Tulsa World: OU Notebook

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OU Notebook

By JOHN E. HOOVER, World sports writer
Published: 1/7/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 1/7/2009 3:00 AM

Balogun to start: Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables announced Tuesday that junior Mike Balogun will start at middle linebacker for the Sooners on Thursday in the national championship game against Florida. Redshirt freshman Austin Box, coaches have said all week, will play as well.

"So far so good," Balogun said Monday. "The week's been going good. Definitely. I'm ready to go."

Balogun replaced Box late in the Oklahoma State game, then played only sparingly in the Big 12 title game against Missouri. While Box recovered from a knee sprain, Balogun got all the work as the starter. Box returned to practice last week.

"We're both going to get our reps," said Box. "We've been each taking reps in practice this week and it's going to be a joint effort."

Shirt tale: The Cherokee Nation is giving away unique T-shirts to fans attending the BCS national championship game. The shirts reflect the University of Oklahoma logo and quarterback Sam Bradford's name and jersey number written in the Cherokee language.

Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, is one-sixteenth Cherokee. The shirts will be distributed before and during OU's showdown with Florida.

Road game: Although it won't reach the level of the 2003-04 Sugar Bowl when thousands of rowdy LSU fans filled the Louisiana Superdome, it's expected Dolphin Stadium will have more Gators fans than Sooner fans.

"We're treating it like a road game," said OU center Jon Cooper.

Coach

Bob Stoops isn't settling for that. On Monday, he revealed his plan to put Miami and Florida State fans to work.

"There's a whole lot of 'Cane fans, and I'm calling on all the Hurricane and Seminole fans that are down here to root for us," Stoops said. "That won't be hard I don't think. So there's another part of south Florida that isn't for the Gators, and we're hoping to recruit them here this week."

Running man: Cooper is among the most popular Sooner linemen among fans and, as a captain, is one of the unquestioned leaders of the offense. But sometimes he can aggravate his linemates.

"I get a lot of grief because I enjoy running," said Cooper, who at 285 pounds weighs 20-50 pounds less than the rest of the Sooner starters. "Other offensive linemen don't really like it, but I like it. I tell them to come afterwards and do a couple extra sprints with me, and they look at me like I'm crazy."

Return engagement: In Florida quarterback Tim Tebow's last appearance at Dolphin Stadium, he led Nease High School in Jacksonville to the 4A state championship.

"We had a really good game here and won," he said. "It was a big game for me and my high school. I'm enjoying it. It is nice to be back here."

Rank this: Apprised of Dominique Franks' assessment of Tebow as no better than fourth if he played among Big 12 quarterbacks, Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen figured he'd have a little fun with his QB.

"I started listing the quarterbacks in the Big 12, and I told Tim, 'I had you ninth or 10th,' " Mullen said. "I said, 'They're giving you a pretty good compliment. They have you a little higher than I did.' " By JOHN E. HOOVER, World sports writer

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