Published: October 16, 2007 02:07 am            

Sticking with Hartley

Oklahoma Football Notepad

Kicker Garrett Hartley missed a PAT and had another blocked against Missouri. Hartley, a senior, is 40-for-46 on PAT attempts and 5-for-7 from field-goal range.

The Sooners have two other place kickers on the roster. Both are true freshmen. Jimmy Stevens, who was a first-team USA Today All-American at Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City, is expected to be the kicker of the future. The Sooners also have Matthew Moreland from Tulsa’s Bishop Kelley.

Despite the struggles, OU football coach Bob Stoops said there are no plans to change kickers. He said the PAT was missed was due to a bad hold by Hays McEachern and the line was to blame for the block.

Nonetheless, the gaffes have been and will continue to be addressed.

“We have to get that unit sharper and we will,” he said.

Bradford on list

OU quarterback Sam Bradford was added to the watch list for the Maxwell Award Monday. The honor is presented annually to the top player in college football by the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia.

Bradford threw two touchdown passes in the Sooners’ 41-31 victory over Missouri Saturday and has 20 for the season. He leads the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 181.15. He has completed 128-of-181 (70.7 percent) passes for 1,689 yards.

“We could not have asked Sam to play better than he has,” Stoops said. “He’s been outstanding and was again Saturday.”

His 20 touchdown passes are tied for the sixth-best total in school history. Bradford's position coach, Josh Heupel, threw 20 in the 2000 national championship season. The school record of 40 was set by Jason White in 2003.

Bradford has had multiple touchdown passes in six games, including five in the season opener. That effort tied White’s school record. He has completed at least 65 percent in six games, has no interceptions in four games and has at least one 30-yard pass in every game. He set and tied an OU record 22 straight completions, completing the feat twice in the space of three weeks.

Oklahoma players have won the Maxwell Award twice. Tommy McDonald captured the honor in 1956 and White followed in 2004.

Lofton honored

Sooner linebacker Curtis Lofton was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week Monday. Lofton earned the honor for his effort against Missouri last Saturday.

The junior from Kingfisher had a career-high 18 tackles and a 12-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

The effort ran Lofton’s tackle total to 82 this season. That figure leads the Sooners and is more than doubles the career total of the 40 he amassed during his first two seasons in the program.

“We’re proud of him,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “He tackled, covered and made a lot of big plays for us.”

Last week, Reggie Smith won the Big 12 defensive honor for his work in the win over Texas. It was a repeat for Smith, who also won the award after OU’s win over Miami.

Other Big 12 honorees this week were Oklahoma State’s Dantrell Savage on offense and Kansas State kicker Brooks Rossman for special teams.

John Shinn

366-3536

jshinn@normantranscript.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.