Tulsa World: OU Notebook

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OU Notebook

By GUERIN EMIG AND JOHN E. HOOVER, World sports writers
Published: 9/2/2008 2:11 AM
Last Modified: 9/2/2008 3:12 AM

Williams done: John Williams' Oklahoma career football appears to be over. After practice Monday night, Bob Stoops confirmed that Williams, a former starting defensive end, will likely not return to the team after taking a recent leave of absence.

"Right now John's just mentally having a hard time staying with it, and right now we don't anticipate him rejoining the team," Stoops said.

The senior from Houston suffered a torn ACL in the 2005 opener against TCU, missed most of 2006 with a serious illness and went down in the fourth game of 2007 with a torn Achilles' tendon at Tulsa. The NCAA last January granted him a hardship waiver for a sixth season of eligibility, but in training camp he was unable to crack the two-deep.

Williams was a starter in both 2005 and 2007 before his injuries. Stoops has previously expressed remorse on several occasions about Williams' injury-riddled career.

"Yeah, but you know, in the end, you've got to want to play," Stoops said Monday. "You've got to be willing to do the things necessary to play and play well. It's unfortunate, but in the end, we're going to play this Saturday, so we're going to get ready to play."

Williams was not in uniform during Saturday's season-opening victory over Chattanooga. The Sooners used Alan Davis with Auston English and starter Jeremy Beal in a three-end rotation before going to Frank Alexander as the game got out of hand early in the second quarter.

Gustav's impact: The Sooners were without redshirt freshman tackle Alex Williams at practice on Monday. Williams was back in New Orleans, helping family battle Hurricane Gustav.

Another Louisiana Sooner, running back Chris Brown of Alexandria, said he was among the evacuees when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. Alexandria is inland, about 200 miles northwest of New Orleans.

"We came back and there were telephone poles everywhere," he said. "A big tree almost crashed into my grandma's. It was real bad. We were out of school for two weeks, couldn't play any football. We were without power for a week and a half. When Rita hit a week later, it was the same thing."

Brown said that Gustav is also affecting his family.

"You think about your people back home. I've got family all across the state of Louisiana, especially in the southern part," he said. "They (evacuated) last time, and I'm sure they'll (evacuate) this time. It's kind of scary."

"I talked to (his mother) before practice. It just started raining hard. I guess the hurricane was just hitting land and coming up. She said it was just starting to rain. I told her to be safe."

Brotherly love: Stoops' team scored 57 points on Saturday night and was still outscored by two touchdowns — by his brother Mike's Arizona team, a 70-0 winner over Idaho.

"He feels they're a better team and closer to being where they need to be," Bob Stoops said. "So hopefully that continues for him."

Bearcat power: Stoops has only one word for anyone underestimating Cincinnati.

"Excellent," he said. "They are an excellent football team. They get a lot of notoriety for their offense, which is really good, but they also are great defensively. They've got nine seniors back and the two juniors that start for 'em are fourth-year juniors. So they've got great experience, talented guys." By GUERIN EMIG AND JOHN E. HOOVER, World sports writers

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