Frosh QB Saves Sooners in Dallas

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

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

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

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

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

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:

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

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

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

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.