Desert Sapper's Blogistan

SHAZAM!  Buster Douglas KO's Iron Mike Tyson...Oh, Wait, Wrong Sport... 

Well, well, well.  Another week of top 10 teams going down.  USC went down to a gutty Stanford club in the Coliseum, Wisconsin predictably lost to an upstart Illini team, and Florida came out on the short end of the stick in Baton Rouge.  South Florida struggled against FAU, while Ohio State and BC dominated Purdue and BG respectively.  The Stanford Cardinal's performance in LA is the stuff of legend, beating everybody's unbeatable team, in their house, on two amazing 4th down conversions.  Simply put, what college football is all about.

Oklahoma won the Red River Shootout last weekend, catapulting them up to #6 (and consequently dropping the Longhorns to #23), while Mizzou blasted the Cornhuskers to jump up to #11.  Mizzou is undefeated, and a bit of a surprise, while the Sooners were expected to be undefeated (granted the win in Dallas), and are a bit of a surprise the other way.  The loss in Boulder was painful for the Sooner nation, but the team bounced back against Texas and now faces a Mizzou team that put on an even bigger show against the depleted Husker D than did USC a few weeks ago.  Will the Tigers move on to 6-0, or will the Sooner Schooner triumph in Norman?

Purdue lost some legitimacy when they got trounced at home by the Ohio State University last week.  Michigan lost a lot of legitimacy when they lost at home to Appalachian State (a point of fact that has been beaten into the Big Blue fan base for weeks now).  Will Big Blue reclaim the big house, or will the Boilermakers step up?

LSU travels to Lexington to take on a surprisingly tough Wildcat team.  The Tigers have looked positively unbeatable this year, and manhandled the same Gamecocks that thrashed UK last week.  Andre Woodson has shown himself to be a legitimate candidate for the Heisman trophy (among other things).  Glenn Dorsey (LSU DT) has been spoken of as a potential candidate for the *gulp* Heisman trophy.  Dorsey is as dominant as any D-Lineman I've seen in years.  I doubt anybody will give him serious Heisman consideration down the stretch, but that doesn't mean he's not legitimate.  It just means the Heisman is an overinflated award that doesn't go to the BEST player in College football.  Will Woodson establish his claim to the Heisman in a game for the ages, or will Dorsey make another big statement on the national stage?

Colorado beat Oklahoma.  Yes, they lost big on the road to ASU, and yes, they lost close to a tough FSU D, but they did more to reestablish the Big XII North than any other team in the Big XII.  Except, that is, for the team they play this week: K-State.  K-State has beaten Texas two years straight.  These two teams combined to beat the two perennial National title contenders of the Big XII South.  Cody Hawkins has shown how well a freshman can play in his father's offense.  Big Josh Freeman and Ron Prince have reinvigorated what was once the best team in the Big XII North.  K-State stumbled against Kansas last week, while Colorado buried Baylor.  Will the Buffs step up, or will purple power prevail?

Georgia Tech's visit to Miami looked promising before the start of the season.  Now that Miami has lost twice and the Yellow Jackets thrice, it doesn't look as promising.  At the same time, Miami lost to Oklahoma in Norman (by a lot), and lost last week to former Miami head coach Butch Davis and North Carolina.  Time will tell, but Randy Shannon was a player and assistant under Davis and may take some time to adjust to playing his former mentor.  Georgia Tech, on the other hand, has lost two games by a total of 7 points, and got beat at home by Boston College, the current #4 team in the country.  Big wins at Notre Dame and against Clemson have been overshadowed by a muffed punt that led to a TD and a missed field goal last week against the Terps of Maryland.  Will the Canes get back into the ACC hunt, or will the Yellowjackets climb above .500?

Stay tuned, sports fans.  These questions and more will find their answers this weekend.

My Top 10 for this week:

1. LSU

2. The OSU

3. Cal

4. BC

5. USF

6. Mizzou

7. ASU

8. South Carolina

9. OU

10. USC

Tom Brahaney, arguably one of the best centers in College football history (and a Sooner, of course) finally made it into the Hall of Fame.  It's been a long time coming, and it's great to see that he is finally getting that recognition he deserves. 

Article from Soonersports.com

NORMAN, Okla. -- From one of the most storied football programs in history, Tom Brahaney continues the legacy of outstanding Oklahoma players in the College Football Hall of Fame.
 
Brahaney became the 23rd Sooner (18 players, five coaches) inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
 
A two-time consensus First Team All-America (’71, ’72), Brahaney was the hub of an offensive line that allowed the Sooners to lead the nation in rushing, scoring and total offense in 1971. The Midland, Texas, native was also a two-time All-Big-8 selection and a Lombardi Award finalist in 1972.
 
