back to school at OU. Bradford was injured for the second half of the 2009 season. There is some doubt amonst media members if Bradford is actually healthy and maybe that's why he chose to not enter the draft.

ALL BIG XII OFFENSE:
QB Jerrod Johnson, A&M (SR)
HB Darrell Scott, COL (JR)
HB Cyrus Gray, A&M (JR)
WR Dez Bryant, OSU (SR)
WR Niles Paul, NEB (SR)
TE Tim Biere, KAN (JR)
LT Lucas Patterson, A&M (SR)
C Alex Smith, KAN (SR)
RG John Williams, KAN (SO)
RG Matt Allen, A&M (SR)
RT Ben Lamaak, ISU (SR)

ALL BIG XII DEFENSE:
LE Quintin Woods, KAN (SR)
LE Eddie Jones, TEX (SR)
DT Kheeston Randall, TEX (JR)
DT Jared Crick, NEB (JR)
LOLB Bront Bird TTECH (JR)
MLB Brian Duncan, TTECH (SR)
ROLB Ricky Cavanaugh, A&M (JR)
CB Dominique Franks, OU (SR)
CB Jonathan Hawkins, COL (JR)
FS Earl Thomas, TEX (JR)
SS Victor Johnson, OSU (JR)
K Jimmy Stevens, OU (JR)
P Ryan Doerr, KSU (SO)
RET Chris Harris, KAN (SR)

Sooners Enter 2010 Polls in Top 5

2009-09-27T23:06:00.006-05:00

Norman, OK--After a very good 2009 season (11-3, Big 12 Champions) and the return of key players on both offense and defense, the 2010 version of the Oklahoma Sooners are being ranked in the Top 5 of both major preseason polls. The first version of the Associated Press poll came out today and has Oklahoma at #3. The first coaches poll has the Sooners in the same spot.

Associated Press:

1) Florida
2) Miami
3) Oklahoma
4) Texas
5) Ohio St.
6) Penn St.
7) Florida St.
8) Oregon
9) Notre Dame
10) West Virginia

Coaches Poll:

1) Florida (39)
2) Miami (21)
3) Oklahoma (1)
4) Texas
5)Ohio St.
6) Penn St.
7) Florida St.
8) Oregon
9) Notre Dame
10) West Virginia

Commitment List: Season One

2009-09-24T23:45:00.011-05:00

Rank	Stars	Position(rank)	Name & Overall	State
14	*****	QB(1)	Jordan Thomas-86	TX
30	*****	CB (6)	Brett Dixon-79	CA
47	********	TE (2) JC(So.)	Ethan Reese-82	MO
77	********	WR(5)	Christian Davis-78	TX
102	********	DT(6)	Darrin Sanders-78	OK
121	********	CB(21)	Edward Leak-75	MD
140	********	MLB(8)	Rufus Lumpkin-75	TX
168	********	ATH(11) JC(Jr.)	Chip Downing-76	WA
267	********	G(22)	Jim Callahan-74	AR
303	*******	MLB(19)	Larry Dortch-76	GA
389	*******	MLB(24)	Derek Triplett-75	OH
491	*******	DT(24)	Maurice Bolden-74	MO
681	*******	HB(52)	Ryan Charles-76	IL
781	*******	DE(46)	Austin Davis-72	MO
2020	*	FB(23)	Maurice Ralph-68	MO

Oklahoma ended up with the 13th ranked recruiting class by EA Sports' Recruiting Service. The Sooners signed 15 kids on signing day. It's a small class compared to most years but the coaching staff stated they feel very pleased with the kids they bring to the team and look forward to seeing and helping them develop.

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #10

2009-09-24T22:39:00.003-05:00

Norman, OK--SoonerWorld.com is reporting the hard commitment of three more recruits for the Sooners this off season, bringing their total to 15. The new Sooners are:

1) Darrin Sanders****, DT, Shawnee High School (Shawnee, OK)--Sanders was a hard lean to Notre Dame for most of the 2009 season but never received the scholarship offer he dreamed of. Instead, he committed to the team that really wanted him and that just happened to be the home state Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners went after Sanders hard due to the expected loss of three Sooner tackles (Granger, McCoy and Moore). McCoy, the only non-senior of the group, shocked most when he once again decided not to enter the NFL Draft and come back to school in Norman. Sanders will likely redshirt in 2010 as McCoy, Adrian Taylor and Stacey McGee look to get most of the time next season. Sanders is considered the 6th best defensive tackle prospect by EA Sports' recruiting service and the 102nd overall regardless of position.

2) Chip Downing****, ATH, Silver Lake High School (Silver Lake-Fircrest, WA)--Downing, the athlete from Washington state, played both running back and linebacker in high school and will wait to get on campus in Norman to figure out which side of the ball he will play on. Downing comes to OU from the JUCO ranks and looks to be a stabilizing force for the younger players at whichever position he ends up at. EA Sports' recruiting service ranks Downing as the 11th best athlete and the 168th player regardless of position.

3) Jim Callahan****, G, Helena High School (Helena, AR)--Callahan was initially a major lean towards the home state Razorbacks but once the Sooners came calling, he changed his mind and committed to the Sooners. Callahan was added to the recruiting board to provide depth in his first couple of seasons but will have a chance to fight for a starting slot. Most expect him to redshirt in '10 but if the Sooners pattern holds true, he could be playing if not starting in Week 1. Callahan is rated as the 22nd best guard by EA and as the 267th player regardless of position.

Slingin' Sammy Returns for Senior Season

2009-09-21T22:34:00.003-05:00

Norman, OK--It what must count as "Breaking News", the University of Oklahoma held a press conference today for a mystery announcement. No one was told about what the presser was for but when Sam Bradford entered from stage left most assumed it was his announcement telling us all what we already knew, that he'd be giving up his last season of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft. Instead, jaws dropped when he announced he would come back to OU for his senior season. He said he couldn't leave Oklahoma having missed half of his last season and wanted to go out and try to win Oklahoma it's eighth national championship and the fifth Big XII conference championship in his five years on the Norman campus.

Most NFL Draft pundits had Bradford as the number one quarterback in the draft and number one selection overall, the same as they had him after his sophomore season.

Bradford returns to a whole new backfield as Chris Brown graduates and DeMarco Murray has left for the NFL. He returns his main receiver in Ryan Broyles and loses a ton of senior leadership all over the team.

Three Underclassmen Enter NFL Draft

2009-09-21T21:29:00.002-05:00

Norman, OK--Every off-season the schools and coaching staffs have to deal with it. Every season the fans agonize over who'll be next. All of the local sports talk radio ponder on who will do it and why, or why not.

We're of course talking about players leaving their schools before their college eligibility is up to enter the NFL Draft.

There are often times major mistakes made by players getting the wrong information from family, friends and agents-to-be. They often hear about bloated contracts they could get if drafted high enough. They're all told they'll be drafted higher than they actually do.

This season is no different. This year the Sooners lose three underclassment to the NFL. They are:

LB Travis Wilson-The redshirt sophomore has decided to leave OU. His blazing speed and killer instincts will surely land him a Round 1 grade. Wilson is thought to be the #1 defender in his class (RsSoph).

DE Jeremy Beal-Beal led the Sooners in sacks this season and set an all-time Oklahoma record for sacks in a season with 18. Beal and senior Auston English were terrors all season long from their DE positions.

RB DeMarco Murray-Murray has been considered a future NFL first rounder since he signed his national letter of intent with Oklahoma his senior year of high school. The Las Vegas runner has shown flashes of amazing speed, cutting ability, acceleration and pass catching skills but has been on the sidelines more than expected with injuries. Most expect Murray to be the first or second running back taken in the draft.

Sooners Flop in the Fiesta, Again...

2009-09-19T11:31:00.014-05:00

Tempe, AZ--In what started off as a pretty good season for Oklahoma Football, the direction of the team over the past month or more has put a sour final note on the 2009 season. In what has become a stressful time of year, the 2009 bowl season was more of the same for the team, the coaches, the administration and especially for the fans.

The Sooners came into the Fiesta Bowl hoping to break their cycle of big game disappointments. Sure, they've won more than a handful of Big XII conference championships since 2000 but since the 2003 Big XII Championship upset they suffered at the hands of Kansas State, the Sooners have all but choked when they enter bowl season. It's not just bowls they're going to, they're appearing in national championship games and major BCS bowl games. The Sooners list of upsetting losses is astonishing if not historic.

In the 2003 Big XII Championship game, they lose 7-35 to an undermanned Kansas State team led by Darren Sproles running wild on the Sooners. that same season's national championship game they had a chance to beat LSU in the Sugar Bowl but couldn't pull it out when needed.

