NORMAN, 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
Oklahoma leads it 66-5-2, including a 32-2-1 advantage in Ames. The Sooners have won the last 10 games and are 37-1-1 in the last 39. Iowa State’s last win came in 1990, 33-31, at Norman. OU has won 19 straight in Ames dating back to a 10-6 loss in 1960.
The Coaches
Oklahoma: Bob Stoops (Iowa ‘83) is 92-20 in his ninth season with the Sooners. He is 4-4 in bowls, 3-3 in January Bowls, 2-3 in BCS games, 58-12 vs. the Big 12, 32-8 vs. the Big 12 South, 26-4 vs. the Big 12 North, 4-1 in the Big 12 title game, 33-8 vs. non-conference opponents, 51-2 at home, 26-10 on the road, 14-8 on neutral fields and 27-10 vs. ranked foes. He is 4-0 vs. Missouri
Iowa State: Gene Chizik (Florida ‘85) is 1-6 in his first season with the Cyclones and overall.
The Program
Oklahoma's all-time record stands at 774-293-53.
The Sooners own seven national championships (1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000).
OU has 40 bowl appearances (No. 7 nationally) with 24 victories (No. 3 nationally).
Oklahoma has won 40 conference titles.
Since WWII, Oklahoma is the most success college
football program with 530 victories.
Some 142 All-Americans and four Heisman Trophy winners have come from the Oklahoma program.
Oklahoma Football History & Tradition
Oklahoma's Most Recent Game
No. 5 Oklahoma turned five Missouri turnovers into 24 points and downed the No. 11 Tigers at Norman, 41-31 ...
• Oklahoma trailed twice in the game, 7-0 and 24-23. The Sooners reeled off three straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter to turn that last deficit into a 41-24 lead.
• Sam Bradford was brilliant again completing 24-of-34 for 266 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
• Chris Brown rushed for a career-high three touchdowns from 1, 4 and 17 yards.
• Curtis Lofton, who registered a career-high 18 tackles, scored his second touchdown of the season when he returned a fumble 12 yards for a score.
• Oklahoma picked off three passes, including two thrown by Chase Daniel. OU now has five interceptions against the Tiger quarterback in two games. Daniel has thrown just 18 picks in his three-year career.
Recap & Coverage: Oklahoma 41, Missouri 31
Sooners Digging the Long Ball
OU has 70 plays, offense and defense, of 20 yards or longer (not including special teams) ...
• Plays of 20-29 Yards -- 31 plays (three rushes, 13 passes) and seven touchdowns.
• Plays of 30-39 Yards -- 18 plays (three rushes, five passes) and five touchdowns
• Plays of 40+ Yards -- 21 plays (six rushes, nine passes) and 11 touchdowns.
Notes: Four Sooners have a rush of 41 yards or longer ... OU has a 53-yard FG from Garrett Hartley ... OU’s opponents have 16 plays (14 passes) of 20+ yards ... OU’s longest play was a 92-yard touchdown run by DeMarco Murray vs. Utah State ... he also had an 81-yard kickoff return at Tulsa.
Miscellany
• Oklahoma has scored in 26 of 28 quarters this season. The exceptions were the fourth quarters against Utah State and Colorado.
• Oklahoma opponents are 2-of-21 on third down in the fourth quarter.
• Oklahoma has had a 100-yard receiver in five of seven games this season.
• DeMarco Murray and Allen Patrick both have 100-yard rushing games this season. It marks the fifth consecutive season that more than one tailback achieved the feat in the same year. Those two average 6.3 and 6.1 yards per carry, respectively.
• OU has four, one-play scoring drives. Three of those plays were rushes and the shortest, a rush, was 17 yards.
• OU has two, 90-yard scoring drives: 96 against Utah State and 94 against Texas.
• OU opponents are 33-of-110 on third down for 30.0%. OU is 45-of-89 for 50.6%.
• OU ran between 67 and 73 (73 three times) plays in its six wins, 46 in its loss.
• Rushing -- OU 276 attempts for 1,415 yards (5.1/carry); opponents 241 for 456 (1.9/carry).
• Oklahoma has 12 turnovers as opposed to 18 by the opponents. OU scored 83 points (8 TD, 1 FG) off the turnovers, the opponents have 44 (5 TD, 3 FG).
Sooners Briefly
• Oklahoma was tabbed for a second-place finish in the Big 12’s South Division in a preseason polling of league media. Defensive back Reggie Smith was named the league's preseason defensive player of the year.
• There are 34 players on this team with previous experience as a starter for OU. That’s up from 10 over the number that returned last season.
Home Field Honchos
• Oklahoma is 51-2 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium under Bob Stoops and has won its last 15 in a row there and 35 of its last 36. During Stoops’s tenure, which included home winning streaks of 19 and 17 games, OU has registered six shutouts on Owen Field.
