By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Jan 1, 2013, at 10:54 AM Updated on 1/01 at 10:54 AM
ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s really too bad how Dominique Whaley’s senior season has gone.
From one of the best stories in college football last year — a walk-on, an NAIA transfer, a Subway sandwich artist — to a forgotten soldier.
At Cotton Bowl media day on Sunday at Cowboys Stadium, Whaley told me he went into this season thinking his broken, shredded ankle had healed and wouldn’t hinder him this year — certainly not to the point where he didn’t even get on the field in six of the Sooners’ last seven games.
“Of course I’ve got mixed feelings about that,” he said.
Whaley thought he would return from that gruesome injury and possibly reclaim his job as the starter this year. He definitely thought he’d play more than he has.
“I did,” he said. “But some stuff turned out certain ways. It seemed to work for the best.”
Not for Whaley.
While Whaley struggled to recapture his power and explosion, junior college transfer Damien Williams emerged with 905 yards and 11 touchdowns. And when Williams got hurt, Brennan Clay stepped up, and has 511 yards and six TDs this season.
After averaging 105 yards per game and scoring nine touchdowns prior to the injury at Kansas State last season, he opened his senior year as the Sooners’ starting running back. He thought the pain and stiffness in his ankle was manageable and would go away, and coaches believed what he was saying.
But Whaley carried 11 times for 54 yards in the season opener at UTEP, then 10 for 63 against Florida A&M and nine for 51 against Kansas State.
He wasn’t bad — that’s 5.6 yards per carry, great by any standard — but he clearly wasn’t the same powerful, slashing runner he had been before the injury.
“Cutting and pushing?” Whaley said. “I could tell some of the differences. But ultimately, I’m pretty good.”
Whaley carried just twice for 11 yards against Texas Tech, six times for 51 against Texas, sat out the Kansas and Notre Dame games, then got just one rush for 2 yards against Iowa State. That would be it. His senior season totals: 39 rushes, 243 yards (6.2 per carry, a half-yard better than Williams’ 5.7) and one touchdown.
Whaley said he’s naturally healthier now than he was at the end of the regular season, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll play in the Cotton Bowl on Friday against Texas A&M.
“I’m full go. Ready,” he said. “I didn’t get taken out of anything. Participated in all practices.”
That’s a shame. His Army mother and stepfather, Dama and Kelius Hardy, will be at the game, and his mom missed almost of his big 2011 season serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan. It would certainly complete Whaley’s impossible story as a Sooner if he got to play against the Aggies in front of his parents.
The injury was torn ligaments and a broken bone.
“It’s kind of a hard thing to describe,” he said. “It’s one of those things you’ve just got to get a feel for it. Of course, I haven’t been on it in so long. A lot of the things I used to do, I’ve got to get back into doing it. It’s gonna feel different. I’ve been off of it so long, I can’t do some of the same things. But for the most part, I’m good.”
He still doesn’t feel 100 percent healed.
“I’m getting there,” Whaley said. “If I’m not, I’m getting there.”
Beyond the Cotton Bowl, Whaley said he’ll start networking agents and NFL contacts in preparation for OU’s Pro Day and, hopefully, the NFL Scouting Combine. As athletic as he is — Bob Stoops said Whaley’s measurables like broad jump, vertical and cone drills are better than Adrian Peterson’s — and as effective as he was when healthy, he should get a shot.
“Oh, that’s the plan. That’s the plan,” he said. “By then, if I’m not 100 percent, I’m pretty sure I’ll be 120.”
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