When Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops cast down his eyes when I asked him about his inexperienced offensive line last month, I figured he was sandbagging. You know, the defending Big 12 champ, the No. 3 team in the country, has one weakness. Might as well exploit the image.
I didn’t buy it. This is Oklahoma, the reloading-not-rebuilding Oklahoma.
Turns out, Stoops was truly worried. The line, with four new starters, really didn’t look all that consistent in camp. Now we know. You can blame Oklahoma’s stunning 14-13 loss to Brigham Young on Sam Bradford’s injured shoulder at the end of the first half, but Oklahoma lost because its line was as awful as Stoops feared.
Keep in mind Bradford, the Heisman Trophy winner who guided the highest-scoring team in modern football history last season, passed for only 96 yards before getting hurt. With 1,000-yard rushers Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray, the Sooners rushed for only 118 yards.
How bad was the line? Right tackle Cory Brandon had six penalties, including a false start that pushed Tress Way’s potential game-winning 49-yard field goal to 54. On first- and-goal at the 2 and ahead 10-7 in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma couldn’t punch it in and settled for a 22-yard field goal.
Down 14-13 with 3:03 still left at the Sooners’ 40, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson didn’t trust his line to run more than once. Instead, he relied on the passing of redshirt freshman quarterback Landry Jones. It didn’t work.
“We continued to make the same mistakes, and it got us beat,” said offensive tackle Trent Williams, the lone returning starter.
Keeping up with Jones.
If Bradford (the Sooners’ medical staff called his injury a sprained AC joint) is out for a long period, Oklahoma’s fortunes rest with Jones. The 6-foot-4, 216- pound Parade All-American threw for 3,850 yards and 44 touchdowns in leading Artesia (N.M.) High School to the 2007 New Mexico state title. He threw 89 TD passes his last two years.
Meanwhile, injured All-America tight end Jermaine Gresham may play through his knee cartilage damage, get it scoped or have full-fledged surgery.
BYU in BCS?
The upset made the wildest BCS buster race in history even wilder. You can pencil in Boise State for a 13-0 regular season after its 19-8 win over No. 16 Oregon.
The victory over Oregon could move Boise State from No. 14 into the top 10. However, the Broncos play only one team ranked higher than 45th in any preseason computer poll: at No. 10 Tulsa on Oct. 14.
BYU could make an even bigger jump from No. 20 and jump again with wins over No. 18 Florida State on Sept. 19, No. 17 Texas Christian on Oct. 24 and No. 19 Utah on Nov. 28, all at home.
The top-ranked non-BCS school, if it’s in the top 12 of the final standings, earns a BCS bowl berth.
Iowa saw it coming.
Credit Jeremiha Hunter for saving No. 22 Iowa’s 17-16 win over Northern Iowa and not just for blocking the second of two consecutive field-goal attempts at the end of the game. He also noticed Billy Hallgren’s two earlier 39-yard field goals looked like Albert Pujols’ line drives through the infield.
He told his teammates before Hallgren’s 40-yard attempt to keep their hands up, and Broderick Binns blocked it. Northern Iowa recovered, and Hunter blocked the second.
“It’s got to be something similar to hitting green twice in roulette,” Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi told reporters. “It’s one in a million.”
Fourth and short.
Wyoming’s five interceptions against Weber State were four fewer than the Cowboys had all last year. . . . While Northern Iowa came up short, the FCS (formerly I-AA) pulled upsets with William & Mary beating Virginia 26-14 and Richmond over Duke 24-16. . . . With quarterback Zac Lee a rookie starter and Gator Bowl hero Quentin Cas- tille kicked off the team, I-back Roy Helu Jr. is Nebraska’s new star. He carried a career-high 16 times for 152 yards and three TDs in the Huskers’ 49-3 rout of Florida Atlantic.
