He spent the 2006 season on the scout team. An early-season turf toe injury didn’t allow him to get into the mix when Adrian Peterson went down with a broken collarbone.

But coaches always said he would bring big-play potential whenever he got on the field.

It didn’t take him long to show why.

On the first play of the fourth series, he took a handoff from Nichol and raced 65 yards down the east boundary for a touchdown. He later added a 4-yard touchdown run and caught three more passes for 37 yards.

It was an important day for him. The scrimmage was his first action in front of fans since high school.

“I was nervous at the beginning,” Murray said. “(Running backs coach coach Cale) Gundy told me to relax and I started to and just played football.”

Murray had plenty of chances. Allen Patrick was held out due a bruise he suffered early this week in practice. Mossis Madu also stayed on the sidelines due to a concussion.

Murray split the running back duties with Jacob Gutierrez and Chris Brown. Brown rushed for 90 yards on 17 carries. Gutierrez added 28 yards on nine totes.

Quentin Chaney led the receivers with five grabs for 35 yards.  Brandon Caleb caught three passes for 32 yards and two touchdowns. The top yardage receiver was redshirt freshman Adron Tennell, who had four catches for 88 yards. 

 The other scoring pass went to tight end Joe Jon Finley.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said that was one of the encouraging things he took away from Wednesday night.

“We still do have big-play capability with Adrian being gone,” he said. “I think we showed that.”

Perhaps they’ll show even more when they hold their next scrimmage at 11 a.m. March 31. The Sooners will have a few more practices under their belt before they raise the curtain again.

John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com