They creamed the competition for all of the 2004 season only to be demolished by USC in the Orange Bowl for the national championship, 19-55.

2005 was a rebuilding year that included losses to TCU, UCLA, Texas and Texas Tech but the Sooners went on to win their bowl game that season, beating Oregon in the Holiday Bowl (17-14).

The '06 season saw the Sooners again win the Big XII only to lose in the Fiesta to Boise St. (42-43) in what became an instant classic.

The '07 season saw Oklahoma win the Big XII but they lost again in the Fiesta to West Virginia (28-48).In 2008 it was another Big XII title for Oklahoma and another trip to the national championship game. They faced off with Florida and in what should have been a Sooner win, they could not punch in scores when inside the Gator 5 yard line and lost the game 14-24.

Here we are again in 2009 with another Fiesta disappointment to a familiar foe.

The game was expected to the triumphant return of Sam Bradford after he tore his abdominal earlier in the season. Bradford was not cleared to play so Landry Jones remained at the helm for the team.

It was a back and forth affair, especially in the first half. The Mountaineers scored first when Jarrett Brown hit Jock Sanders on a 6 yard touchdown pass with about 5 minutes to go in Q1. The Sooners followed up with a 10 yard TD pass from Landry Jones to Jameel Owens to tie the game up at 7.

The Second quarter again saw WVU strike first. Noel Devine, a Heisman Top 5 finisher, dove in from the 1 to put his team up by 7. OU followed up with a long drive that ended with Jones hitting Adron Tennell on a 11 yard TD strike. Fourteen all at the half.

Quarter number three saw more of the same when OU scored first followed by the same from West Virginia. Twenty-one all after three quarters.The swing in momentun came in the last period when Oklahoma fumbled and WVU's G. Dervil scooped it up and took it 75 yards for the score. OU answered with another 11 yard strike from Jones to Cameron Kenney to knot the game up at 28. From there Noel Devine showed why is one of the most talented runningbacks in the country. He led his team on a long drive, finishing it off with a 3 yard dive to give his team the lead. OU tried to answer but could not. WVU scored one more time, this time for the lead, on a 57 yard over-the-shoulder catch by W. Lyons that ended in a score. That put WVU up 35-28 and the Sooners couldn't answer in the 30 seconds they had left in the game.

As usual, in the postgame interviews, Coach JHeb gave it up to the Mountaineers for playing tough and smart. He vowed to keep coming back to the big games because "You've got to be in them to win them. We'll be back. Our time is coming. All teams have down times. I wouldn't call this a down time. We're playing the best teams in the country. Someone has to lose. Winning national and conference championships isn't easy. I'd bet there are a lot of coaches out there who'd trade spots with me right now. I promise ya. That's all. See you guys in the spring."

Sooners Named 1st Team All-Americans

2009-09-15T23:40:00.004-05:00

Norman, OK--Sooner football stars Jeremy Beal and Jimmy Stevens were both named First Team All-Americans today by EA Sports Selection Committee. Beal, the junior defensive end, collected 63 tackles this season with 16 of them being quarterback sacks and totalling 22 tackles for loss. Stevens, a sophomore, connected on 26 of 32 field goals and on 100% of his extra point attempts. No Sooners were named to the Second Team.

Big XII Champion 2009: Oklahoma

2009-09-15T22:49:00.008-05:00

Arlington, TX--The 2009 Big XII Championship game was not all it was hyped up to be. Many felt the Cornhuskers would get revenge on the Sooners for giving the Huskers their only loss in the regular season. It was not to be.Nebraska took the early lead on a 47 yard field goal by Nebraska's Henery. The Sooners then followed up with the next six scores and grew a 34-3 lead entering the fourth quarter. Nebraska managed a 40 yard TD pass from Zac Lee to wide receiver N. Paul early in the fourth then managed to give up another Sooner score, a one yard TD dive to DeMarco Murray, to make the final score 41-10. Quarterback Landry Jones was the Oklahoma Player of the Game after going 29-37 for 324 yards and 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.This marks the 7th Big XII Championship for the Sooners since the 2000 season and the fourth in a row ('00, '02, '04, '06, '07, '08, '09). The Sooners will move on to face West Virginia in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on January 3rd, 2010. The game will be a rematch of the 2007 version of the Fiesta Bowl when the Mountaineers beat the Sooners in an upset, 48-28, led by quarterback Pat White and running back Noel Devine (now a Senior on the WVU team).

'09 BIG XII Championship Preview: OU v. Nebraska

2009-09-13T13:57:00.010-05:00

Arlington, TX--Maybe it was meant to be. Oklahoma and Nebraska in the Big XII Championship game seems more like old-school college football than seeing Kansas, Missouri or other teams from the North there. It only seems right for Nebraska to be good. Same for Oklahoma. Current Cornhusker head coach Bo Pelini is a former Oklahoma assistant coach. He was a co-defesnsive c oordinator for the Sooners in 2004 and helped the team win the Big XII Championship as well as a spot in the national championship game against USC (L, 19-55).

Pelini has moved on as have the Sooners. The coach has revived the proud Nebraska program and has them back in the double digit win category. The Sooners have keep steaming along having gone 52-14 since Pelini's departure. The Sooners and Huskers met in the 2009 regular season with the Sooners handing the Huskers their only loss so far when they beat them on November 7th by a score of 31-28. The game really wasn't that close. A B. Kinnie touchdown reception from Zach Lee in the fourth quarter with 55 seconds left pulled the Huskers within 3 of the Sooners and that is where the scoring would stop. Nebraska went on to win the rest of their games while Oklahoma did the same until they met up with Oklahoma State on November 28th and lost, 33-52.

The rematch in Arlington, TX at Dallas Cowboys Stadium should be another fairly close game. Oklahoma comes into the game without the services of Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham while Nebraska will be without right tackle Marcel Jones (dislocated shoulder) and most likely will not have running back Quentin Castille due to his broken hand. Castille is listed as "questionable".

Nebraska sits at #8 in the BCS rankings while Oklahoma sits just behind them at #9. On paper it appears the Sooners may be too much for the Huskers to handle, esp. considering the game in Arlington might as well be Norman South due to how well the Sooner Nation travels to games and especially to championship games. Nebraska knows all too well about the talent that stands on the Sooner sidelines but when one looks at the season's statistics, it's the Huskers who have had the better season, in wins/losses as well as pure numbers. As a matter of fact, the only area the Sooners have bettered the Huskers is in total passing yards (3942 to 3225). Nebraska has put together better numbers in all other categories.

Fans and media expect a great game. The winner of this game is assured of a BCS bowl game to end their season while the loser will play in one of the Big XII non-BCS bowl games. Good luck!

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #9

2009-09-13T13:48:00.002-05:00

Norman, OK--SoonerWorld.com reported on their website early this morning that the Sooners have earned another commitment for the Class of 2010. The newest addition to the class is said to be middle linebacker Larry Dortch, of Atlanta, GA. Dortch (6'1", 218lbs) is the third middle linebacker to commit to the Sooners this recruiting season. The others are: Rufus Lumpkin (4*, Katy, TX) and Derek Triplett (3*, Sandusky, OH). Dortch is rated by EA Sports' recruiting service as the #16 middle linebacker in the country and the 276th best player overall. EA has him as a 3* prospect. Dortch is expected to be the last linebacker the Sooners will take this year. They are expected to continue to trying to build depth at defensive tackle, guard and one other position that is unclear at this time.

Bedlam Blowout in Norman

2009-09-11T00:16:00.010-05:00

Norman, OK--In what is usually a big win for the home team, Oklahoma State came onto Owen Field to prove that they are still a very good team. According to some of the players interviewed after the game, many feel they're even better on the road in tough situations than they are at home in Stillwater. It's hard to believe a team could be better on the road than at home, but with these Cowboys and their 2009 season, it looks to be true.

