Published September 19, 2009 03:34 am - Here's something every member of the Sooner Nation needs to be prepared for today: Oklahoma may lose.
Believe it, because it could happen.
Ranked No. 12, at home, against unranked Tulsa, the Sooners might appear to have nothing to worry about.
Sooners have a giant hill to climb
Here's something every member of the Sooner Nation needs to be prepared for today: Oklahoma may lose.
Believe it, because it could happen.
Ranked No. 12, at home, against unranked Tulsa, the Sooners might appear to have nothing to worry about.
Their Heisman Trophy winning quarterback on the mend and their All-American tight end having caught his final collegiate pass, this is still the Sooners of Gerald McCoy and Travis Lewis and DeMarco Murray and Jeremy Beal and Ryan Broyles and Brody Eldridge.
So many stars fill the two deep, not pencling them in to win today, even to cover a widening spread that's moved to 18 points, seems wrong.
But take another look at all those names. Three of them play defense. That doesn't mean they can't crack the scoreboard, but counting on defensive points is like counting on bipartisanship. Meanwhile, Eldridge is a tight end who doesn't catch passes, Broyles is a receiver who does and Murray is a back who can run and catch.
Yet somebody's got to protect the passer who throws the ball to Broyles and somebody must open the holes that allow Murray through the first defensive wave, allowing him into that place where linebackers and safeties roam, where he can dazzle, turning a 5 yard gain into something much bigger.
You guessed it.
When it comes to moving the ball up and down the field and finding the end zone, it's stil all about an excessively unproven Sooner offensive line.
I asked Bob Stoops two questions at his press conference this week, one about Sam Bradford, about which he wished "not to go there," and the other about the line.
Has there been measurable progress?
"We don't know," he said. "We're sure there is some, but it's something that will be ongoing. It's something that continues to build."
For those paying attention, but for trying not to take a stand on his injured quarterback, Stoops and some hard truths were riding shotgun much of the week.
He doesn't know about his line. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson doesn't know about the line. Not really. None of us in the media know about the line. For that matter, the line doesn't know about itself.
Every week, when the depth chart comes out, it's a pretty good idea to start with the line. Ben Habern's still at center, Stephen Good gets another start at left guard and true freshman Tyler Evans is the guy at right guard. Trent Williams is a mainstay at left tackle and Jarvis Jones is staking out right tackle.