TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE
|
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
|
WIRELESS
CONTACT US
|
SUBSCRIBER SERVICES
|
SIGN IN
SIGN OUT
|
MY PROFILE PAGE
|
MY ACCOUNT
OU
|
OSU
|
TU
|
ORU
|
HIGH SCHOOLS
|
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
|
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
|
NFL
|
FANTASY
|
OUTDOORS
|
GOLF
|
PROS
|
ALL
HOMEPAGES
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
High School Sports
College Football
SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS
Sports Editor
Mike Strain
Sports Columnist
Dave Sittler
The Picker
Entertaining & Infuriating
Sr. Sports Columnist John Klein
Sports Writer Jimmie Tramel
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Outdoors Writer Kelly Bostian
Fantasy Football
High School Sports
LOCAL PROS
Tulsa Drillers
Tulsa Oilers
Tulsa Talons
Tulsa 66ers
Oklahoma City Thunder
ALL SPORTS
Golf
Horse racing
Major League Baseball
Motorsports
NBA
NFL
NHL
Other sports
PHOTOS & VIDEOS
OU photo slide shows
OSU photo slide shows
TU photo slide shows
College football highlights
OUTDOORS
Home page
Kelly Bostian's columns
Kelly Bostian's blogs
Videos
Slide shows
FIND A STORY
Search the World's archives
EMAIL ALERTS
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
High Schools & Friday Night Scoreboard
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
All Sports
NFL
Columns
SOCIAL MEDIA
Sports Extra on Facebook
@TWSportsExtra
RSS FEEDS
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
High School Football
Dave Sittler Column
John Klein Column
Picker column
CONTACT US
Editors
Mike Strain, Sports Editor
Patrick Prince, Asst. Sports Editor
James Royal, Asst. Sports Editor
Writers
Eric Bailey, TU Sports/High School Soccer
Kelly Bostian, Outdoors
Mike Brown, ORU Sports
Guerin Emig, OU Sports
Bill Haisten, OSU Sports
John E. Hoover, OU Sports
Lynn Jacobsen, Women's Basketball/High Schools
John Klein, Columnist
Barry Lewis, High Schools
Dave Sittler, Columnist
Jimmie Tramel, OSU Men's Basketball
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
Home Page
Local News
Business
Scene
Local Calendar
Special Projects
Databases
Opinion
Blogs
Comics & Puzzles
Videos
Photos
Classifieds
Jobs
Autos
Homes
Marketplace
ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA
Learn more about the site.
Newspaper View
Print
Email
Bookmark
If you would like to bookmark this article you will need to
Login
to your tulsaworld.com account
close
Bradford-Tebow show is just getting started
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published:
12/8/2008 2:31 AM
Last Modified: 12/8/2008 3:46 AM
Sunday's announcement that Oklahoma will play Florida for the Bowl Championship Series national title on Jan. 8 was just the first salvo in what will be a month-long buildup to an epic showdown of two of college football's best quarterbacks.
It heats up this week, when OU's Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow meet in Orlando.
On Thursday, Tebow could win the Maxwell Award for the nation's top all-around player. Bradford could win the O'Brien Award for the nation's top quarterback.
It gets really interesting this weekend in New York.
Tebow and Bradford will go head-to-head for college football's ultimate individual prize, the 2008 Heisman Trophy. Formal invitations haven't been announced yet, but votes are due Wednesday. Tebow, Bradford and Texas' Colt McCoy each will get a chance to brush up against the clunky little stiff-armer before the award is given out on Saturday night.
Then, things will get quiet for a month or so before national media convenes in Miami, Fla., site of this year's title game. There, Tebow and Bradford will tussle over the game's ultimate team prize. And that (despite Tebow already in possession of the 2007 Heisman) is what drives these two warriors.
Tebow has done things unmatched by any player in college football history. At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, one observer said the left-handed Tebow runs more like former 49ers fullback Tom Rathman than ex-Niners southpaw QB Steve Young. But last year, Tebow gracefully, powerfully carried the Gators with 3,286 yards and 32 touchdowns passing and 895 and 23 touchdowns rushing. With better players around him this year, Tebow's stats are more modest — 2,515 yards and 28 TDs passing, 564 and 12 rushing.