Oklahoma State entered the season with more hype than the school has ever received. Probably even more than when future College and NFL Football Hall of Famers Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders roamed the sidelines during the 1980's. Entering the 2009 season, the Cowboys were the trendy pick to challenge annual Big XII South powers Oklahoma and Texas for a spot in the Big XII Championship game. It was not to be. OSU went on to lose home games to Georgia, Houston, Texas and Colorado. A season lost? Perhaps. One thing Cowboy fans won't forget is the joy of beating their arch rival, on the road, as underdogs, and ruining another potentially great season for the Sooners.The Pokes took the opening kick and turned it into a long touchdown drive, highlighted by a Hubert Anyiam (WR, Soph., Garland, TX) 3 yard TD pass (see pic below) from Zac Robinson (Sr., Littleton, CO). The drive was perfect. Sooner players admitted after the game they knew they were in for a long night by how precise the drive was and how "on" Robinson appeared to be. The Sooners followed it up with a 23 yard field goal by Jimmy Stevens (Soph., Oklahoma City). End of Q1, OSU leads, 7-3.The second quarter saw both teams score two TD's each, in back and forth fashion. OSU scoring on a 2 yard TD pass from Robinson to Kendall Hunter (RB, Jr., Tyler, TX) and an 8 yard pass from Robinson to Dez Bryant (WR, Jr., Lufkin, TX). Oklahoma scored on two DeMarco Murray (RB, Jr., Las Vegas) TD's, one a 4 yard run and the other a 35 yard pass from Landry Jones (FrRS, Artesia, NM). At the half, OSU leads 21-16.

Quarter #3 saw the teams slow down the scoring until late in the quarter. The teams swapped field goals to make the score 24-19. With 55 seconds left in the quarter, Zac Robinson called his own number and increased his team's lead to 31-19.

The final period was where Oklahoma State blew the game open and crushed any hopes the Sooners had of coming back for the win. Sooners fans would have thought the opposite as the quarter started with a Sooner score. Murray again hit paydirt on a 4 yard TD run. The fans got excited. The OSU lead is now down to 31-26. Tress Way kicks the ball deep for the Sooners only to see OSU's Jeremy Smith (RB, Frosh, Tulsa) take it all the way back, 103 yards to completely take the air out of Memorial Stadium. OSU's lead is back up to 12, 38-26 with 5:49 to go in the game.

The Sooner offense stumbled. OSU's did not. The Coboys score on their next possession, this time Stillwater's own, fullback Bryant Ward (Jr.) pushed the ball in on a zero yard TD run. OSU's up 45-26.

OU tries to rally behind the arm of Jones. They manage to score but kills clock along the way. OSU leads 45-33.

OSU has the ball back. OU forces a fumble. This is Oklahoma's chance. Jones is pushing the team. The team is catching fire. Jones calls a short crossing route. As he's about to pass his arm is hit. Ball flails in the air like a dead duck. OSU's Victor Johnson (S, Soph., Waco, TX) catches it (see video below). He takes it to the barn, scores (76 yards). OSU's fans and players go insane. So do the Sooner fans but for opposite reasons. OSU's lead jumps to 52-33 and that is where it ended.

The win snaps a 9 game winning streak for the Sooners and is the first loss at home to a conference opponent since Oklahoma State last won there on November 24th, 2001 (13-16), a streak of 24 games.

The Players of the Game were:
Oklahoma State--Zac Robinson, QB: 30-39, 366 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT & 1 Rushing TD
Oklahoma--Landry Jones, QB: 28-48, 416 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

The loss drops the Sooners to 10-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play. The win moves OSU up to 8-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play.

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #8

2009-09-11T00:15:00.005-05:00

Norman, OK--SoonerWorld.com is reporting two new committments to the Sooner football program. They are:

1) ****Rufus Lumpkin, Katy (TX), MLB5 (101 OVR)--Rufus Lumpkin has given his verbal pledge to play for the Sooners. The Katy, TX middle linebacker chose the Sooners over an offer from Oklahoma State. Lumpkin also had a large interest in USC, Florida State and Michigan. OU insiders tell SoonerWorld.com that the Sooners are thin at MLB and the addition of Lumpkin should help the team in years to come. His status for 2010 is unknown (redshirt or not?). Most suspect he'll be forced to play due to the lack of depth. The Sooners lose seniors Ryan Reynolds and Mike Balogun, leaving them only with Austin Box having experience. The Sooners have also landed MLB Derek Triplett of Sandusky, OH. Triplett and Lumpkin will likely fight for the second MLB starting slot. The Sooners are reportedly recruiting one other MLB, likely Larry Dortch of Atlanta, GA. Dortch reports on his Myspace and Facebook pages that he has an offer from Oklahoma and has stated he's "basically committed" to the team.

2) ****Edward Leak, Camp Springs (MD), CB20 (119 OVR)--Edward Leak has given his verbal pledge to play his college football in Norman, OK. Leak chose Oklahoma over an offer from Penn State and also had interest in playing for Michigan, Florida, Notre Dame and Georgia. Leak will most likely redshirt in 2010 due to the depth the Sooners have there. Oklahoma also landed a committment from 5* CB prospect Brett Dixon of Ennis, TX earlier in the year. Leak (6'1") and Dixon (6'2") look to form a dominant outside presence in Norman for years to come. Many feel the two are the best recruits at the position in the history of the Sooner program. They have a long way to go if they hope to pass the likes of Derrick Strait and Antonio Perkins.

The Sooner Nation welcomes Lumpkin and Leak to the Sooner family...Welcome!

Bedlam, Meeting #104

2009-09-08T00:21:00.006-05:00

Norman, OK--The build-up for the potential of an epic Bedlam game in 2009 was expected and deserved. Oklahoma had the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback and three other potential NFL first rounders who decided to come back to Norman to play college ball (TE Jermaine Gresham, DT Gerald McCoy, LT Trent Williams) rather than enter the NFL draft and potentially make millions of dollars with one simple swipe of their pens.

Oklahoma State had a newly finished stadium, a new set of Triplets (QB Zach Robinson, WR Dez Bryant and RB Kendall Hunter) not to mention their own potential NFL first round pick (OT Russell Okung) who came back to school for one more year of the college game rather than the millions he could be spending right now. They had what most considered a very Cowboy friendly schedule that included eight home games (Georgia & Texas being two of them).

Sports talk radio throughout the state buzzed all Summer long, forecasting both teams being undefeated and possibly being #1 and #2 in the nation, fighting it out not only for Big XII Conference superiority but national championship dreams.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Oklahoma lost early on in a national championship rematch with Florida (6-30). They lost Gresham to a season-ending injury and Bradford to what will most likely be a season-ending injury. Oklahoma State lost to Georgia in Game 1 (21-36), Houston in Game 2 (32-42), Texas in Game 8 (16-37) and finally, to Colorado in Weel 11 (45-48). All four losses at home in Stillwater.

This season Oklahoma State finds themselves in a familiar role during Bedlam. The role of spoiler. A win in Norman on Saturday will spoil any chances they have of a national championship birth. Oklahoma can and will still play in the Big XII Championship Game during Week 14 since they beat the current second place team, Texas. A loss to OSU would leave OU at 7-1, same as the Longhorns with the Sooners winning the tie-breaker (head to head result).

Either way, the Sooners will face Nebraska, a rematch of the Week 10 thriller OU won, 31-28.

Expect a big win for the Sooners this week. History shows us that the Cowboys do not play well in Norman. It's a different story when the game is held in Stillwater. Expect OSU to be in payback mode in 2010. OU has won by the following scores the last few times they've played in Norman (49-17, 42-14, 52-9). OSU last won in Norman in 2001 (13-16). Oklahoma leads the all-time series 80-16-7.

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #7

2009-09-08T00:00:00.002-05:00

Norman, OK--SoonerWorld.com is reporting on their website that Dallas, TX wide receiver, Christian Davis has committed to play for Oklahoma. Davis is listed as a 4* player by the EA Sports Recruiting service and is their #4 receiver in the class. Davis (6'0, 189lbs) chose Oklahoma over offers from LSU and Cal. He is known to have good speed, very good agility and specialty moves (juke and spin). Davis will have to work on his hands once on campus but should do just fine. The Sooner Nation welcomes Christian Davis!

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #6

2009-09-04T23:02:00.004-05:00

9/4/09--SoonerWorld.com is reporting news in the area of recruiting for the Sooner football team. The website posted information today saying Katy, TX MLB Rufus Lumpkin now has the Sooners as his top school, surpassing his previous top school, Florida State. They quote sources close to Lumpkin as saying "Lump is ticked that Bowden hasn't offered him yet. He feels disrespected. Oklahoma is the new top school. He'd love to be a Sooner." EA Sports' recruiting service has Lumpkin as the 5th best MLB in the nation and has him as a four star prospect. He also holds a scholarship offer from Oklahoma State, among others.

SoonerWorld is also reporting the committment of Ennis, TX athlete Justin Jenkins to Texas A&M. They note in their story that sources with ties to the Sooner coaching staff say the school has taken Jenkins off their board of prospects due to his hard committment to the Aggies.

Leach Speechless After Sooner Domination

2009-09-04T22:00:00.011-05:00

Lubbock, TX--Former University of Oklahoma assistant coach Mike Leach, better known as the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, is a man of many words. He's known for saying what he thinks and being a great interview because you never know what he'll say or do next. After Saturday's game against Oklahoma he wasn't saying much.