• The Sooners are 27-1 against the Big 12 at home under their current head coach and have won their last 18 conference games on Owen Field.
Great Slate
• Oklahoma has played exclusive Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) opposition since Bob Stoops’ opener in 1999 (a 49-0 win over I-AA Indiana State) or for 110 consecutive games. The entire 2007 schedule is comprised of FBS competition.
• Under Stoops, Oklahoma has played regular season games against Notre Dame, UCLA (twice), Alabama (twice), Oregon (twice), Miami, Louisville, North Carolina, Air Force and Washington. Future slates feature Miami, Washington, Tennessee, Notre Dame, LSU and Florida State.
Close Shaves
Oklahoma’s loss at Colorado marked the fourth time in the last five Sooner setbacks that the game was decided on the game’s final play: 2007 Colorado (CU field goal), 2007 Fiesta Bowl (Boise State TD), 2006 Oregon (blocked Oklahoma field goal attempt) and 2005 Texas Tech (TTU touchdown). Those four losses were by a total of seven points (27-24 at Colorado, 43-42 to Boise State, 34-33 at Oregon and 23-21 at Texas Tech), and all were away from Norman.
Stoops Era Attendance
Oklahoma has drawn 4,244,302 for Bob Stoops’ 53 home games (started in 1999) ...
• All 53 have been sold out and the Sooners prevailed 52 times. The current string of sellouts is second-longest in school history trailing a string of 69 straight from 1971 to 1984.
• Last year’s average home attendance of 84,561 was the largest in school history. The top seven seasons for OU home attendance have come on Stoops’ watch.
• The crowd of 85,357 for this year’s Miami game is the largest in school history. The 84,472 for this year’s North Texas game was the largest ever for an OU opener
• OU has exceeded its listed capacity of 82,112 in 27 consecutive games.
• When the game against Missouri sold out, it marked the 94th (home, away and neutral) to do so in Bob Stoops’ 112 games as the OU head coach.
• During those nine years, 8,106,960 fans have been in attendance for Sooner games.
• Some 83.9% of Stoops’ games sold out as compared with 83.7 (136-of-190) for Barry Switzer and 37.1% (66-of-178) for Bud Wilkinson.
Oklahoma Sets Attendance Records at Memorial
Stadium
| About the Offense |
National Numbers
Oklahoma’s top 25 rankings in the NCAA offensive statistics ...
• No. 1 in passing efficiency at 180.6.
• No. 4 in scoring with 48.4 per game.
• No. 6 in sacks allowed at .71 per game.
• No. 14 in total offense with 468.1 yards per game.
• No. 21 in rushing offense with 202.1 yards per game.
• Sam Bradford is No. 1 in passing eff. (187.0), Juaquin Iglesias is No. 25 in receiving yards/game (90.7).
Line of Demarcation
Adrian Peterson was a true frosh in ‘04 (age 19; DeMarco Murray a redshirt in ‘07 (age 19) ...
• Peterson rushed for 15 touchdowns in 2004, one every 22.6 attempts. Murray has nine, one every 7.9 attempts. All of Peterson’s TDs came via the rush. Murray has a 10th on a KO return.
• Peterson’s long frosh rush was 80 yards vs. Oklahoma St. Murray went 92 yards vs Utah St.
• Peterson had five receptions as a freshman; Murray has 10.
Jua-KEEN Iglesias
• The junior entered the season with 60 career receptions for 804 yards and four touchdowns. In 2007, he has 42 grabs for 635 yards and four scores. His longest reception coming into this season was 37 yards. He already has five for longer distances in ‘07.
• Career bests in catches (8 vs. Tulsa, Utah St.), yards (142 vs. Tulsa) and TD (2 vs. Tulsa).
• He’s averaging 28.7 yards per kickoff return (No. 19 nationally) with a long of 44.
• Iglesias’ 1,069 all-purpose yards are 346 more than the next highest figure on the team.
Tight End Tandem
Last season, Joe Jon Finley and Jermaine Gresham combined to average 1.9 receptions/game and scored four TD. In ‘07, they’re averaging 4.3 receptions and have seven TD.
O-Line of Historical Proportions
With an average height of nearly 6-5 (76.6 inches)
and 322.4 pounds this is one of the biggest offensive
lines in OU history. During the Stoops era (since 1999)
this is the heaviest line. By height, it is the third-tallest
line of the Stoops era. The 2002 and 2003 lines both
measured 77.2 inches. By weight it is the second-heaviest
in the country to Texas Tech.
At 6-8, Phil Loadholt is tied as the tallest football
player on record at Oklahoma, and the tallest starter.
