Tulsa World: OU Notebook

TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | WIRELESS

OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL

HOMEPAGES

SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

		Sports Editor Mike Strain
		Sports Columnist Dave Sittler
		The Picker Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

Search the World's archives

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US

BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

Buy a published photo by clicking the "Order this Picture" link on the photo. For a full-color page reprint, call 732-8198 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or order online.

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Learn more about the site.

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

OU Notebook

By GUERIN EMIG, World sports writer
Published: 10/3/2008 2:07 AM
Last Modified: 10/3/2008 3:21 AM

Rush to judgment: The Sooners are coming off their worst rushing performance, statistically, in six years. Tailbacks DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown combined for 50 yards on 26 carries and, after TCU's four sacks of Sam Bradford were totaled, OU wound up with 25 yards on 36 attempts.

"We didn't have a lot of success, but a lot of times we were one block away," center Jon Cooper said. "They'd bring an extra guy (to the line of scrimmage) but we'd still have a crease and we'd miss one block and they'd kind of break away one time. That's very disappointing for us. Something always seemed to happen, where it was just kind of one person or one block."

If the Sooners want to get back on track Saturday, they might have that chance. Baylor lost at Connecticut last time out after giving up 225 rushing yards to the Huskies.

Maybe this will help: OU freshman Matt Moreland struggled again with his kickoffs last week. He failed to reach the end zone on all six kicks, and has earned just three touchbacks in four games.

Asked if there was something Moreland could do to improve the situation, OU coach Bob Stoops replied: "Yeah, kick it farther. Matt's got a big leg. I do see it more in practice than I've been able to see it in games. It's just continuing to work the technique."

The Sooners are about willing to try anything.

"We were talking the other day, you have a set of balls that are just game balls that we need to work with more in practice," Stoops said. "It's like hitting a bad golf ball. You hit a good one, it reacts differently. We'll see if that doesn't help a little bit."

Scramble drill: The Sooners are getting a lot of kudos for both their pass rush — they are fourth in the nation in sacks — and their pass coverage. Playing an athletic quarterback like Robert Griffin, however, may provide both groups their steepest challenge.

"Not to say (Griffin) can't run, because he's excellent at running, but he buys a lot of time back there, runs around all over the field," OU secondary coach Bobby Jack Wright said. "You've got to lock down those receivers when he goes to scrambling."

Bear essential: There has been a lot of talk about how OU will play after receiving its first No. 1 ranking since 2003. But how will Baylor approach facing No. 1?

"What we've got to do is play hard for 60 minutes," Bears coach Art Briles said. "It's not a situation where we're trying to put a notch in our belt or a feather in our cap. What we're trying to do is play extremely well as a team for 60 minutes. That's how we're approaching the football game. We can't get caught up in anything else." By GUERIN EMIG, World sports writer

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

COMMENTS

Add your comment

Show: Most Recent Comment First

1 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Report Comment

THE REF, Broken Arrow (10/4/2008 3:45:31 PM)

Over 200 rushing yards today

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.