Leach's air attack offenses have dominated NCAA passing records since he took over in Lubbock prior to the 2000 season. He's had a long line of short-term quarterbacks who bid their time on the bench then threw for four or five thousand yards in one season then were gone, never to be heard from again. It was becoming the "Texas Tech Way". Stockpile good quarterback talent from the rich recruiting base of Texas and promise them they'll play eventually and when they do, look out, they'll wonder if their arm will survive the season because they'll be throwing so many times per game. Leach finally landed a long-term starter when he put Graham Harrell on the field four years ago and he didn't disappoint, leading the Red Raiders to the brink of winning the Big XII South and playing for a chance to play in a BCS bowl. It was not be.

Now Leach starts over with a combination of Tyler Potts (Jr.), Seth Doege (Fr.) and Steven Sheffield (Soph.). It was Sheffield getting the start against Oklahoma since Potts is out for the season with a broken tibia. Sheffield had to be thinking his team could beat the hobbled Sooners if he put together a great game. Heck, they beat Texas last year in Waco, why not OU?Sheffield (above, getting sacked by Gerald McCoy) did his part, passing for 385 yards on 25 of 35 attempts with four TD's and two interceptions. He still had a rough time avoiding the Sooner defense but held his own. Too bad his counterpart, Landry Jones (Soph.) topped him. Jones, thrust into the starting line-up for the rest of the regular season with the injury to Sam Bradford, had a great game. He hit 30 of 52 pass attempts for 448 yards, three TD's and no interceptions. Both QB's were named their team's Player of the Game.The game was tighter than the final score (43-27) would indicate. Oklahoma's 17 point third quarter really opened the game up and allowed OU to cruise in from there. Junior running back DeMarco Murray made his return in this game, running the ball 19 times for only 36 yards but did manage to score one rushing touchdown (below). His presence alone fueled the team on and got the guys amped up for the game.The major beneficiaries of Jones' big day were Ryan Broyles and Jameel Owens. They hauled in 8 catches each for 130 and 161 yards while Owens had two of his receptions go for scores. Tight end Brody Eldridge hauled in the final Jones TD pass.

The main difference in the game appeared to be the Sooners ability to convert two fourth downs and their redzone scoring success. Oklahoma entered the RZ six times and scored all six times, getting two TD's and four FG's. Tech entered only three times and scored twice. Oklahoma never turned the ball over while Tech had 3 (2 INT's, 1 fumble).

The Sooners move to 10-1 (7-0) while Tech moves to 4-7 (1-6). Oklahoma next faces Oklahoma State in Norman while Texas Tech travels to Waco to face Baylor.

Oklahoma Victory Over Aggies Costly

2009-09-03T00:26:00.011-05:00

Norman, OK--Despite earlier indications that junior running back DeMarco Murray would play against Texas A&M, he did not suit up for the game and remains inactive due to his injured shoulder (strain). The team hopes to have him back next week as they travel to Waco, TX to take on Texas Tech. Without Murray the team wasn't able to muster any kind of run game. The Sooners' leading rusher was senior Chris Brown, who only managed to gain 23 yards on 16 attempts (1.4ypc).

Needless to say, most of the damage the Sooners did was through the air (below, Mossis Madu hauls in a Bradford pass). Sam Bradford came out and had a great game through the middle of the third quarter. At that point he was 19 of 22 passing for 220 yards, 1 TD and no interceptions. It was in the third quarter that he took a late hit after a pass completion that put a hitch in the Sooners plans, likely for the rest of the season. Bradford, a junior from Oklahoma City & the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, went to the sidelines after the play and never came back. Coach JHeb confirmed in the post game press conference that he had suffered an abdominal tear and will miss at least six weeks. That period of time will have him missing the Texas Tech and Oklahoma State games as well as a potential Big XII Championship Game. It is possible he could make it back for a bowl game depending on when the game takes place.Most national media have felt it was a given that Bradford will go pro after this season, forgoing his final year of eligibility to head off to the NFL where he is expected to be the #1 overall draft pick in the 2010 draft. His future now appears unclear to those on the outside. Will the injury further convince him that he needs to leave now to get the NFL money while he can or will this ruin his season and convince him to come back for his senior year? Only time will tell. Sooner fans have to hope he'll come back once again to try and lead the Sooners to their 8th national title.Sophomore Landry Jones filled in admirably for Bradford, going 12 of 19 for 139 yards, 2 TD's and 1 INT. Jones showed he had the ability and toughness (see above) to become the starter for the rest of the season and the bowl game (if needed). He maintained the lead the Sooners had and preserved the 38-17 win. The new back-up at quarterback will now be true freshman Drew Allen. The team may opt to keep him in redshirt and only pull him out if Jones is injured. Cornerback Dominique Franks is the emergency quarterback and would only be used if both Jones and Allen could not play.

Bradford's injury comes one week after the Sooners lost All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham to a ruptured disk in his back causing him to miss the rest of the season. The team has also been without running back DeMarco Murray since Week 8 (Kansas). It is unknown if Murray will be back for the Week 12 match-up with Texas Tech in Waco.

Sooner Recruiting Battles 2009

2009-09-02T00:42:00.004-05:00

The following recruits are on the brink of committing to Oklahoma but they're also on the brink of committing elsewhere. Here is the info. you need to know:

1) Rufus Lumpkin (MLB5), Katy, TX--Florida St. leads for Lumpkin but has yet to offer him. Oklahoma State sits at #2 while Oklahoma sits at #3. The offers from OSU and OU have been tempting for Lumpkin and OU has really come on hard the past few weeks after initially not recruiting him. NEED: OU needs Lumpkin to shore up a MLB spot that will be thin and unproven for 2010. OU loses seniors Ryan Reynolds and Mike Balogun this offseason to graduation and only have Austin Box in the middle at this moment. Others could move from the outside to cover the middle but they'd prefer to bring in a true middle linebacker to fill the needs.

2) Darrin Sanders (DT4), Shawnee, OK--Notre Dame has a soft commit from this Oklahoma born and raised kid but they have yet to offer him the scholarship he desires. Due to that, Texas and Oklahoma have jumped into the race and sit at #2 and #3 for his services. Sanders visited South Bend in Wk3, Austin in Wk7 and Norman in Wk9. He also took an official visit to Lincoln, NE in Wk10 and UCLA in Wk12. NEED: OU loses Granger this off-season and likely loses Gerald McCoy to the NFL Draft after this season. The Sooners have some depth but not nearly enough. The addition of Sanders would solidify the position for the immediate future.

3) Jim Callahan (G19), Helena, AR--Guard isn't a huge position of need for the Sooners but when a good one like Callahan comes along teams try and grab them. Callahan is a steady Arkansas guy as he's had them #1 on his list for the whole process. The Sooners have held at #2 and are hoping they can talk this Arkansas kid into to coming over to Oklahoma much like Barry Switzer did in the 60's.

4) Justin Jenkins (ATH4), Ennis, TX--This athlete from Ennis projects as either a running back or defensive back. The Sooners mostly like him at running back due to his good speed and agility. They feel he has a good frame that could add some muscle and get him up from his current 182 pounds into the upper 190's. NEED: The Sooners lose Chris Brown this offseason and will likely also lose Demarco Murray to the NFL Draft so the need for RB's is there.

Look for more updates on Sooner recruiting battles in the near future.

Lombardi Committee Recognizes Beal

2009-09-02T00:28:00.003-05:00

Norman, OK--The University of Oklahoma Athletic Department sent out another release today concerning candidates for major college football awards. The Lombardi Trophy committee has named Oklahoma junior defensive end Jeremy Beal as one of the top candidates for the honor. Beal currently sits in second place in polls of known voters for the award. Beal has recorded 45 tackles on the season with 17 of them for a loss. He has 12 sacks and one forced fumble through the Nebraska game last week.

Sooner News Update: Good & Bad

2009-09-01T23:17:00.004-05:00

Norman, OK--The University of Oklahoma Athletic Department sent out a release today touting one of it's stars as the leading candidate for a major award. Jermaine Gresham, the senior tight end for the Sooners, is the leading candidate for the John Mackey Award. The Mackey is given annually to the nation's top tight end. Gresham has collected 58 catches this season for 805 yards and 3 touchdowns. Gresham opted to not leave Oklahoma early after the 2008 season for the NFL Draft. Knowing what is known now, maybe the decision was not the correct one. On the same day his status with the Mackey was announced, it was also announced by the university that Gresham will be out for the rest of the season with a ruptured disk in his back. He suffered an injury late in the Nebraska game last week. The extent of the injury was unknown to the media and based on reactions from Coach JHeb, he was unaware of the potential seriousness of the injury. The Sooners will miss Gresham in the lineup as he is the team's leading receiver. Wide receiver Jameel Owens is the next leading receiver with 27 receptions, a difference of 31 catches. The team announced senior Brody Eldridge will now start at tight end for the Sooners and junior Eric Mensik will serve as the number two. There is a chance that the redshirt could be pulled off of sophomore James Hanna. The Sooner coaching staff will try to not do that but will do so if he's needed this season.

