Stoops: DeMarco Murray "anxious, apprehensive" before Big 12 title game, Fiesta Bowl
Published: 12/28/2010 7:07 PM
Last Modified: 12/28/2010 7:07 PM
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.— Interesting revelation from Bob Stoops after practice Tuesday evening at Scottsdale Community College.
Running back DeMarco Murray is more fired up than you think about playing in his first BCS game.
“I’ve talked to him about that,” Stoops said. “Actually, he was a little tentative going into the Big 12 championship game. I put my arm around him and asked him, I said, ‘Hey, I hadn’t had you in one of these games yet.’ Then I said the same thing after, I said, ‘Well, we got you in the Fiesta Bowl finally.’ He makes a difference. We have played without him the last couple.”
I wrote about Murray’s grand finale in Tuesday’s morning’s Tulsa World. He expressed to me in a one-on-one interview setting that he was indeed excited about his final game. Injured at the end of his first two seasons, he played his first bowl game last year in El Paso and didn’t have a good game statistically. He acknowledged he’s very eager to end his career on a big stage with a “typical DeMarco Murray game” (my words, not his).
Murray went into the Baylor game with injured ribs. The following week in Stillwater, he hyperextended his knee. Still, he played against Nebraska in the Big 12 title game and was a difference-maker, with 68 yards rushing and 60 receiving.
But Stoops, in an uncharacteristically candid moment, said Murray was actually apprehensive going into the Big 12 game and is likewise for Saturday’s game against No. 25 Connecticut.
“He’s anxious for it,” Stoops said. “He’s excited about it. He got over his apprehension in the Big 12 championship game, fortunately. He was tentative even when he was warming up. But the more he played, the more he started to trust it and feel good.”
What is Murray’s most endearing characteristic?
“Everything,” Stoops said. “Attitude, leadership, toughness, humility. He’s a guy that isn’t worried about ‘I’ and what touches he gets. He’s just always been there and always played tough, physical. Reliable.”
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
