Right on schedule?
Published: 2/23/2012 6:41 AM
Last Modified: 2/23/2012 10:35 AM
Landy Jones gets pressured by Alex Elkins during last season's Bedlam game. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World file
Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel rated "five games to watch" on the Big 12 schedule. Three of them were OU games – Kansas State in Norman Sept. 22, Texas in Dallas Oct. 13 and Bedlam in Norman Nov. 24.
Not sure if I see the K-State game the same way. The Wildcats couldn't keep last year's game in Manhattan competitive, and that was against a backsliding Sooners team. They still have Bill Snyder and Collin Klein, but they're also being served up as OU's first meaty opponent of '12, appearing on the menu after UTEP, Florida A&M and an open date.
They'll have the Sooners' full attention. Never a good thing for a visiting team at Owen Field.
Meanwhile, down at the Austin American-Statesman, the OU schedule (well, parts of it) caught the attention of my pals Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden.
Golden called OU-Texas the Longhorns' "key game" for '12, writing, "Take Dallas, take the conference. Expect the Sooners to be favored."
Golden also anticipated the Bedlam rematch, writing, "Oklahoma State humiliated OU last year, and you know Bob Stoops has reminded his coaching staff of that score in the months since."
Bohls eyed the OU-Notre Dame renewal Oct. 27.
"Will Brian Kelly get the Irish turned around?" he wondered. "Will Landry Jones' Heisman campaign be in full swing, or will he benched in favor of Blake Bell?"
They do love a quarterback controversy in Austin.
One more Bohls query: "Could this be a harbinger of things to come if Notre Dame gets enticed to become a full-fledged member of the Big 12?"
I sort of doubt that, just as I doubt Jones will be an A-list Heisman contender next season, and that Bell will threaten Jones' place as starting QB.
Still, that will do just fine for something to roll around in our heads in the middle of February.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
