Football Goes For 17th Straight Win When It Plays Tulsa

Sept. 13, 2001

The Crimson & Gold Classic presented by Oneok
Oklahoma closes out the non-conference portion of its 2001 schedule when it hosts in-state rival Tulsa in the middle of three consecutive home games. After this contest, the Sooners will take one week off before starting Big 12 Conference play. Tulsa, which played its lone contest of the season Aug. 30, is playing on the road for the first time this season. The Crimson and Gold Classic is presented by Oneok.

Game Televised on Pay-Per-View Basis
Saturday's game verus the Golden Hurricane will be televised on a pay-per-view basis. Big 12 Special Order Sports, Fox Sports Net's pay-per-view division, is producing and distributing the telecast to participating Oklahoma cable systems. Bill Land (play-by-play), Gary Reasons (analyst) and Mick Cornett (sideline reporter) will call the action. Suggested retail price for the pay-per-view telecast is $24.95. A toll-free number (1-888-9-SOONERS) has been established for customers interested in purchasing the telecast or to inquire about the availability of the game in their area.

Coaches Capsule
Oklahoma's Bob Stoops (Iowa ' 83), winner of seven national coach of the year citations last season, is in his third year at the Sooner helm. He owns a record of 23-5, which includes a 0-0 ledger against Tulsa. A more in-depth look at Stoops can be found inside.

Tulsa's Keith Burns (Arkansas '84) is 6-7 in his second season with the Golden Hurricane. He is 0-0 as a head coach against Oklahoma. Burns was an assistant coach at Pacific, Rice, USC and Arkansas before taking over the Tulsa program. One of his assistants at TU is former Oklahoma all-American offensive lineman Mark Hutson.

Festivities
Fan Fest, with interactive games for fans, will be open from 3-6 p.m., on the tennis courts located east of Memorial Stadium. At halftime, members of the Oklahoma teams that fashioned the NCAA record 47-game winning streak will be honored.

Tickets
This will be Oklahoma's 14th consecutive home sellout, which matches every game of Bob Stoops' tenure. This year, OU sold more than 65,000 season tickets.

The Polls
For a third consecutive week, Oklahoma is ranked No. 3 in both the Associated Press (media) and ESPN/USA Today (coaches) polls.

Sooners Own Nation's Longest Winning Streak
Oklahoma owns the nation's longest current winning streak at 16, the best by the Sooners since a string of 20 between 1986 and 1987. OU has won its last 15 at Memorial Stadium. That stands as the fourth-longest streak in the land at present behind Florida State (36), Oregon (22) and Fresno State (15). OU is 13-0 on Owen Field under Bob Stoops.

The Series
Oklahoma leads the series, 11-7-1, including a 7-3-1 mark in Norman. The Sooners reeled off six straight wins in the series until Tulsa prevailed, 31-24, on Sept. 28, 1996. This is the first meeting between the two since that contest. Oklahoma is 6-0 against TU when the Sooners enter the game with a national ranking. Tulsa holds membership in the Western Athletic Conference. OU is 32-11-2 against teams now holding membership in the WAC.

The Sooners Against the State
Oklahoma holds an all-time mark of 112-21-1 against the other state colleges and universities. The Sooners are 11-7-1 vs. Tulsa, 74-13-7 vs. Oklahoma State, 2-0 vs. Southwestern Oklahoma, 17-1-1 Central Oklahoma, 1-0 vs. East Central, 4-0 vs. Northwestern Oklahoma, 1-0 vs. Oklahoma Christian and 2-0 vs. Phillips.

About the Opponent

Tulsa has played just once, a 51-0 home victory against I-AA Indiana State on Aug. 30.

Josh Blankenship fueled the TU offense in that game by throwing for 337 yards and two touchdowns.

It was the first shutout for TU since a 35-0 triumph over Wyoming in the '98 finale.

OU's Most Recent Game
A quick review of the Sooners' most recent outing, a sluggish 37-10 victory over North Texas last Saturday in Norman ...

Oklahoma won, but there were few smiles in the locker room after the team committed three turnovers and 13 penalties for 120 yards.

OU trailed for the first time this season when North Texas got a field goal on its first drive. The Sooners took the lead with 7:52 remaining in the first quarter and was note headed again.

North Texas had seven first downs and 177 total yards by halftime, but was able to tack on just four and 120, respectively, after the intermission.

Oklahoma threw for 353 yards, just 30 yards shy of its total over the first two games combined.

The 543 total yards were a season high and it was the first time this season that OU ran more offensive plays than its opponent (71-65).

