Oklahoma hopes to erase bad bowl memories
editor1 |Aug 20,2008
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By Alan Eskew
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
WTLG is the acronym slogan for the Oklahoma football team in
2008.
"Win the last game," Oklahoma safety Nic Harris said.
That is something the Sooners have not been able to do in recent
years. They have appeared in four BCS bowls in the past five
years, but have lost all four, including title games to LSU and
USC after the 2003-04 seasons.
Oklahoma also was upset by Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl after
the 2006 season and last January, West Virginia shocked the
Sooners, 48-28, in the Fiesta Bowl.
Beginning with the new millennium, the Sooners have won 90 games
- the most in the Football Bowl Subdivision - but have failed in
those big bowl games.
"There isn't any one good answer," head coach Bob Stoops said of
the bowl defeats. "In the end, too, I think it's obvious you're
playing another championship team and if you're not at your
best, you're not going to fare too well.
"We've been in six Big 12 Championships, and we won five of
them. We are doing something right. We know how to win those
games, so we'll manage the others the best we can."
Another thing that Stoops and Co. know by now - the expectations
never change for Oklahoma football.
"People in Oklahoma aren't satisfied unless you win a national
championship," senior center Jon Cooper said. "I know we can do
a better job of closing things out. We will finish strong this
year."
Oklahoma should be included on a short list of candidates for
the 2008 national title game. The Sooners return 14 starters,
including eight on offense, and should take a 5-0 record into an
October 11 showdown with Texas that likely will determine the
Big 12 South winner.
DeMarco Murray, who scored 15 touchdowns and rushed for 764
yards as a freshman before suffering a dislocated kneecap, is
fully recovered and should play in the season opener against
Tennessee-Chattanooga.
"DeMarco is an explosive, exciting player," Stoops said. "He's
one of those special athletes. Everybody sees the great speed
and moves that he has. But he's also a physical guy, too. When
you get up next to him and you pat him on the shoulder, there's
a lot to that guy. He's a stronger runner I think than people
might notice."
Quarterback Sam Bradford, who passed for 3,121 yards, led the
nation with a passing efficiency rating of 176.53 and set an
NCAA freshman record with 36 touchdown passes, will operate the
offense.
Bradford should have plenty of time to throw, and Murray and
Chris Brown, who rushed for 611 yards as a sophomore, should
have plenty of holes to gallop through.
Oklahoma's offensive line should be one of the elite units in
the country, returning four starters and seven of eight from the
two-deep chart last year.
Bradford's favorite target is senior Juaquin Iglesias, who
hauled in 68 receptions for 907 yards and five touchdowns last
season.
On defense, there is some concern, as linebacker Curtis Lofton
and cornerback Reggie Smith opted to leave school early for the
NFL draft. Lofton was a second-round pick of Atlanta, while
Smith went in the third round to San Francisco.
Defensive end John Williams was granted a sixth year, but has to
battle back from Achilles' tendon surgery. Jontae Bumpus,
another defensive lineman, missed last season while recuperating
from preseason surgery and was redshirted.
All-Big 12 defensive end Auston English, who logged 9 1/2 sacks
as a sophomore, returns. He missed the last three
regular-season games with a hairline ankle fracture against
Texas A&M.
Harris, who has started the past two years, and Lendy Holmes are
defensive back returnees, while junior college transfer David
Sims, who has been clocked in a 4.38 40-yard dash, may provide
immediate help.
Oklahoma's schedule is favorable, playing Kansas, Nebraska and
Texas Tech at home. Now if the Sooners can just close the
season with a bowl victory, they might just hoist another
national title trophy.
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