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OU's Murray out for BCS game
Hamstring injury will sideline Sooners' standout running back.

OU running back DeMarco Murray, shown against Kansas on Oct. 18, will have surgery Monday for a ruptured hamstring tendon. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World

 
By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Published: 12/17/2008  2:26 AM
Last Modified: 12/17/2008  2:33 AM

 NORMAN — Included in Tuesday's bulletin that Oklahoma's DeMarco Murray would miss the Jan. 8 Bowl Championship Series championship game was this statement from OU coach Bob Stoops: "Obviously, we're very disappointed for DeMarco. He has been an important part of our success this year and we will miss his contributions."

The question looking ahead to the Sooners-Florida matchup is, How much?

Murray will undergo surgery Monday for a ruptured hamstring tendon, detected in an MRI Dec. 8 after he was injured on the opening kickoff of the Big 12 championship Dec. 6. He is expected to be sidelined five months.

For national championship purposes, it deprives the Sooners of their leading kick returner (774 yards), second-leading rusher (1,002 yards) and third-leading scorer (108 points on 18 touchdowns). Only two players in college football's Bowl Subdivision, Missouri's Jeremy Maclin and Tulsa's Damaris Johnson, have more all-purpose yardage than Murray.

Perhaps no runner had the momentum Murray did before that Big 12 championship kickoff, and that is most troubling of all as OU makes plans for the Gators.

The week of the Big 12 finale, Murray was asked about rebounding from post-2007 season knee surgery, and from the slow start to his '08 season that resulted.

"I've felt a thousand times better ever since the Texas week (Oct. 11)," Murray said. "The last couple weeks, I've been feeling great, feeling like my old self. Just running harder, getting my speed back and making more cuts."

That was apparent in the five games leading up to the Big 12 championship, when Murray ripped off 68- and 62-yard kickoff returns, a 70-yard run and 33- and 31-yard catches.

How much better did a fully-recovered Murray make OU's already-potent offense?

"Ten times," wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias answered.

Of course, the Sooners did fine without him in their Big 12 championship beatdown of Missouri. They scored 62 points and rolled to a Big 12 title game-record 627 yards. Chris Brown rushed for 122, Mossis Madu rushed for a career-high 114.

Afterward, Stoops said something he is sure to repeat several times between now and Jan. 8: "In some other years, I look up and we're running the play and I'm like, 'How come so-and-so isn't in?' And I don't feel that way with all three of those guys (Murray, Brown and Madu). I feel as good with one as the other."

Brown and Madu even have BCS bowl experience, having combined for 93 yards on 21 carries in a Murray-less Fiesta Bowl loss to West Virginia last season.

Still, as the Sooners learned in that game when they went without a number of starters, it's nice to have all hands on deck for season finales.

For national championships like the one Jan. 8, and against defenses like the ninth-ranked unit Florida is bringing to Miami, some would say it's more necessity than luxury.

The DeMarco difference



DeMarco Murray’s impact on Oklahoma’s offense was noticeable following the Oct. 11 loss to Texas. Before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury on the opening kickoff in the Dec. 6 Big 12 championship against Missouri, Murray scored all 18 of his touchdowns and emerged as an all-purpose threat over a six-game span. A look at Murray’s second half of the season:

DATE OPPONENT RUSH-YDS-TD CATCHES-YDS-TD KR-YDS-TD
Oct. 18 Kansas 16-83-2 3-35-0 4-73-0
Oct. 25 Kansas State 17-104-4 4-63-2 1-37-0
Nov. 1 Nebraska 14-57-2 1-25-1 2-119-0
Nov. 8 Texas A&M 7-123-3 7-63-1 3-56-0
Nov. 22 Texas Tech 18-125-2 4-71-0 0-0-0
Nov. 29 Okla. State 15-73-1 1-16-0 7-196-0
Dec. 6 Missouri 0-0-0 0-0-0 1-30-0
TOTALS 87-565-14 20-273-4 17-552-0




Guerin Emig 581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com
By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer

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2 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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patjl, (12/17/2008 11:34:26 AM)
GO GATORS......GATOR NATION OVER OU....IT IS ABOUT TIME YOU GET TO FACE A REAL DEFENSE AND NOT THOSE CREAM PUFF BIG 12 TEAMS WITHOUT A RANKED DEFENSIVE TEAM.......GO GATORS
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zach, (12/17/2008 11:53:01 AM)
You are about to face real offense and not those cream puff offenses in the SEC. You will finally see what a QB looks like compared to Tebow.
 

 
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