Tulsa World: OU Notebook

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OU Notebook

By GUERIN EMIG, World sports writer
Published: 10/13/2008 2:06 AM
Last Modified: 10/13/2008 3:16 AM

Back to Box?: Austin Box, who was in the running to start at weakside linebacker throughout preseason camp, may be plan A in the middle now that Ryan Reynolds is out for the year. The other possibility has Travis Lewis, who held off Box to start on the weak side and just made 19 tackles against Texas, moving to the middle with Box replacing him on the weak side.

Bob Stoops indicated Sunday that having Box play the middle is "probably what we'll do, but we're going to work through that."

"Austin is not ready to be declared the guy," defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. "You have to go out there and earn it. It will be whoever is most consistent and whoever can make the plays that position requires you to make."

Finding fault: Over the first six weeks, blame for OU run-game shortcomings fell at a lot of feet.

Sometimes the backs were dancing instead of heading straight for the hole. Other times they weren't getting enough help from lead-blocking fullbacks or tight ends. The offensive line took some blame as well.

In the aftermath of the Sooners' run-game struggles against Texas — 16 carries for the tailbacks produced 38 yards — offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson pointed the finger at himself.

"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," he said, "because I'm running the offense. If they're not doing well, it's on me and no one else.

"If the run game is not going, I have to make it work and give us a chance to win. We're not going to point fingers. It starts with me."

Wilson conceded there was a reason third-team tailback Mossis Madu was given a series at the end of the third quarter.

"I told Cale (Gundy, running backs coach), 'We're not running. Give me a guy. Let's go to the next guy,'" Wilson said. "Same thing with those linemen. If the dogs don't want to hunt... Sometimes they don't want to hunt, they want to sit on the porch."

No hard feelings: A day later, Stoops accepted the officials' incompletion call in the end zone, on a play OU linebacker Lamont Robinson appeared to intercept.

Asked Sunday if he could have called time out to allow the replay official a longer look, Stoops said: "Well, yeah, but I understand the rule... A receiver or a defensive guy catches the football, you have to complete the catch. You have to land on the ground and come up with the football. The ground cannot cause a fumble. It can cause an incompletion. If you fall on the ground and the ball's out, it's an incompletion. That's why (officials) follow a guy 8, 10 yards out of bounds, to see if he comes up with the ball. You have to possess the ball all the way through the fall,"

Robinson did not make it through his fall with possession and, therefore, lost the interception. Texas kicked a field goal a play later to take a 30-28 third-quarter lead. By GUERIN EMIG, World sports writer

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jazzy529, upper marlboro, md (10/14/2008 1:47:08 PM)

SPEAKING OF DOGS WHO REALLY MAKES THE DECISIONS ON WHO PLAYS AT OU?

BOX OR LEWIS!!! WHAT THE HECK HAPPEN TO BALOGUN? ALL SPRING AND SUMMER HE WAS THE TALK OF LINEBACKERS NOW NOTHING. REVENGE OF VENABLES.

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