Murray Expected Back for A&M

2009-08-31T18:29:00.005-05:00

Norman, OK--A press release from the University of Oklahoma Athletic Department on Monday announced the expected availability of junior running back DeMarco Murray for the usual press time on Tuesday at 11am. This appears to indicate that Murray will be back and ready to play on Saturday against Texas A&M. Murray has been sidelined the past two weeks with a shoulder injury he suffered against Kansas (above).

Beal Named Big XII D.P.O.W for Week 12

2009-08-31T01:32:00.008-05:00

The Big XII Conference this week named Oklahoma junior defensive end Jeremy Beal (#44) the Defensive Player of the Week for Week 12. Beal was a dominant force for the Sooners in their victory over 4th ranked Nebraska in Lincoln (31-28). Beal had 11 tackles, three of them for a loss along with 3 sacks.

Aggies Prepare to Travel to Norman

2009-08-31T00:39:00.006-05:00

Norman, OK--The history of the Oklahoma-Texas A&M "rivalry" is fairly short lived but in that short period, it's been a big factor in the outcome of Sooner seasons. Oklahoma leads the all-time series with A&M 17-10. Neither team actually considers the other an official rivalry but just ask the coaches and players and they'll tell you, this series is as aggressive and meaningful as just about any other real rivalry they have. Oklahoma has won six games in a row through the 2008 season and have only lost once to the Aggies since Bob Stoops took over the team prior to the 1999 season. Most would assume this is a lopsided match-up, even in years the Aggies had the talent and the coaching to get them to victories. To state it simply, those folks would be wrong.

Take the 2000 game. History tells us OU won the game 35-31. What it doesn't tell you is that if it were not for a Torrence Marshall interception late in the game that he took in for a touchdown, OU likely loses and never even plays for the national championship, much less win it.

What about 2002? The Aggies travel to Norman and upset the Sooners 30-26 to kill any chance Oklahoma had to win the national championship.

2004? Oklahoma scrapes out a 42-35 win at home while playing with Heisman winner Jason White at QB and future NFL stud Adrian Peterson at RB not to mention other studs all over the team. They barely had enough to get by A&M. 2005? OU wins, 36-30. 2006? Oklahoma barely wins, 17-16.

What does this tell you? It tells you that this game will be closer than expected and might even end up as an upset. The Sooners aren't taking this game lightly and you better believe the Sooner coaching staff can barely sleep thinking about all the things they'll have to do right in order to win this game.

Sooners are the Vegas favorite with a 10 point line.

Turnovers Cost Huskers Undefeated Season

2009-08-30T23:03:00.012-05:00

Lincoln, NE--The build-up for this game was as college football fans expected. Everyone knew future glory was riding on the outcome of this game. This was the type of game college football fans would look back upon with fond memories, depending on which side of the rivalry you were on. Fortunately for Sooner fans, Dominique Franks and Brian Jackson came ready to play today and when their moments came to them, they made the most out of it.

Franks, the junior cornerback from Tulsa, OK started the fireworks when he intercepted Husker junior QB Zac Lee late in the first quarter (see above) at about the 32 yard line and took it back for a touchdown. That put the Sooners up 10-7 and swung momentum to the visitors side of the field. Oklahoma would go on to stop the Huskers on the next few possessions and scored again about three minutes into the second quarter on Chris Brown's 1 yard TD dive (below). Nebraska would come right back and score on a 10 yard TD pass from Zac Lee to M. Holt. The score was now 17-14 in favor of the Sooners. Quarterback Sam Bradford took the field looking to score before the half and to give his team a 10 point lead. He did just that on a 2 yard sneak (see below) to the right side of the line with only 6 seconds left in the half. The Sooners go into halftime leading 24-14.The third quarter and most of the fourth saw the Sooners offense run dry. Nothing was working except for the punt team. Nebraska took advantage and scored on another TD pass from Lee to Holt to bring NU within a field goal of the lead. Both teams struggled in the 4th quarter. Nebraska put together a nice drive only to have their hearts ripped out as cornerback Brian Jackson intercepted QB Lee at the goalline. From there Oklahoma ended up getting back on the board with a 7 yard TD run by senior fullback Matt Clapp.The Clapp touchdown wouldn't have been possible without this near desperation pass from Bradford to Jameel Owens from the Sooner endzone on 3rd and 11.
At this point, Oklahoma is now up 31-21 and appeared to have broken the camel's back but Nebraska didn't agree. They once again came back from adversity to score in just over one minute on a Lee 5 yard TD pass, this time to B. Kinnie to bring NU once again within 3 points of the Sooners. The Sooners came out in a clock crunching siuation and did just that. The Sooners needed at least one first down to secure the win. They were able to do that running the ball. The Sooners shot down any thoughts Nebraska had of an undefeated season.

The Players of the Game were Sam Bradford for Oklahoma and Ray Helu for Nebraska. Bradford was 24 of 33 passing for 351 yards and had one rushing touchdown. Helu ran the ball 24 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. He also hauled in two catches for 25 yards. It should also be noted that Coach JHeb gave the gameball not to Sam Bradford but to DE Jeremy Beal for his outstanding performance. Beal had 11 tackles, 6 of the for a loss as well as 3 sacks. Also of note was junior DT Gerald McCoy, who had 5 tackles, 2 of them for a loss, one sack and one forced fumble.

The #4 Sooners (8-1, 5-0) next face Texas A&M (NR) in Norman while #9 Nebraska (8-1, 4-1) travels to face #18 Kansas (7-2, 3-2) in Lawrence, KS.

A Rivalry Renewed: Oklahoma @ Nebraska

2009-08-28T20:48:00.008-05:00

The Game of the Century. For most older college football fans or those that are educated on it's history, that phrase brings to mind the 1971 classic match-up between the #1 ranked Cornhuskers of Nebraska and #2 ranked Sooners of Oklahoma. It was built up bigger than just about any game before it and ended up hyped beyond belief. Sure, there had been huge games before it and more came later in the century but this one was and is a classic. Johnny Rodgers practically won himself the Heisman Trophy that day with his amazing punt return. He helped Nebraska win by a score of 35-31. Players on both sides of that game still consider it an honor to have played in it and be a part of college football history. The true "Game of the Century".
Oklahoma holds the all-time series lead at 44-37-3 and has been the better team in conference, nationally and as a series over the past 6 meetings (Stoops era) winning 5 of the last 6 matchups, with the only loss coming in 2001 (20-10, NEB). The Sooners win over Nebraska in 2000 as part of their "Red October" run helped propel them to #1 and eventually sent the Sooners off to win their 7th national championship over Florida State.The pendulum is now swinging back in the Cornhuskers favor. They appear to be back. Nebraska enters this game ranked #4 in the nation and look to keep their unbeaten record alive as the Sooners travel to Lincoln for a match-up that will likely determine who plays for the Big XII Championship as well as a possible shot at the National Championship.

Oklahoma appears to be the better team on paper, but as the saying goes, "that's why they play the games." The ESPN Gameday crew will be in Lincoln for the game. Rumor has it both Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit are picking Oklahoma to win the game. The Las Vegas lines have Oklahoma as a 10 point favorite due to their high-powered offense, led by 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford.

Foot of Stevens Huge in KSU Outcome

2009-08-27T23:52:00.007-05:00

Norman, OK--Jimmy Stevens had a mostly horrible 2008 season as the Sooner kicker. Coming into the season hopes were high for Stevens. He was a local kid who had just finished a stellar high school career where he ended up as the all-time high school leader in field goals made (national record). Most fans assumed he'd step right in and thrive for Coach Stoops. That was not the case. As the year went on, he found himself benched after a missed FG then back as "the guy" after the back-up missed one as well. He finished off the season as the starter and made improvements. Going back to his old kicking style over the summer appears to be the best move he could have made. For the 2009 season, Stevens is 15-19 on field goals and a perfect 35 of 35 on extra points. It should be noted that of the 4 missed field goals he has missed 2 between 30-39 yards and 2 between 40 and 49 yards but has made both of his 50+ yard attempts.

