Stoops ups ante in Murray's senior season
Published: 5/26/2010 10:36 AM
Last Modified: 5/26/2010 10:36 AM
So at last night's Sooner Caravan stop, Bob Stoops is asked about DeMarco Murray setting a 1,500-yard goal for next season, and Stoops says: "I don't think it's enough. I'd like to see him have about 1,900. Not like we haven't done it. Adrian (Peterson) and Quentin (Griffin) both were over 1,900, so we'll see. Hopefully he can do something like that."
Wow.
No coachspeak about a back being as productive as his blockers, or about a player being as good as his supporting cast. No comments along the lines of "Let's just see what happens in game one and go from there," of "Maybe if he stays healthy..."
If Murray's prediction was like shoving five stacks of chips into the center of the table, Stoops went all in.
It's one thing for pundits to make such bold statements. And plenty have done just that the last four years on the subject of Murray. A few weeks ago, Yahoo!Sports' Matt Hinton compared the OU senior to former Clemson stud C.J. Spiller.
"Murray was ranked right alongside Spiller as the top incoming 'all-purpose' backs of 2006, and has delivered a startlingly similar career through his first three seasons – right down to the make-or-break senior season that will largely define his college career," Hinton wrote. "Like Spiller, Murray quickly emerged and has remained a terrifying home-run threat as a runner, receiver and returner, and served as the flashier half of a platoon system with an older workhorse who's handled most of the carries between the tackles.
"He also struggled with diminishing returns as a junior in a hugely disappointing season for his team, and faces doubts entering his senior year about his ability to handle a full load as an every-down back in an offense that will be relying on him more than ever."
The headline to Hinton's piece was "DeMarco Murray is waiting to explode again... and waiting..."
Sounds like Stoops is extremely confident that Murray will, in fact, explode next fall.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
