What's Bradford's hurry? This
Published: 9/28/2009 9:59 PM
Last Modified: 9/28/2009 9:59 PM
A very interesting question asked in the headline of Matt Hinton's Yahoo!Sports column: Tebow and Bradford on their way back, but what's the hurry?
"First consideration: Bradford's physical comfort level when passing," Hinton wrote. "Second consideration: Whether the Sooners will be in desperate enough need of points to rush their most important (player) back before he's ready. If the always feisty OU defense can do to 'Cane quarterback Jacory Harris what Virginia Tech did to him last Saturday, the offense does not have to be humming at the optimal, record-breaking pace it achieved last November to win in Miami...
"If Bradford sits at Miami and comes back fresh for the Big 12 opener against Baylor, that should be plenty of lead time to get back in the swing before the season-making showdown with McCoy and Texas on Oct. 17."
Two things.
First, I expect Harris and his offense to rebound from that debacle at Virginia Tech. OU's defense is playing well enough to hold the Hurricanes down, but certainly not out. No, the Sooners don't need to score in the 60s a la last November, but they had better shoot for the mid-to-upper 20s at least.
Who would they feel better about getting them there, a fit-enough-to-throw Bradford or Landry Jones? Right.
Second, the point has been made that the biggest reason Bradford came back for his junior season was to make another national title run. He already had the NFL eating from his hand. Already had a Heisman Trophy. And a Big 12 championship, a book of school records, a college transcript full of As and movie star celebrity.
The only way Bradford gets the one thing that has eluded him is if OU wins Saturday night. Lose once more, his national aspirations are gone forever. He can play on to beat Texas, win another Big 12 ring and make another Fiesta Bowl go. But, barring absolute BCS chaos, that's it.
And while that may be a lot to many, it very likely wouldn't be enough for Bradford. That's his motivation.
That's his hurry.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