Sooners Gun For Non-League Perfection
Oklahoma is attempting to close out a perfect 4-0 non-conference record. Since 1960, OU's first season in the Big Eight, the Sooners have completed eight non-league slates (1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1987, 1993 and 2000) with an unblemished mark. Including the win over Florida State in 2001 Orange Bowl, Oklahoma has won seven consecutive games against non-conference opponents. The Sooners also have won six straight non-league games at home dating back to a 13-12 loss to California on Sept. 19, 1998. Over the last 10 seasons, OU is 20-3 against non-conference foes in Memorial Stadium, 6-4 against non-league team on the road.

4 and Oh
Oklahoma is trying to get off to a 4-0 start for the second consecutive season and for the 29th time in its 107-year history.

An Offensive Defense
The defense forced three turnovers against North Texas, but failed to convert any of those directly into points thus ending a streak of five regular season games in which it had put points on the board. Oklahoma defenders have returned five interceptions and two fumbles for an average of 29.6 yards and three touchdowns this season. Sooners Not Possessive Oklahoma has 10 scoring drives of less than two minutes this season. They have had 71 of those brief, but productive possessions over the last three seasons.

Turning the Turnover Tide
This may come as a surprise, but Oklahoma committed as many or more turnovers as its opponents in each of its last four games last season (including the Big 12 Championship and the Orange Bowl). Through three games of this season, the Sooners have committed fewer turnovers than the foe in each outing.

Dominant Defense
Oklahoma's defense has denied opposing offenses at nearly every turn in recent games ...

The OU defense has at least one interception in 16 of the last 17 games dating back to 1999.

During those 17 games, OU has recorded 28 interceptions and 139 pass deflections.

The Sooner defense hasn't allowed a team to gain 300 or more yards rushing since Nebraska did so in 1997 (41 straight games).

The defense hasn't allowed a team to gain 200 or more yards rushing in 23 straight games.

OU has forced at least one turnover in 26 of the last 28 games, including the last 17 in a row.

In the 28 games under this coaching staff, Oklahoma's opponents have scored 14 or more points just nine times.

The Oklahoma 500
OU's 543-yard offensive output against North Texas was the best game for the Sooners since racking up 552 against Texas A&M in 1999. The 2001 Sooners have seen their total yardage figure increase each week from 286 yards against North Carolina to 398 against Air Force to 543 against North Texas.

Spreading the Wealth

Twelve Sooners have at least one pass reception. Over the entire course of the 2000 season, 13 OU players caught passes.

Last season, a whopping 15 Sooners scored touchdowns. This season 10 Oklahoma players have been in the end zone.

Nine different players have accounted for OU's 12 takeaways this season.

Sooner Summation

Under Bob Stoops, Oklahoma has had a double digit lead in all but four of its 27 games(exceptions are Colorado, Texas Tech and Mississippi in 1999, and Texas A&M in 2000).

Oklahoma has gotten at least one touchdown from a unit other than the offense in 11 of Bob Stoops' 28 games with the Sooners.

This marks just the second time in school history that Oklahoma has had a 12-game regular season slate. The other was 1997.

As part of the University of Oklahoma's $100 million Great Expectations: The Campaign for Sooner Sports, Memorial Stadium will be going through an upgrade, which is expected to begin after this season. The $65 million stadium project will renovate all facility structures and amenities, replace current seating, and add new seating - including 2,200 club seats and 27 sky suites - to bring capacity to more than 80,000. Brick and cast stone will be added to the stadium's exterior walls, giving the stadium a level of beauty in keeping with surrounding historic campus buildings. Renovations to the stadium are expected to start just after the 2001 football season and be complete in time for the 2003 season.

Oklahoma's Version of "Rob Roy"
Roy Williams had a hand in all three North Texas turnovers last Saturday. He had a career-high two interceptions and forced a fumble that was recovered by OU. As if that wasn't enough, Williams had a career-best 15 tackles. Williams now needs just two stops to reach 200 tackles for his career.

Calmus Cracks Top 10
With 12 tackles against North Texas, Rocky Calmus moved onto OU's all-time top 10. The senior not only claimed the 10th spot from Kelly Gregg, he passed Lee Roy Selmon at No. 9, too (see chart on page 5). Here's more on the linebacker being mentioned by some as a Heisman Trophy candidate ...

He is only the 15th Sooner to reach 300 career tackles and he has 14 double-digit tackle games for his career

No Sooner has ever made more tackles behind the line of scrimmage. With 47, Calmus replaces Cedric Jones atop that list. Jones had 46.5.

Calmus has 27 "touches" during his career -- 18 deflections, six fumble recoveries and three interceptions. Of the four takeaways he has returned (had no return on one of the interceptions), he has averaged 28.7 yards with three touchdowns.