"We've had the experience of being spread out and matching up with speed on the perimeter," OU coach Bob Stoops said, "but I think Tim Tebow and his ability to run and how physical he is gives an added dimension to that spread offense."
Bradford, at 6-foot-5 and 217 pounds, is a pure pocket passer with enough athletic ability to avoid pressure and uncanny accuracy on the run. As a freshman, he threw for 3,121 yards and 36 TDs. This year, with better players around him, his stats exploded: 4,464 yards and 48 TDs.
As much as Florida coach Urban Meyer admires Bradford's passing, he prefers other qualities, gushing about Bradford's head-over-heels run at Oklahoma State.
"If you have a tough quarterback, then the entire team's tough," Meyer said. "That's one thing that stands out most about watching him play. That one highlight, I mean, that's a tough-assed quarterback that did that. That's the most impressive thing about him."
John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Copy Text
Search for this phrase/name
Close
Newspaper View
Print
Email
Bookmark
If you would like to bookmark this article you will need to
Login
to your tulsaworld.com account
close
COMMENTS
Add your comment
Show: Most Recent Comment First
3
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
Sharkey Hammerhead
, owasso (12/8/2008 8:17:41 AM)
Here we go ,a whole month of who`s the best and who`s going to beat who.. Already this morning I`ve heard or read that Tebow can`t wait to feast on Big 12 Defenses, You know maybe ,just maybe the Big 12 offenses are that good .. SEC thinks they are the only ones who play D. Thats just crazy, our defenses have to be so much better in the big 12 cause we acually play offense.Lets see Alambama, looks like the old big Ten offense,and Florida is Tebow right, Tebow left ,and lets mix it up a bit and Tebow up the middle.. I know you will tell me how he has a laser arm and can make all the throws... We see that every week in the BIG 12 every QB makes all the throws and it won`t be the first time we see a running QB....I`m going out on a limb here and say the SOONERS big over the GATORS ,, 45- 21 ....................
Report Comment
Dewd
, Cache (12/8/2008 10:29:15 AM)
If Oklahoma plays the Gators like they played Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Mizzou, it'll be a freakin' laffer.
Tebo scores in the 40's. Bradford scores in the 60's.
Report Comment
Steff M
, Claremore (12/8/2008 11:01:59 AM)
Sam is so much better than everyone else it's not even close. They can say he's got more weapons or a better line or whatever but he's just head and shoulders above Tebow and McCoy. So they're great at running the ball. Sam can run pretty well too when he has to but they don't need him to nor do they want him to. Those other two are very lucky to have made it through the season without any substantial injuries as much as they run it. And for all the whiners complaining about Bob running up the score for Bradford and the polls, check the numbers. Texas has less plays from scrimmage than OU yet McCoy has nearly a game's worth of snaps over Bradford. (before the Big 12 Champ. game) It'd be a shame to give it to a quarterback who'll be a fullback or tight end in the NFL or one who won't even make the cut.
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
.
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
LATEST HEADLINES
Big 12: Best league in college basketball
If the Big 12 can remain the No. 1 hoops league in the land, perhaps RPI respect will allow ...
Super Bowl sets mark
A shoulder to lean on for Capel, Griffin
Ex-Union All-Stater dismissed from TU football team
Sooners fall to Texas Tech, 72-71
Kellyville hires football coach
U.S. Olympic ski jumpers struggle to make ends meet
WNBA Shock may make move to Tulsa without 2 All-Stars
Edmonton's AHL affiliate to be located in Oklahoma City
Pickens, Aikman, Nantz added to National Football Foundation board of directors
Turnover continues for Tulsa
Tennessee star to be honored by Okla. Senate
Sooners' leader is missed
News and Notes: Sapulpa living on the road
Player of the Week: Morgan Toben
Payton, Brees bask in Super Bowl title
Read all of today's sports stories
Home
|
About Tulsa World
|
Advertise With Us
|
Privacy
|
Usage Agreement
|
FAQ and Help
|
Contact Us
|
Today's Headlines
Copyright
©
2010
, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.