The only previous player at 6-8 was Chris Watkins,
recruited in 1988 from Amarillo (Texas) HS. Watkins
lettered in 1991, but never started. There have been
17 OU players at 6-7 (for research, only measurements
from a player's final season at Oklahoma were
used).
Oklahoma has surrendered just two sacks, which is
tied for second nationally, but is tied for No. 1 among
teams with four games played.
Keeping the QB Clean
OU allows 0.7 sacks per game. The school record for fewest sacks allowed in a season was set last season at 1.1 (sacks record tracked only on teams with at least 100 passing attempts).
| About the Defense |
Paper of Plastic?
Oklahoma is averaging 3.7 sacks per game. That average over a 12-game schedule would amount to 44 sacks. The school record of 48 was set in 1986. The sack high for this season is six, which OU accomplished against North Texas and Tulsa.
What Have You Done for Me Lately?
• With 239 INT return yards, OU has exceeded its total for each of the last three years.
• With 25 sacks through seven games, OU is just one shy of its 14-game total in 2006.
Touchy, Feely Defense
OU defenders have touched the ball 40 times (5.7 times per game) with 22 PBUs, 13 interceptions and five fumble recoveries. To put that in perspective, opposing teams have just 24 touches in 12 break-ups, eight fumble recoveries and five interceptions. OU is averaging 17.3 yards on INT/fumble returns with four touchdowns, which is one shy of the school record set in 1956 and 2001.
Stoops Era Staple: Run Defense
This season, six opponents rushed for 66 or fewer yards. Eighteen times, Bob Stoops-coached Oklahoma teams have held opponents under 40 rushing yards in a game. Four times the total has resulted in negative yards.
• Sooner opponents have just 25 rushing first downs.
Lofty Achievement
LB Curtis Lofton set a career high for tackles, including 18 in the most recent game vs. Missouri. It was the fifth double-digit tackle game the nation’s fourth-leader tackler. With a team-best 82 stops, the junior has more than doubled the 40 career tackles he brought into this season. Lofton also has a pair of touchdowns with a 45-yard interception return vs. Utah State and a 12-yard fumble return vs. Missouri.
| About the Special Teams |
Many Happy Returns
Information on returns during the Stoops era ...
• Kickoff Returns --62 returns of 25 yards or more with seven TD.
• Punt Returns -- 48 returns of 15 or more yards with 14 TD.
• Interception Returns -- 67 returns of 10 or more yards with 19 TD.
• Fumble Returns -- four returns of 15 or more yards with five TD.
More on the Returns
Oklahoma’s kickoff returns have been particularly solid this season ...
• Three different players have a return of more than 35 yards.
• All four players that have returned kicks this season are averaging at least 24 yards.
• DeMarco Murray ran 81 yards for a touchdown against Tulsa on the second kickoff return of his college career. His first came earlier in the same game.
Two-Headed Punter
Oklahoma used two punters last season and both return ...
• Michael Cohen handles the long punts and is averaging 44.9 yards per boot and ranks No. 13 nationally. Five of his boots covered 50 or more yards with a long of 59 yards at Colorado. He had three 50-yard punts against Texas and now has a 50-yarder in three straight games.
• Mike Knall kicks when it is a short field. He’s averaging 36.2 yards with two of four downed inside the 20 yardline.
Hartley Showing Off Big Leg
Garrett Hartley, who made a 53-yard field goal vs. Utah State, is averaging 66.9 yards per kickoff (ball lands at the three yard line) with nine touchbacks in 50 attempts. To put that in perspective, opposing kickers average 60.9 yards per kickoff with one touchback.
• Opposing teams are averaging just 21.0 yards per return after Hartley’s kickoffs. OU is averaging 28.0 yards per kickoff return.
• Hartley tied a school record when he made 11 point after touchdown kicks in the opener.
• Hit a 28-yard field goal at Colorado had has now made 15 of his last 17.
Sooners Have Hart-ley
K Garrett Hartley was one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award and is on the watch list for that award again this year ...
• Hartley was 19-of-20 on field goals and 49-of-50 on PATs in 2006. His lone field goal miss was a blocked kick at Oregon. He kicked off 78 times with 31 touchbacks.
• His field goal made percentage of .950 was tops in the nation among kickers with at least 10 makes. He made his last 11 attempts of the season.
• Hartley ranked No. 20 nationally in field goals made per game with 1.36 and was No. 21 in scoring with 7.57 points per game.
• Hartley made a career-high four field goals at Oregon.
• Hartley has four career makes of 50 yards or longer, including a 53-yarder against Utah State this season. He made a long of 46 yards twice last season.
| Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops |
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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.
Oklahoma
Head Coach Bob Stoops | OU Coaching Staff
| Notes on the Sooners |
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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