Tulsa World: OU Football Notebook

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OU Football Notebook

By GUERIN EMIG World sports writer
Published: 11/21/2008 2:36 AM
Last Modified: 11/21/2008 3:39 AM

Senior citizens: Lost in the hoopla of Saturday night's matchup is the fact that 20 Oklahoma seniors are playing their final game at Owen Field.

"They've been a great group of seniors and great attitude guys," coach Bob Stoops said, "and I really thought they stepped up early on in the year and really have shown a lot of leadership, maybe more so than some of the seniors we've had, which you appreciate as a coach."

OU is 39-11, 24-8 in the Big 12 Conference and has won back-to-back league championships over the seniors' four-year tenure.

Asked how critical it is to send the group out victorious, sophomore cornerback Dominique Franks said: "It's very important. You never want to let the seniors go out with a loss. So we're going to come out and take care of business."

Hold that thought: There is speculation that tight end Jermaine Gresham is among the Sooner underclassmen who are NFL draft-worthy and, therefore, might consider this a final home game.

"It never came up in my mind," Gresham said earlier this week. "I just play football one game at a time. No looking to the future."

Possession obsession: The only time of year when OU's time of possession becomes an issue is the week before Texas Tech, the idea being a running clock keeps Mike Leach's offense off the field.

But then doesn't that go against the nature of the Sooners' no-huddle, strike-in-a-minute offense?

"We're not the type of offense that wants to eat up the clock unless we have to," guard Duke Robinson affirmed. "We want to score points. Every time we get on the field, we try to score. Time doesn't matter, if you score every time you go out there."

OU is first in the nation in scoring, but eighth in the Big 12 in time of possession.

Brody is back: Just in case the Sooners are into ball control Saturday night, they are expected to welcome back Brody Eldridge, the designated blocker who's had a gimpy ankle since early October.

"We've been missing him for a long, long time," tailback Chris Brown said. "That's a big key to the offense blocking-wise."

Johnson is better: Wide receiver Manuel Johnson has caught one pass for 13 yards while playing sparingly since dislocating his elbow against Kansas on Oct. 18.

"It's getting better. It's about 80 percent," he said this week. "It's just a little pain that's going to be there no telling how long. That week off helped a lot."

OU's Saturday off last weekend helped several players.

"This is the best my body has felt in a while," said weakside linebacker Travis Lewis, whose 105 tackles approach Brian Bosworth's school record for freshmen (133). By GUERIN EMIG World sports writer

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pat, Kiefer (11/21/2008 1:18:25 PM)

BOOMER SOONER!!!!

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