Q Tips
Oklahoma running back Quentin Griffin is an all purpose dynamo ...

Holds the school record for receptions in consecutive games with 21. The streak is ongoing and covers every game of his career.

Tied the school record with 10 receptions against North Texas. It was the highest total ever by an OU running back.

Holds OU career bests for receptions by a back (71) and receiving yards by a back (479).

Rushed for a career-high 201 yards on 26 carries at Air Force, the best total by a Sooner since De'Mond Parker's 207 against Baylor (11-14-98).

Reached 2,000 career all purpose yards in just his 21st game.

Has six multiple touchdown games.

Just Joshin'
WR Josh Norman had two receptions over the first two games, but hauled in six against North Texas to equal his career-high. He is now just 215 yards shy of 1,000 career receiving yards. Norman went over 50 career receptions in last Saturday's game (55), as did TE Trent Smith (54).

This Teddy Not So Cuddly
OU linebacker Teddy Lehman equalled his career best for single game tackles when he notched 11 against North Texas.

Renaldo Works Out From Long Distance
RB Renaldo Works recorded his second career 70-yard run when he broke away for a 72-yard touchdown against North Texas. He had a 75-yarder against Arkansas State last season.

Fagan's Debut Impressive
Prior to Saturday's game with North Texas, Curtis Fagan had no collegiate punt returns. That changed with his eight returns for 95 yards, an average of 11.9 per return, against the mean Green.

Duncan Down The Middle
Placekicker Tim Duncan has 213 career points and is only the 15th Sooner to reach 200. He has made 72 of his last 73 PATs and now ranks No. 4 in school history with 30 field goals.

Ferguson Good Even by His Standards
Punter Jeff Ferguson is averaging 46.4 yards with seven kicks downed inside the 20. He could become only the second Sooner to average at least 40 yards in each of his four years (Michael Keeling accomplished the feat 1979-82). With a 42.9-yard career average, the senior is attempting to break a 60-year-old Oklahoma mark, Jack Jacobs' career punting standard of 42.3 yards, which was set from 1939-41. Of Ferguson's 181 career punts, 56 (nearly one-third) have pinned the opponent inside the 20. His 71-yarder at Air Force was the second-longest of his career. He now has 36 of 50 yards or longer during his career.

Woolfolk A Two-Way Oddity
Andre Woolfolk started at both WR and CB in the first two games. He is the first Sooner to play on both sides of the ball since Bud Hebert (A-bare) worked at both S and SE in 1979.

Harris Start One for the Ages
Tommie Harris became the first true freshman interior defensive lineman to start for Oklahoma since 1987. That year, Marcus Lowe got a start against North Texas.

Fagan, Savage Climbing Receiving Chart
Curtis Fagan and Antwone Savage, both just juniors and just two of a deep and talented receiving corps, already figure prominently in Oklahoma receiving lore. Savage's 84 career catches rank No. 6 at OU, while Fagan is No. 7 at 78. The statistic to watch? Never has Oklahoma featured two receivers with 100 career receptions on the same roster. That's not surprising considering just two Sooners (Eddie Hinton 114, Stephen Alexander 104) have eclipsed the century mark. Fagan also has nine career TD grabs and needs five to set an OU record. The junior already owns or shares the game and season records.

No Shot Put Here
Linebacker Teddy Lehman tips the scales at 225 pounds, but as a high school track and field athlete he was a heavily decorated sprinter, finishing second at the 2A state meet in 100 meters. He has been clocked at better than 4.4 in the 40.

Been There, Done That
LB Rocky Calmus, P Jeff Ferguson, LS Ben Panter, WR Josh Norman and OT Frank Romero are the team leaders in games played at 39. Panter's 39 straight starts lead the squad. Of the regular position players, the longest consecutive starting strings belong to Romero, SS Roy Williams and defensive end Cory Heinecke at 20.

Roster Changes
Changes that have been made since the media guide was published. Teddy Lehman is No. 11 (was No. 54), Brandon Jones is No. 81 (was No. 5), Brett Rayl is No. 59 on OL (previously 97 on DL), Brian Hodges is No. 16 and a DB (was No. 18 duplicate and WR), Adam Creath is No. 32 (previously No. 16), Jeremy Hess is No. 42 and a RB (was No. 85), Chris Toney is No. 39 (was No. 42), Quentin Morgan is now a WR (was a DB) and Chris Bush is No. 52 and and an OL (was No. 81 and a TE).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Football Goes For 17th Straight Win When It Plays Tulsa

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