Sooners Head North for Iowa StateNORMAN, Okla. -- After back-to-back wins over ranked foes (No. 19 Texas, No. 11 Missouri), Oklahoma plays at Iowa State. The Cyclones, who own a win over Iowa, are looking to snap a four-game losing streak. OU has played just one game since Sept. 15, but finishes with three of four Big 12 games in Norman. The Sooners take the field at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. FSN has the national broadcast. The Series The Coaches The Program Sooners Digging the Long Ball Sooners Briefly Stoops Era Attendance
• Under Stoops, Oklahoma has produced its career leader in passing and receiving, while turning out the No. 3- and No. 4-ranked rusher in school history and the school record holder for single-season rushing, passing and receiving yards. • OU has scored at least one touchdown in every game dating back to Nov. 7, 1998. • Under Stoops, OU has rushed for 200 yards 35 times, including 29 over the last five seasons. • In the Stoops era, OU has 119 TD of 25+ yards and 242 scoring drives of less than 2:00. • OU’s 2006 team missed perfect offensive balance by just 202 yards (2,682 passing, 2,480 rushing). The 2005 team missed it by just one yard and the 2003 squad was off by only 160. Bradford Has Special Ties to OU and State Sam Bradford earned the starting quarterback job in August ... • Bradford is a certified Cherokee Indian. His great, great grandmother (father’s side) was named Susie Walkingstick. • Bradford’s father, Kent, was an offensive lineman at OU. He lettered in 1977 and 1978. • He completed his last 18 passes vs. North Texas and his first four vs. Miami. That string of 22 broke Jason White’s OU record of 18 and challenged the NCAA mark of 24 set by Tennessee’s Tee Martin. Bradford then hit his last 10 vs. Miami and first 11 vs. Utah State for a string of 21. • Multiple TD passes in six games, school record (tied) five TD passes vs. North Texas, hit at least 65% in six games, no INT in four games, at least one 30-yard pass in every game. National Numbers Jua-KEEN Iglesias Tight End Tandem O-Line of Historical Proportions
• OU has forced at least one turnover in 101 of Bob Stoops’ 112 games and has at least one interception in 75 of the last 98. There have multiple picks in 30 of their last 68 outings. • Oklahoma has nine shutouts under its current head coach. Opponents failed to score more than seven points 28 times and scored less than 14 in 54 games. • Last season, only two of the 14 opponents reached their scoring average in games against Oklahoma and just two were able to exceed their average total yardage figure. Defense Surging in NCAA Rankings Oklahoma’s top 25 rankings in the NCAA defensive stats ... • No. 4 in rushing defense at 65.1 yards per game. • No. 6 in sacks at 3.7 per game. • No. 9 in tackles for loss at 8.9 per game. • No. 17 in total defense at 303.0 yards per game. • No. 20 in scoring defense at 18.0. • Curtis Lofton ranks No. 4 in tackles (11.7) and Auston English No. 9 in sacks (1.1) and No. 11 in TFL (1.6). English Lesson Sophomore DE Auston English redshirted after his true freshman season, but is back from that year away from competition in a big way. He leads the Sooners in sacks with 7.5 and in tackles for loss with 11. • Over the last two games, both against ranked opponents, English has 3.5 sacks with two against Texas and 1.5 against Missouri. Also in that span, he logged 14 of his 28 tackles, including a career-high nine against the Tigers. Paper of Plastic? Touchy, Feely Defense Stoops Era Staple: Run Defense
Oklahoma’s special teams under Bob Stoops ... • There have been 25 special teams touchdowns, including 18 in the last 61 regular season games. Those 18 came via five different kinds of plays -- 10 punt returns, two faked field goals, two blocked punts, three kickoff returns and a faked punt. Special teams also own one safety in that span. • In total, OU has returned six kickoffs and 14 punts for TDs on Stoops’ watch (since 1999). • The Sooners have blocked 20 kicks. Many Happy Returns Two-Headed Punter Sooners Have Hart-ley