This review of the game is focused on the kicker because the kicker was the focus of the game. In the picture above, Stevens holds his head down after his missed 47 yard attempt. He would later get a chance to redeem himself. The Sooners play this day was about as messy as the field they played on. The rain soaked field was no help today. It was a back and forth game all the way to the end. Two Sam Bradford interceptions (below, under pressure) gave the Wildcats life in the second half. They took advantage, scoring on two Klein touchdown passes late in the fourth quarter to tie the game.

The Sooners drove the field and with only 2 seconds left on the clock, they turned to Jimmy Stevens. The snap was good, the hold by Landry Jones was perfect. The kick left the foot of Stevens "feeling good", he said after the game. "I thought it was perfect". He was right. The ball grooved down the middle of the goalposts to give the Sooners the last second victory, 34-31. (Sam Bradford is seen celebrating below).

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:

OU, Bradford--28-47-360-2TD-2INT

KSU, Klein--18-33-232-3TD-0INT

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #5

2009-08-27T23:32:00.005-05:00

As the Sooners enter the back stretch of their season and the games become more and more critical, the Sooner recruiting machine continues to run at full strength. This week the Sooners land another recruit for the 2010 class. He is:

***Maurice Bolden, DT (Balanced) from Concord, MO. Bolden is rated as the 26th best defensive tackle by EA Sports' recruiting service. The Sooners went after Bolden to provide depth for next season and seasons to come. He is raw and a bit undersized but line coach Jay Norvell is known as being one of the best at taking raw talent and making them into players that will contribute to many Sooner wins. Bolden is expected to redshirt in 2010 as he plays behind the likes of Adrian Taylor, Stacy McGee and Jamarkus McFarland. It's expected the Sooners will lose All-American tackle Gerald McCoy (Jr.) to the NFL draft after this season. Also leaving will be seniors DeMarcus Granger (often injured starter) and Cordero Moore (reserve).

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #4

2009-08-24T23:17:00.005-05:00

It was confirmed this week that Sandusky, OH linebacker (MLB) Derek Triplett gave his verbal pledge to play for the Oklahoma Sooners starting in 2010. Triplett (6'0", 231) chose the Sooners over an offer from LSU and also had his sights on Indiana, Ohio State, Tennessee and Michigan, among others. EA Sports' recruiting service has him rated as the 19th best middle linebacker in the nation. Triplett's commitments helps fill one of the holes the Sooners will have in 2010 due to the loss of Ryan Reynolds and Mike Balogun, both seniors this season. It is expected current sophomore Austin Box will assume the first starting slot at MLB but the second starting position looks to be open for the time being. Oklahoma coaches aren't allowed to comment on recruits until they sign their National Letter of Intent in February but sources inside the Sooner team say the coaches like Triplett's speed (B-), his great ability to wrap up and make the tackle (B) and the power he brings to those tackles (B). He's also known for great agility. Welcome to the Sooner family Derek!

Kansas State Comes to Norman for Homecoming 2009

2009-08-24T00:09:00.009-05:00

Bill Snyder took over a Kansas State program that had the worst record in Division I-A and had gone winless in its prior 27 consecutive games. Snyder then presided over one of the most successful rebuilding projects in the history of college athletics.

In Snyder's fifth season in 1993, Kansas State posted the first victory in a bowl game in school history. Success and high rankings continued over the next decade, including six top-ten finishes in the AP Poll and a perfect (11–0) regular season in 1998 (before stumbling in the Big XII Championship Game v. Texas A&M). As the team improved, recruiting also improved, and Snyder was able to bring in athletes such as quarterback Michael Bishop, the Heisman Trophy runner-up in '98 behind winner Ricky Williams (Texas), and running back Darren Sproles, who in 2003 led the nation in rushing and holds the current Big XII all-purpose yards record for a career. The run of success culminated in a Big XII championship in 2003 with a 35–7 upset victory over #1 ranked Oklahoma. The 69 years since the last conference title in 1934 was the longest span between football titles in Division I history.

In his 17 years as head coach at K-State, Snyder won 136 games – as many as his predecessors had won from 1935 to 1988 – and led Kansas State to eleven consecutive bowl games (1993-2003), including six wins. Snyder's legacy at K-State also includes winning or sharing four Big 12 North titles ('98, '99-Tie, '00, '03). Snyder also led the Wildcats to a 44–7 record from 1997 to 2000, and six 11-win seasons overall.

Snyder retired following the 2005 season, and on December 5, 2005, Ron Prince was named the new head coach. Needless to say, the Ron Prince era of Kansas State football was not a success and appears to have prompted Snyder to come back, right the ship and hand off to a hand-picked successor. So far, he has the KSU faithful feeling good about him being back in charge of the program. Kansas State is off to a 6-2 record overall and 2-2 in the Big XII. The next four games will really tell Snyder and the Wildcats where they stand. KSU plays at #6 Oklahoma, #12 Kansas, Missouri then at #4 Nebraska. If KSU can win two of those four they'll end the season at 8-4 (4-4) and cap the season off with a bowl game. Most around Manhattan, KS would be very happy with that. Most Las Vegas book makers have the Sooners as a 21 point favorite.

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #3

2009-08-23T23:32:00.004-05:00

The Sooners landed another hard committment today, this time from Lisle, IL running back Ryan Charles. Charles, is rated as the 50th best running back overall in the nation by EA Sports' recruiting service. Charles was sought after by the Sooners due to the departure this fall of senior Chris Brown and the expected departure to the NFL for junior DeMarco Murray. Charles' only offer at this point was from OU but his high school coaches reported more interest in the past few weeks from Iowa, Tennessee, Cal and others. Charles is expected to redshirt in 2010 then battle for playing time in 2011 with expected starter Jermie Calhoun ('09 FrRS) and current redshirting freshman Jonathan Miller. The Sooners cannot comment officially on Charles nor any other committment until they have signed their letter of intent in February but sources say the coaching staff love his speed (A-) and how he carries the ball. He's known in the Illinois high school ranks as one of the most agile backs in the state as well as being a very "jukey" player with great acceleration. The Sooner Nation welcomes Ryan Charles to the family...Boomer!!

Sooners Hand #9 Kansas First Loss

2009-08-23T23:05:00.006-05:00

Lawrence, KS--University of Kansas quarterback star Todd Reesing had to miss today's game against OU due to a pulled hamstring. After watching his redshirt freshman back-up try to deal with the Sooner defense, he likely wishes he would have tried to play anyway, because Kale Pick (#7) didn't have a whole lot of luck against the mighty Sooners. Pick completed only 47% of his passes (19-40-267-2TD-2INT, 8 rushes for 12 yards & 0 TD's). As seen in the picture above, Pick was pressured all day by Sooner defenders (above, LB Ryan Reynolds, DT Gerald McCoy and LB Travis Lewis get pressure that leads to a Lewis INT).

Sooner QB Sam Bradford was named the Player of the Game for his squad after going 25-43 for 389 yards and 2 TD's with 1 interception. Sooner Heisman candidate DeMarco Murray (above) never really got going on the day. He carried the ball 14 times for 19 yards and 1 touchdown. Murray also hauled in 2 receptions for 21 yards and another TD. He was injured later in the game (strained shoulder) and will likely miss next week's game against Kansas State.

Sooners Hook the Horns in Dallas

2009-08-21T01:24:00.025-05:00

Every year there is a reason for one of the teams to seek revenge. It may be a losing streak. It may be how the star player got hurt. It may be getting back at the other team for knocking your team out of the conference and national championship race the season before. Whatever it is, it fuels the Oklahoma-Texas rivalry. The 2009 Red River Rivalry was no different.

If one thinks back to about one year ago, most will recall Texas coming back and beating Oklahoma by a final score of 45-35. Sooner fans felt cheated due to the in-game injury of middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds and how the Longhorns took advantage of the loss by hitting crossing patterns the rest of the game which led to their victory, the third in the last four years. Most will also recall the BCS battle the two teams went through down the back stretch of the season when the Sooners ended up the champions of the Big XII South due to the conference tie-breaker rules. The rules determined the highest ranked team in the final BCS rankings determines the conference champ in the event of a three-way tie. The final BCS rankings put the one-loss Sooners ahead of the one-loss Longhorns. Most national media made comments about the apparent slight to Texas but usually failed to mention Texas' loss to Texas Tech, a team Oklahoma destroyed in Norman in a nationally televised game on ABC.

Coming into 2009, the national media again jumped on the Longhorns as the Big XII South favorites over Oklahoma and had already annoited Colt McCoy as the Heisman Trophy favorite over 2008 winner Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and 2007 winner Tim Tebow (Florida). The Sooners did McCoy no favors.

