The team has depth and versatility for several formations.

Oklahoma's running game in 2007 will apparently have a dot-and-dash element that has been missing since the Quentin Griffin era.

Senior-to-be Allen Patrick and sophomore Chris Brown will give the OU rushing attack a touch of the sledgehammer effect that Adrian Peterson brought for three seasons. But the versatile skills of redshirt freshmen Mossis Madu and DeMarco Murray give offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson some new toys to play with.

When OU lines up in the I-formation or one-back set, the 6-foot, 191-pound Patrick will be the man, and the 5-10, 190-pound Brown will be his top backup. But when the Sooners take to the shotgun formation, or split backs, wing, double slot or just about anything else, the 5-11, 190-pound Madu and the 6-foot, 191-pound Murray could be in there.

"They're great with the ball in their hands," Wilson said. "They've got great change-of-direction. Excellent speed. Mossis has tremendous feet and change-of-direction. DeMarco's probably a little bit rawer, faster; probably one of the fastest players we have on offense, but still has some wiggle and some shake.

"They both have shown they have quality hands; they can catch the football. But I don't know, size-wise, age-wise, maturity, are they 25-carries-a-game, standing back here deep or in shotgun? And the long haul, physically, is their strength level and their body where they're going to be maybe a year or two from now?"

Wilson said he doesn't expect Patrick to average 30 carries per game like he did the second half of last season, when Peterson -- who was averaging 28 -- was injured. Ideally, he'd like to see Patrick get around 20, Brown get 10 or so, and the rest of the 35-40 handoffs per game would be split among Madu and Murray.

"There is a lot of pounding," Wilson said. "I wouldn't hesitate giving it to Allen Patrick 35 times, but that's a lot of hits over a 12-game schedule, and it's a lot of hits where you start to become a player that can't practice good or practice a lot."

Action for Madu and Murray wouldn't be limited to just backfield work, either. Wilson said one of the focuses of this spring -- OU returns from spring break Monday for the sixth of 15 practices -- is to create competition at various spots by trying certain players at different positions.

For Madu and Murray, that means some slot receiver, some wing, some shotgun and whatever else Wilson can dream up. Expect lots of slip-screen passes, shovel passes, bubble passes, end-around handoffs, smoke draw handoffs -- anything to get them the football in space. And those experiments will progress through the summer and, Wilson said, probably throughout next fall.

But that plan doesn't preclude Madu and Murray from lining up in traditional formations. Murray's 65-yard touchdown run around left end in a March 14 scrimmage came out of the I-formation.

"We don't want to have them do everything, become a jack of all trades and not get good at anything," Wilson said.

"It's not like they can't be our starting tailback. But you watch those guys run and watch 'em in practice, and it'd be a shame to have one of those guys (Patrick) on the field and you have Jacob Gutierrez and Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray and Mossis Madu all standing on the sideline signaling plays."

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com