Serving as team captain during his senior campaign, Brahaney’s snap precision and unsurpassed one-on-one blocking earned him high acclaim – even from archrivals. Following the 1971 “Game of the Century,” Nebraska’s Rich Glover, a 1995 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, called Brahaney the best center he played against all year. 
 

Brahaney was drafted in the fifth round of the 1973 NFL Draft and played nine seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. He currently owns and operates a drilling company and resides in Midland.
 
The 2007 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class will be inducted at the 50th Annual Awards Dinner on December 4, 2007, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. They will be officially enshrined at the Hall in South Bend, Ind., during ceremonies in July of 2008. 
 
College Football Hall of Fame
Great players and coaches built the Oklahoma football tradition. OU has placed 18 players and five former coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame. No Big 12 school has more.
 

I saw this article about replacing people, and of course OU has to replace a guy that should have won the Heisman as a freshman. 

Link

This led me to think about the best run I've seen any of the remaining RBs make yet.  It got called back for a bogus 'hold' by Malcolm Kelly, but it still amounts to a beautiful run and shows off Patrick's versatility. Can anybody spot the 'holding by #4 of the offense'? I sure can't. It's good to be a Sooner, but dang if the zebras don't hate the heck out of us.

This is such a cool deal.  I wish I could put the prettier map up there, but you can find it here.  It's absolutely gorgeous.  It lets you put in the places you've been and add in places you want to go.  It's like the Myspace for travel junkies.  I'd like to be a travel junky, but my resources are limited (the Army only pays so much), my job doesn't let me take much time off (even though it gives me a ridiculous amount of time to take off -- go figure), and my limitations are evident (as in three kids, three cats, and two dogs).  I sure would like to visit all of Europe, most of Asia, and selected parts of Africa.  I would really like to visit southwest and central asia for all the cultural significance, but eh...it's a little 'unsafe' right now.  I wouldn't want to be in, say, Babylon visiting Nebuchadnezzar's old palace, only to get kidnapped and beheaded by people with a pretty sick sense of God's wisdom and grace.

But I digress...

Adrian Peterson has his own website... and it's quite cool.  I know he is going to light the league on fire.  Should be a fun season for the Vikings this year.  I know the Vikes fans only have a slight idea of what AD brings to the table, but this video should help clear things up.  BTW, his shoulder is fine.

I can't wait to see him rip open a game for the first time in the NFL. 

The pundits continue to waiver back and forth about AD.  Some are saying his 'recurring injuries' make him questionable.  I can see the logic that his running style makes him a little more vulnerable to injury, but I guess if you are an NFL GM, you should ask yourself:  Do you want a guy that can hit a home run every time he touches the ball and MIGHT not stay in the NFL for more than 5 or 6 years...OR...do you want that really consistent guy who rarely breaks out for a big gain only to lose him to free agency anyway.  Let's be honest.  The shelf life for running backs is pretty short anyway.  With free agency, it's questionable how long a good back will stay in your system.  So, to be perfectly clear:  If you are an NFL GM, you would be incredibly stupid not to do everything in your power to get AD, if only for a few years.  He is, beyond any shadow, a once in a lifetime talent on the level of Bo Jackson.  If you don't pick him, you'll wish you did.

Well, not really...but a guy can dream, right?  If I had my dithers (which I won't probably ever with regard to this) and were David Boren for a day, I would do the following to Memorial Stadium (Or L'estad de Memoriale as they say in France - not really, but that's how I would say it if I was French so nyah):

1.  Build up the North Endzone and connect it to the uppers on the East and West, still keeping the Octagon (in fact, I would hit the ESPN folks to start calling it that instead of the Gaylord Stadium or whatever it is they can't say).  'The Octagon' just sounds badass.

2.  Build onto and expand the South Endzone to reach almost completely around.

3.  Build more restrooms and make them better.

4.  Fix the 'kid's mascot' so it isn't the two lameass horse-pig things.  Make it a reinvention of Mex.  Have a cool dog suit (which you can do much cooler than the horses anyway).  Kids like dogs.  Bring Mex back. 

I see our stadium looking a little like 'The Shoe' at Soonerville of the North (oh, c'mon, like you can't see all the similarities -- historically famous/outlaw coach -- current coach started Youngstown, OH -- colors are similar -- success is similar, etc., etc.).  I did a little comparison.  Dig it:

OU officially wrapped up spring practice with a full pads workout on Tuesday.  In his interview on Soonersports, it sounded like Juaquin was pretty disappointed with the offense.  After their performance on Saturday, I think the receivers are the only ones that need to be disappointed.  He said as much, commenting on the dropped balls and on how important it is to catch everything, no matter where it is.  The videos this time only showed Sam Bradford at QB.  Is that a hint?  Or is it simply a coincidence? 