Oklahoma's Jeremy Beal (#44) sacks McCoy in the first quarter at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday.

The Sooner defense was ready for what the Longhorns brought to Dallas. They knew the 'Horns didn't have an established run game and would rely on Colt McCoy to run and pass the ball. If the Longhorns had any hopes of winning they knew they had to have some breaks go their way and McCoy had to have the game of his life.

McCoy had an average day through the air, completing 19 of his 29 (65%) passes for 239 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. On the ground it was a different story. McCoy rushed 7 times total for minus thirteen (-13) yards and was sacked three times. The Longhorn rushing game all together was held to 39 yards on 24 attempts (1.6ypc) by the Sooner defense, led by the Sooner Player of the Game, defensive end Jeremy Beal (9 tackles, 3 tackels for loss, 3 sacks).

The Sooners never were in any real danger of losing the game. They jumped out to a 14-3 lead on two Sam Bradford touchdown passes (Gresham and Broyles) and took that lead into the half.

The second half was also controlled by the Sooners, but it must be noted that the 'Horns scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to make the score look respectable. The Sooners showed good sportsmanship by not scoring in the final minute of the game when down at the Longhorn 1 yard line with a first down. They instead took a knee and let the final seconds of the game tick away.

Some of the highlights:

--This 70 yard kick-off return by Jordan Shipley (below) was earily similar to his kick-off return TD in 2008 that swung momentum to the side of the 'Horns. It nearly did the same this year.

--Bradford hits Gresham (below) in Q2 for the game's 1st TD

--Bradford hits Broyles (below) on a SWEET pass...

Stats of Note:

Passing:

Bradford, OU: 23-33-310-3 TD-1 INT

McCoy, UT: 1-29-239-1 TD-0 INT

Rushing:

Murray, OU: 21-58-2.7-0 TD

Johnson, UT: 16-57-3.5-1 TD

Receiving:

Gresham, OU: 7-99-14.1-1 TD

Tennell, OU: 4-91-22.7-1 TD

Broyles, OU: 3-77-25.6-1 TD

Williams, UT: 4-55-13.7-1 TD

Defense:

Beal, OU: 9 TKL, 3 TFL, 3 Sacks

Acho, UT: 11 TKL, 3 TFL, 2 Sacks

Players of the Game:

Oklahoma: Beal

Texas: Acho

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #2

2009-08-17T23:28:00.004-05:00

Today the Sooners received a hard committment from fullback Maurice Ralph. Ralph is rated as a one-star recruit at the fullback position by EA Sports' recruiting service (FB40). Ralph comes to the Sooners from Mehlville, MO. The 6'1" 255 pound player knows he'll likely redshirt in 2010 and will have a hard time surpassing probable 2010 starter Buck Buchanan on the depth chart. Buchanan is redshirting this season as Matt Clapp finishes out his eligibility. Ralph gave his verbal committment today to OU assistant coach Cale Gundy who recruited him out of Mehlville High School. The Sooner Nation welcomes Maurice Ralph to the family.

Week #7: The Red River Rivalry

2009-08-17T01:02:00.016-05:00

October 10th, 1900 in Austin, TX is a significant day in the annals of college football history.

Why?

A game was played that day between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, even though Oklahoma was still considered Indian Territory at the time and didn't become an official state until 1907. The final score that day was 28-2 in favor the Longhorns. The Longhorns would go on to dominate the early part of the series and still hold a 58-40-5 all-time record against the Sooners.

The rivalry is as intense as they come. Each region of the United States feels their local rivalry is the best, the meanest, the most important and the biggest and that feeling holds true around Big XII country and especially in Oklahoma and Texas. The Sooners of the north own more national championships (7) and more Heisman Trophy winners (5) than Texas while Texas claims the Sooners never would have won all those championships without all the Texas born talent that has filled the Sooner depth charts all this time. It's partly true. The list of Sooners recruited out of Texas high schools is a Who's Who of college football stars. The likes of Billy Sims (Hooks), Adrian Peterson (Palestine), Jack Mildren (Abilene), Joe Washington (Port Arthur), Quentin Griffin (Houston), Tommie Harris (Killeen), Brian Bosworth (Irving), Daryl Hunt (Odessa) and Ricky Dixon (Dallas) all crossed the Red River to play college football for the Sooners.

There have been lean years in this rivalry (Head Coaches John Blake, Howard Schnellenberger for OU) but not anymore. Each time the Sooners and Longhorns have battled while coached by Bob Stoops and Mack Brown there have been national implications. Since Mack Brown took over in 1998 and Stoops in 1999 each coach has won one national title (Stoops in 2000, Brown in 2005) and the two teams have all but owned the Big XII conference title in that span. Oklahoma has won the conference championship six times (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008) while Texas won it once (2005) . In fact, since 1945 one or both of the teams has been ranked in the Top 25 in 60 of the 65 years. This year, each team comes in with a real shot at the national title, and each can make a great arguement that they have the nation's top quarterback. As always, this game will have serious title repercussions across the nation.

The rivalry gets it's name from the river that seperates the states, the Red River. Formerly known as the Red River Shootout, this year's game marks the 104th time the teams will meet. The winner of the annual battle is given temporary possession of the Golden Hat. The Golden Hat is a bronzed 10-gallon cowboy hat on a wooden base. It's the reward for winning the RRS and it currently resides in Austin. The Sooners hope to bring it back to it's rightful home in Norman.
Once again, it's expected both teams will enter the game undefeated and shooting for another conference championship and national championship. The Sooners are led by 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford while the Longhorns are led by Colt McCoy, who most is the leading candidate to win the trophy in 2009. This will likely be the last battle between Bradford and McCoy. It's expected Bradford will forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. McCoy is a senior and will also be joining Bradford in the NFL next season. McCoy won the matchup with Oklahoma in 2006 and 2008 while Bradford won in 2007. Both teams should come into the game highly ranked and ready for a rumble. Expect fireworks.

Bears Succumb to Sooner Pressure

2009-08-16T18:05:00.029-05:00

Norman, OK--Baylor came into today's game against Oklahoma having scored 40 or more points in each of their last three games (UConn, Northwestern State, Kent State), all of which equalled wins. They lost on the road by 3 points to a 4-1 Wake Forrest team out of the ACC. So to say this is the same old Baylor team that is used to being the whipping boy of the Big XII couldn't be any further from the truth. This Baylor team, led by sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin, is on the cusp of being a bowl eligible team for the first time since the 1994 Alamo Bowl (L, 3-10 to Washington State). Griffin is one of the most exciting players in the Big XII and nears the top of that same list nationwide. Too bad he had to come to Norman to face a Sooner team that has never lost to Baylor (now at 19-0) and a team that is known for being able to shut down one dimensional players. Griffin and the Bears arrived on Owen Field and started off well by scoring on their first drive (5 yard TD run, Jay Finley). The Sooners quickly answered and by the middle of the second quarter the game was on it's way to being a blowout. Two touchdown runs by DeMarco Murray (Jr., Las Vegas, NV) and a touchdown reception by Jameel Owens (Soph., Muskogee, OK) put the Sooners up 21-6 at the 4:15 mark of the second quarter.

The Baylor kicking game was in shambles today and might have cost the Bears a chance at making this a close game. For reasons unknown to media members and the Sooner coaching staff, Baylor head coach Art Briles started freshman middle linebacker Jenner Jones at kicker and kick-off specialist over sophomore kicker Ben Parks. Jones missed all four extra point attempts and one short field goal. It can be assumed if Parks had played today the final score of 51-24 in favor of the Sooners could have been much closer.

Not only did the missed XP's and FG hurt the Bears, Jones' weak kickoffs gave Oklahoma great field position every time (near the 50 yard line). The Sooners went on to dominate the game as most expected they would. The Sooner Nation did get a scare early in the game when Sam Bradford was knocked to the ground after a pass attempt and was slow getting up.
He was taken to the sidelines to be checked out. After several stress induced minutes, Sooner fans were relieved to see Bradford back up with his helmet on ready to go back into the game. Post game interviews with Coach JHeb determined Bradford only suffered from bruised ribs and should be 100% for next weeks Red River Rivalry.