Such dramatics are lost on Bob Stoops. The Sooner head coach befriended the would-be albatross of OU's successful past from his first day on campus and remains steadfastly focused on tomorrow and the championship it holds. It falls then to the observers and experts of the game to define Stoops' impact. Rarely have the pundits had it so easy. Under Stoops, Oklahoma has won 88 games (88-19), been ranked for 120 weeks in the AP Poll (69 consecutive at one point) and 1198 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, played in seven bowl games, four of the BCS variety, and captured three Big 12 crowns. His 2000 team won the national championship. On a playing field leveled by scholarship limits and parity, this era stares down the Oklahoma standard and does not blink. The achievement dulls the memory of what Stoops inherited. When he arrived in Norman, the proud Sooner program was five years removed from a winning record, four from bowl play. Those atypical days of angst are so forgotten now that they might as well be mentioned with the land rush and dust bowl. Stoops has been characterized as a grounded family man, brilliant big-game coach, relentless recruiter, disciplined leader and a person with uncommon perspective. His success emanates from a disciplined style true to his roots in the Steel Valley of Ohio, but he is far from inflexible. The principles to which he holds are the tried and true axioms of the sport ... mixed with cutting edge strategy and an appreciation for the calculated risk. During his time, OU has produced record-setting passers and receivers, three 1,000-yard rushers, suffocating defense and special teams units that rank among the most dynamic in the land. Every facet has been impacted. His players have snagged 16 national awards, including the 2003 Heisman Trophy won by Jason White. There have been 58 academic honorees, 53 All-Big 12 players, 22 All-Americans and 32 NFL draft choices. Stoops has won a total of 10 national coach of the year awards and has been consensus Big 12 Coach of the year in three times. The son of a coach, Stoops was a four-year starter at Iowa. He began his coaching career in 1983 as a volunteer in the Hawkeye program under Hayden Fry. He worked through the ranks until he became co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State (1991-95) during Bill Snyder's rein. With the Wildcats, he played a key role in an impressive turnaround. During his final four seasons there, K-State was 35-12 with three bowl appearances. Eventually, he left for Florida and a three-year stint as Steve Spurrier's defensive coordinator. In 1996, he was part of a national championship team. It was with the Gators that the spotlight found Stoops and made him one of the hottest names in the profession. Stoops, who was born Sept. 9, 1960, in Youngstown, Ohio, graduated from Iowa in 1983 with a degree in marketing. He and his wife, Carol, have three children: daughter, Mackenzie, and twin sons, Drake and Isaac.
LB Lewis Baker: One of the top special teams contributors and the wedge-breaker on kickoffs ... career-high 11 tackles against Missouri. DT Cory Bennett: Started vs. Miami and Tulsa. OT Branndon Braxton: Three starts at right tackle thus far. RB Chris Brown: Rushed for three touchdowns against Missouri. P Michael Cohen: Averaged at least 42.0 yards in each game thus far ... top average was 45.9 vs. Texas ... one punt of at least 56 yards in each of the last three games. DT Steven Coleman: Started against Utah State ... tackle high of three at Tulsa ... has four career sacks for 49 yards in losses, an average of 12.3 yards per sack. C Jon Cooper: The starter at center, he is the most experienced of OU’s linemen. DE Alonzo Dotson: Got his first career start against Miami and logged one of OU’s two sacks. DE Auston English: Leads the team with 6.5 sacks ... two sacks against Texas ... career-high nine tackles, 1.5 sacks and two pass deflections against Missouri. TE Joe Jon Finley: Has added 41 pounds since coming to OU ... TD grab vs. Utah State ... career long reception of 43 yards at Colorado. DT DeMarcus Granger: Six starting assignments thus far ... logged a sack against Texas. TE Jermaine Gresham: Had a career-high eight receptions vs. Miami and one of those went for a touchdown ... two touchdown catches against Texas. RB Jacob Gutierrez: Went over 500 career rushing yards in the North Texas game. QB Joey Halzle: Was 4-of-5 for 40 yards with no interceptions while playing a back-up role vs. UNT ... threw his first career TD pass when he hit Adron Tennell on 61-yarder against Miami ... interception against Missouri. DB Nic Harris: Returned an interception 24 yards for a TD vs. North Texas ... seven tackles and a half-sack at Tulsa ... career-high 10 tackles at Colorado ... team-high eight tackles vs. Texas. K Garrett Hartley: Tied a school record with 11 PATs vs. North Texas ... four-year starter. DB Lendy Holmes: Interceptions against North Texas and Tulsa. WR Juaquin Iglesias: Team highs with seven grabs for 128 yards vs. North Texas ... three kickoff returns for 110 yards, the ninth-highest yardage total in school history, against Miami ... eight catches for 123 yards and a 35-yard TD run vs. Utah State ... eight receptons for 142 yards and two touchdowns at Tulsa ... led the Sooners with six catches (99 yards) vs. Texas. WR Manuel Johnson: One catch for five yards in the opener ... had his first career pass attempt and completion against Miami when he hit Malcolm Kelly on a 25-yarder. WR Malcolm Kelly: Brilliant in the North Texas game with four grabs for 118 yards and two TD ... four catches for 102 yards and three touchdowns against Miami ... six catches for 81 yards and two TD vs. Utah State ... five grabs for 105 yards and one touchdown against Texas. P Mike Knall: Handles short field punting situations ... had both of OU’s punts vs. Utah State ... two punts downed in side the 20. LB Curtis Lofton: Career-high 18 tackles and a 12-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Missouri ... 14 tackles at Tulsa ... 12 tackles vs. Utah State and a 45-yard interception return for a TD ... career-high 16 tackles at Colorado ... six tackles against Texas and stripped UT’s Jamaal Charles of the job inside the OU five ... entered the season with 40 career tackles. RB Mossis Madu: Tied DeMarco Murray for rushing honors against North Texas with 87 yards (1 TD) on nine attempts ... rushed for a touchdown at Tulsa. QB Hays McEachern: Holder on OU placements. RB DeMarco Murray: Scored five TD vs. North Texas, all via rushing, to set an OU record for most TDs in a debut game ... four rushes for 100 yards, including a 92-yard TD (third-longest in OU history) vs. Utah State ... rushed for two TD and returned a kickoff 81 yards for another at Tulsa ... led OU with 17 rushes for 128 and one touchdown, a 65-yard sprint, against Texas. QB Keith Nichol: True Freshman was the No. 3 QB against North Texas when he rushed once for eight yards ... also saw action against Utah State. RB Allen Patrick: Could have played in the opener, but was held out ... carried seven times for 47 yards against Miami ... carried eight times for 113 yards and a 69-yard TD vs. Utah State ... season best 145 yards and two touchdowns at Tulsa ... also had a career-long reception of 20 yards in that game ... narrowly missed a 100-yard rushing game when he had 18 rushes for 96 yards at Colorado. LB Ryan Reynolds: Got his first career start against North Texas and finished with three tackles and one sack ... six tackles vs. Miami ... nine stops, three for loss, vs. Utah State ... interception and 12-yard return at Tulsa ... career-high 15 tackles at Colorado. OL Duke Robinson: Versatile sophomore who could play guard or tackle ... starter at LG. CB Reggie Smith: In first full year at corner ... preseason Big 12 Defensive POY ... also punt returner ... 61-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Miami ... has three career touchdowns ... had six tackles, two PBU and one interception (33 yards) against Texas ... 15-yard interception return against Missouri. WR Adron Tennell: Silky smooth back-up to Malcolm Kelly, he had three catches for 35 yards against North Texas ... 61-yard touchdown reception from Joey Halzle against Miami. CB Marcus Walker: Has battled back from two shoulder surgeries to become on of the top corners in the Big 12 ... broke up two passes against Miami. FS Darien Williams: Slowed by leg injury after a productive 2006. DE John Williams: Got his first career start in the opener ... was sidelined in 2005 by a knee injury and in 2006 by illness ... forced the fumble that Reggie Smith returned 61 yards for a touchdown against Miami ... out for season after suffering torn Achillies tendon at Tulsa. CB D.J. Wolfe: Moved to strong safety during preseason drills and was so impressive that he won the starting job ... two interceptions for 61 yards at Colorado ... one pick against Missouri. FB Dane Zaslaw: The former linebacker is now in his second season as a fullback ... got his first career touchdown on a nine-yard reception against Miami. |
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