It looked like Mossis had returned to action from his injury.  I think the defense will improve tremendously when Gerald McCoy and Ryan Reynolds return from injury.  It sounds from a DMN article that Brody Eldridge is going to be okay.  That hit from Reed and Baker in the Red-White looked pretty bad.  Apparently it caused a high-ankle sprain and a slight MCL tear.  Nothing big enough to keep him from returning in the fall.  The OL should be even better (if that's possible) when 'The Load' - Phil Loadholt - returns from the injury that kept him out of the Red-White.  Of course, the most anticipated return from injury is Malcolm Kelly.  Being that he is one of the best receivers in the country (and at times looked considerably better than everybody except Calvin Johnson last year), the offense and especially the starting QB should get a huge boost when he returns.  The other receivers are good, but Malcolm is on that superstar level.  When he is out there, Juaquin is more open and the whole offense just opens up.  Not having him in the Fiesta Bowl was a killer. 

I'm going to take a shot at picking the probable offensive depth going into fall.

Some are pretty obvious.  I am going out on a limb and saying Bradford is the man at QB.  I'm also going to say that Murray has moved to the top of the RB rotation.  The O-Line is good from whatever angle you look at it.  I didn't even know where to put Cody Cooke, but he was getting in there.  Next time I'll do the D.  Without further ado:

A few things that would be blatantly obvious to anyone that watched the game:

DeMarco Murray is INCREDIBLE.

The OU O-Line is prime time ready.

None of the QBs is exceptional, but all are capable.  Bradford looks the best.

The OU Defense isn't ready for the season to start.  The OU Offense is (with the exception of QB - but whomever that is should be perfectly fine).  This may be the first time that is true in the Stoops era. 

Whoever Carter Whitson is (I admit, I didn't know before Saturday), he is the best looking receiver for a Sooner receiver corps that I sure thought was loaded before Saturday (but looked like a team of TO dropaholics on Saturday -- which pained me as a Cowboys fan last season).

Now for some less obvious stuff. 

The OU D-Line looks the best it has in 4 years.  The two young DEs - Auston English (33) and Jeremy Beal (44) did very well.  DTs Adrian Taylor (86) and DeMarcus Granger (96) looked very good, as well.  All four were getting great penetration and pressuring the heck out of the QB.  All this without former national high school defensive POY Gerald McCoy, who was on the sideline with a late injury.  If you had in the two senior DEs - John Williams and Alonzo Dotson, this looks like a very impressive D-Line.

The Linebackers looked less certain.  Mike Reed was brilliant at times, slow at others, and out of place on occasion.  Curtis Lofton was similar.  Lewis Baker looked pretty good, forcing fumbles, getting INTs, and staying in relatively good position.  I think he should move to the ROY.  Ryan Reynolds' loss was felt, to be sure. 

The secondary had some good things going for it.  Marcus Walker was the only one that could chase down Murray on the long run.  The secondary was disruptive, as indicated by the amount of dropped balls in the game (although the chilly weather is probably as much to blame).

All told, this was a good scrimmage and the Sooners gave the nation a pretty nice preview, courtesy of ESPN.

Some Links:

YouTube Video

Official OU Page (with Highlight Video)

NORMAN, Okla. -- In each of the first two scrimmages of the spring, redshirt freshman running back DeMarco Murray dazzled with his rushing and receiving ability.  
 
It was more of the same and then some Saturday at the Red/White Spring Game when 21,020 braved unseasonably cold temperatures at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
 
Murray rushed four times for 103 yards and one touchdown as the offense out-scored the defense, 53-30, in a scoring system devised by the coaching staff. The offense, which wore the red uniforms, scored five touchdowns. 

“It was a good day for us,” said OU head coach Bob Stoops. “DeMarco has been special all spring and he was good again today. There were some big plays and I think the fans probably enjoyed that.
 
“We still have a lot of work to do, but I felt there were a lot of positives for us. We’ve seen some guys improve and we’ve also had a chance to see where it is that we need to get better.”
 
Through three scrimmages this spring, Murray has carried 29 times for 327 yards, an average of 11.3 per attempt.
 
A lot of eyes were focused on the three quarterbacks and all three had bright spots. Sam Bradford was sharp, completing 9-of-14 passes for 110 yards and one touchdown, a 23-yard strike to Carter Whitson.
 