Noteworthy Stats:

--Passing--

Bradford, OU: 22-33-330-2 TD-1 INT-66%-Long 50--Sacks 0

Griffin, BU: 25-41-277-3 TD-2 INT-60.0-Long 25-Sacks 4

--Rushing--

Murray, OU: 15-21-1.4-4 TD-0 FMBL

Finley, BU: 20-65-3.2-1 TD-0 FMBL

Griffin, BU: 9-41-4.5-0 TD-0 FMBL

--Receiving--

Broyles, OU: 6-116-19.3-0 TD-Long 50-0 Drops

Gresham, OU: 5-52-10.4-0 TD-Long 21-0 Drops

Owens, OU: 3-61-20.3-2 TD-Long 44-0 Drops

Fenty, BU: 8-84-10.5-0 TD-Long 21-0 Drops

Gettis, BU: 6-85-14.1-1 TD-Long 20-0 Drops

Finley, BU: 4-44-11.0-2 TD-Long 25-1 Drop

--Defense--

Jackson, OU: 12 TKL-1 INT

English, OU: 6 TKL-2 TFL-2 Sacks

Beal, OU: 5 TKL-2 TFL-2 Sacks

Lake, BU: 10 TKL-1 TFL

Jones, BU: 5 TKL-3 TFL-1 Sack

Jean-Baptiste, BU: 5 TKL-3TFL-1 Sack

>>>>Players of the Game<<<<

Oklahoma: DeMarco Murray, RB, Jr.

Baylor: Jay Finley, RB, Jr.

Player of the Game, DeMarco Murray

Week #6: Baylor (3-1) @ #5 Oklahoma (3-1)

2009-08-13T15:29:00.017-05:00

The 3-1 Baylor Bears travel to Norman, OK this week to take on the #5 Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners are coming off a road victory at Miami (26-17) while the Bears come to town after destroying Kent State by a score of 45-9. The Bears are led by sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin and junior running back Jay Finley. The Baylor quarterback is having a great season, throwing for over 1100 yards with 9 TD passes to only 2 interceptions. He's an equally dangerous runner but so far he has only gained 100 yards with 4 TD's. Finley has been a big surprise this season. He is averaging just over 116 yards per game (4 games) and leads the team with 5 rushing TD's.

The first game between Oklahoma and Baylor took place in 1901. Oklahoma has never lost to Baylor and leads the all-time series 18-0.

Expect the Sooner defense to ready for the dual-threat Griffin. They got their first glimpse of him last fall in Waco as the Sooners won the game 49-17.

Sooner Recruiting Round Up, Post #1

2009-08-10T01:41:00.011-05:00

Through Week 4:

5* (Bonus) QB1 Jordan Thomas (Pocket Passer), Alvin TX, 6'2" 207lb (#10OVR)--Thomas joins a Sooner team with lots of talent at the quarterback position. 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford (Jr.) is still around and could be back for his senior season if Coach JHeb can talk him into coming back one more time rather than leaving early for the NFL Draft. If Bradford stays, Thomas will definitely redshirt. If Bradford leaves, Thomas will battle with Landry Jones and Drew Allen for the starting position. Thomas is not guaranteed a starting slot and knows he will have to battle to get on Owen Field with the Sooners.
5* CB5 Brett Dixon (Balanced), Ennis TX, 6'2" 181lb (#25OVR)--Dixon comes to the Sooners and should see playing time his freshman season. The Sooners lose senior Brian Jackson and will likely lose junior Dom Franks to the NFL Draft. That will leave OU with then senior Jonathan Nelson and the trio of corner's they signed in their last two recruiting classes (L. Harris, D. Hurst, G. Lynn).
4* TE2 Ethan Reese (Balanced), Clayton MO, 6'3" 239lb (#52OVR)--OU loses senior tight ends Jermain Gresham and Brody Eldridge for the 2010 season and will lost Eric Mensik after the '10 season, so adding TE's now is a priority for the Sooners. Reese is part of that plan. He likely will take a redshirt then be in the hunt to start for the Sooners in 2011.
3* DE43 Austin Davis (Pass Rusher), St. Ann MO, 6'2" 270lb (#732 OVR)--Davis comes to the Sooners about as raw as a kid will ever be when they step on campus. Davis mainly be expected to provide depth for the team and be ready in case upper classmen get hurt. Davis will have highly touted players in front of him for most of his career at Oklahoma, including Frank Alexander, RJ Washington and Justin Chaisson. Not to mention current junior Jeremy Beal and sophomore David King (redshirting 2009).

Week #5: #6 Oklahoma (2-1) @ #21 Miami (2-1)

2009-08-10T01:39:00.032-05:00

Going into the game with Miami, the Oklahoma Sooners knew they had a monkey on their back. No, the current Sooners have never lost to Miami. They beat the 'Canes in 2007 when Miami traveled to Norman (51-13).

Heck, the Sooner players weren't even alive when the Hurricanes and Sooners battled almost annually for the top spot in the college football polls (last in 1987, 14-20 Miami victory). The history is there for anyone who cares to go visit. The Sooner faithful know it. The Hurricane do too.

This season the landscape of college football is much different than it was back in 1987. Oklahoma is a power again and Miami is on their way back up. Teams that didn't even exist in '87 have cracked the Top 10 in recent years. South Florida? Teams that were annual losers have become respectable year in, year out. Rutgers? Utah? Now we're in 2009. The Sooners, led by Heisman Trophy winner, Sam Bradford, look to stay in the national title hunt as they travel to Miami to take on Jacory Harris and his fellow Young 'Canes.

The game started out slow, with each team notching a FG in Quarter One.

The second quarter saw Miami jump out to a 10-3 lead when Jacory Harris hit L. Byrd for a 17 yard touchdown pass. The Sooners followed up with a 9 yard touchdown pass to running back DeMarco Murray from Sam Bradford. They ended the half with another Jimmy Stevens field goal (26 yards).

Big catch and run by J. Gresham (TE)

Quarter Three saw each team notch one touchdown each. It was a sloppy game all the way through. The 'Canes had 4 INT's in the night while the Sooners had two. Several of the INT's for both teams came off off bad throws that came while the QB's were rushed, hit or had a man in their face. At the end of three, the Sooners led 20-17.

Touchdown run by RB C. Brown

The fourth quarter saw the Sooner defense step up and shut down the 'Canes while adding two more field goals to make the final score 26-17.

The Sooners got big plays out senior tight end, Jermaine Gresham (5 catches, 137 yards, 27.4 ypc).

Passing:
OU Bradford 16-23-238-1TD-2 INT-153.4 Rating
UM Harris 9-21-152-1-4-81.2

Rushing:
OU Murray 19-93-4.8-0 TD-Long 21
OU Brown 8-32-4.0-1 TD-Long 11
UM Cooper 9-22-2.4-0-Long 17
UM Harris 3-1-0.3-0-Long 5

Receiving:
OU Gresham 5-137-27.4-0 TD-Long 66
OU Murray 4-28-7.0-1 TD-Long 19
UM Byrd 5-72-14.4-1-Long 28
UM Epps 2-31-15.5-0-Long 25

Defense:
OU Proctor (FS) 5 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT
OU English (DE) 4 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
OU Clayton (LB) 4 TKL, 1 INT, 2 DEFL
UM Hill 12 TKL
UM Van Dyke 9 TKL
UM Sharpton 8 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT
UM Robinson 6 TKL, 2 TFL, 1 Sack,

Kicking:
OU Stevens 4-4 FG (Long 51)
UMBosher 1-1 (Long 26)

Players of the Game:
OU Jimmy Stevens (K) 4-4 FG
UM Sharpton 8 TKL, 1 TFL

The win moves Oklahoma to 3-1 and moves Miami to 2-2. OU faces Baylor next week at 8pm.

A New Era Begins...

2009-08-10T00:41:00.006-05:00

Coaching changes are a natural part of the college football cycle. Every season and off-season it happens. Rarely does a change go smoothly. Feathers are ruffled. Controversy fills the newspapers and airwaves as local papers and sports jockeys chatter year-round about who's getting fired, who got fired and who should be fired. In the case of the Oklahoma Sooners and in some respect, the Crimson Tide of Alabama, that was not the case.

The now former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, Bruce80 has left Sooner Nation in order to take on a job that's been at the top of his list of dream jobs since the day he started coaching. When Nick Saban left the Tide early in this season to start a lawn mowing company in Tuscaloosa, Bruce80 jumped at the chance to head up the Alabama program. When he left that opened up the Oklahoma job. The Sooner caretakers wanted an "OU Man". Someone who would view the OU job as his Dream Job. In new head coach JHeb, they have their man. JHeb is an Oklahoman through and through. Born in Hobart, raised in Duncan, educated in Weatherford and now living in Edmond, JHeb is just what they needed. A man who'll have to be fired before he'd leave OU and one heck of a coach. He's still rather young but his experience and determination will surely get him far with this Sooner team and with the Sooner Nation.