“Definitely the adversity of this team and how we’ve been able to handle it is a reflection of our seniors and our leadership we have on this team,” he said.

“It’s been a good group,” Stoops said. “Those guys are all contributing in a lot of different ways. They’ve been good leaders for us here through this year, so I’m really proud of them. Though they’re not a large group, they’re a really quality, good group of guys.”

Holiday Food Drive

For the seventh straight year, OU will take an active role in a local holiday food drive. The main part of that drive is Saturday when $1 donations will be accepted from fans prior to the OU-Texas Tech game.

The project originated with quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel when he was quarterback for the Sooners in 2000. He began helping just a few families and then formed The 14 Foundation to support the project each year.

The Holiday Food Drive has grown into helping hundreds of families in Norman and now includes contributions from the 14 Foundation, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Regional Food Bank and Oklahoma Public Schools.

This year the project has targeted 500 families in seven different communities across Oklahoma. The food provided each family is enough to feed a family of four for a week, in addition to a Thanksgiving meal.

Saturday, volunteers will be stationed near each gate around the stadium prior to kickoff.

John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com