Joey Halzle hit on 7-of-18 tries with one touchdown, a 45-yard toss to Adron Tennell, and one interception. True freshman Keith Nichol completed 3-of-7 for 25 yards.
 
“I’m real pleased with all those guys,” Stoops said. “They took better care of the ball today and that’s important for us. We didn’t ask Paul (Thompson) to win game for us last year and we won’t ask any of these guys to that for us either. We just want them to play consistently and keep their mistakes to a minimum. If they can do that we’ll be fine.  
 
Murray scored on an 18-yard run for the first touchdown scrimmage. Later he added a 68-yard non-scoring burst. Allen Patrick later plunged over from 1-yard out to cap that drive, which covered 80 yards in just three plays.
 
Whitson’s TD reception was the third touchdown of the scrimmage. It came at the end of a four-play, 53 yard march.
 
Tennell recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown before capping the offense’s scoring for the day with his reception from Halzle.
 
Safety Nic Harris topped the defense eight tackles. Junior college transfer linebacker Mike Reed added seven stops plus one tackle for loss, a forced fumble and one pass deflection.
 
DeMarcus Granger was credited with three sacks while fellow defensive tackle Adrian Taylor had two. DE Auston English also had two sacks.
 
LB Lewis Baker had three tackles, one interception for 13 yards and one fumble forced.
 
The scoring systems award points to the offense for a first down (1 pt.), a point after touchdown (1 pt.), a play of longer than 30 yards (2 pts.), a field goal (3 pts.) and a touchdown (6 pts.).  
 
The defense scored by holding the offense to a three-and-out (2 pts.), a forced punt (1 pt.), a fourth down stop (2 pts.), a turnover (3 pts.) and a turnover for touchdown (9 pts.).
 
Oklahoma’s spring drills continue Monday and Tuesday with closed workouts at the stadium. Tuesday’s practice will be the last of the 15 for this spring.
 
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Scoring Plays
Murray 18 yard run
Whitson 23 yard pass from Bradford
Tennell fumble recovery in end zone
Patrick 1 yard run.
Tennell 45 yard pass from Halzle
 
Passing
Halzle -- 7-18-162, 1 TD, 1 INT
Bradford -- 9-14-110, 1 TD
Nichol -- 3-7-25
 
Rushing
Murray -- 4-103, 1 TD (18)
Brown -- 11-67
Patrick -- 8-20                                                                                                                                                                     Gutierrez -- 9-15
Nichol -- 6-15
Anderson -- 2-(-3)
Bradford -- 1-(-7)
Halzle -- 1-(-8)
McEachern -- 3-(-13)
 
Receiving
Chaney -- 2-65
Tennell -- 2-64, 1 TD
Whitson -- 2-45, 1 TD
Brow -- 2-35
Johnson -- 2-23
Zaslaw -- 2-19
Gresham -- 1-14
Caleb -- 1-11
Strong -- 1-8
Eldridge -- 1-5
Finley -- 1-5
Murray -- 1-4
Gutierrez -- 1-(-1)
 
Kicking
Hartley -- 4-for-4 PATs, 0-1 FG (52)
Moreland -- 1-for-1 PAT
 
Punting
Knall -- 6 punts, 33.7 avg.
Cohen -- 5 punts, 41.6 avg.
 
Kick Returns
Murray -- 3-60 (20.0 avg.)
Johnson -- 2-24 (12.0 avg.)
Iglesias -- 1-18 (18.0 avg.)
 
Tackles
Harris -- 8
Reed -- 7, 1 TFL (-2), 1 FF, 1 PBU
Lofton -- 7, 1 TFL (-3), 1 FR
L. Robinson -- 6, 2 PBU
Bowers -- 6, 1 sack (-3)
Smith -- 6
Nelson -- 6
Wolfe -- 6
Granger -- 5, 3 sacks (-12)
B. Jackson -- 5, 1 PBU
Holmes -- 4, 2 PBU
Davis -- 4
Franks -- 3
A. Taylor -- 3, 2 sacks (-6)
Baker -- 2, 1 INT (13 yards), 1 FF
Clayton -- 2, PBU
D. Pleasant -- 2, 1 TFL
English -- 2, 2 sacks (-12)
M. Walker -- 1, 2 PBU
Beal -- 1, 1 sack (-3)
J. Williams -- 1, 1 TFL (-3)
Bennett -- 1
Crow -- 1
Box -- 1
Macon -- 1
Taggart -- 1
 
Punt Returns
None
 
Attendance
21,020