Stoops Pleased With Sooners' First Scrimmage

Aug. 14, 2002

Norman, Okla. - Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops was upbeat after watching the Sooners work through a two-hour, 92-play scrimmage Wednesday night at Memorial Stadium. An estimated crowd of 7,000 watched the OU's first scrimmage of the season.

"I was very pleased," he said. "It's always hard being the head coach. You go back and forth on which side of the ball you want to see do well. We had very few penalties. I remember the last three years coming out here and having about 50 every time, so I liked how we did in that area."

The Oklahoma defense was impressive with four interceptions, but the offense still mustered 11 plays of 15 yards or longer.

"I liked the big plays," Stoops said. "We're striking deep and going after it more. The defense is no where near what we've been billed to be to date, but we'll work on that and get better."

Still, the Sooner offense found it difficult to move the ball. The offense rushed 58 times for 122 yards and completed 23-of-44 for 386 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.

The longest play of the scrimmage came early when Jason White hooked up with tight end Trent Smith on a 64-yard pass play.

White completed 13-of-24 passes for 235 yards with one interception and one touchdown. Nate Hybl was 8-of-13 for 127 yards with no interceptions and three touchdowns. Brent Rawls completed 2-of-7 passes with three interceptions.

"I'm real happy with the quarterback play," Stoops said. "I thought they threw the deep ball well."

Mark Clayton led the receivers with five catches for 90 yards.

Hybl's three touchdown passes included a seven-yarder to Will Peoples and a pair of 20-yarders to true freshman receivers Jejuan Rankins and Travis Wilson. White's TD throw was a three-yarder to Smith to cap an 80-yard drive.

"Those young receivers are awfully good," Stoops said. "I didn't need to see it tonight to know that. That whole class we just signed is awfully talented. They've got good attitudes and toughness."

The leading rusher was Kejuan Jones, who carried 17 times for 71 yards. There were two rushing touchdowns, a five-yarder by Quentin Griffin and a 10-yarder by Hybl.

Linebacker Clint Ingram was the top tackler with 15, including 12 solos. There were six sacks for the defense, including two each by Tommie Harris and Jimmy Wilkerson. True freshman Michael Hawkins had two of the four interceptions. He logged 104 return yards, including one for a 77-yard touchdown. Michael Thompson also had an interception as did Derrick Strait.

Three placekickers got extensive work. Trey DiCarlo was impressive at the scrimmage's outset, hitting four of six with his only misses coming from 52 and 57 yards. During the scrimmage, he was 2-of-7 with four of those misses coming from 45 yards or longer. Also during the scrimmage, Steven Sarubbi was three of four with a long of 47 yards, while Matt Fannuzzi was 4-of-4 with a long of 47.

Punter Blake Ferguson averaged 39.3 yards on six kicks with two balls downed inside the 15, including one at the six.

"I was real pleased with the kicking game," said Stoops. "I thought the kickers hit the ball well. They've got sore legs, we've kicked a lot. We probably need to rest them some over the next two days. "

Oklahoma, which did not practice Wednesday morning, returns to two-a-day drills for Thursday and Friday before scrimmaging again Saturday at 10 a.m., in Memorial Stadium.

OU Scrimmage August 14, 2002

Passing

J. White- 13-24, 235 yds.  0 TD, 1 INT

N. Hybl- 8-13, 127 yds. 3 TD

B. Rawls 2-7, 24 yds., 3 INT

Receiving

T. Smith 2 rec. / 69 yds.

Clayton- 5 rec./ 90 yds.

Moses- 1 rec./ 21 yds.

Peoples- 3 rec./ 55 yds.  1 TD (7yd. Hybl)

Savage- 2 rec./ 16 yds.

B. Jones- 1 rec./ 3 yds.

Donley- 1 rec. / 8 yds.

Chester- 1 rec. / 9yds.

Rankins- 1 rec. / 20 yds., 1TD (20yds. Hybl)

Wilson- 2 rec. / 40 yds. , 1 TD (20yds. Hybl)

Fagan- 2 rec. / 45 yds.

Griffin- 1 rec. / 7yds.

Hickson- 1 rec. / 3yds.

Rushing

Griffin - 9c. / 15yds. 1 TD

Works- 9c. / 21 yds.

Estes- 10c. / 36 yds.

Jones- 17 c. / 71 yds.

White- 6 c. / -27 yds.

Hybl- 7 c. / 6 yds.

Tackles

Simms1

Strait4

Miller2

Shelby1

Everage3

Jackson2

Mitchell5

Lehman7

Bassey4

Chambers2

Woolfolk6

Thompson6

Poteat3

Hammer1

Pool5

Perkins5

Klinck1

McCoy3

Dennison2

Hawkins2

Alexander2

Ingram15

Wilkerson3

Latimer2

Allen5

Jackson6

Hurst2

Thibodeaux4

Joseph4

Sturch1

Hilaire6

Sublet4

Hager5

Klein1

Harris7

Birdine1

Interceptions

Thomson ( 16 yd. Ret)

Hawkins 2 (77 yds ret & 24yds.)

Strait (3 yds.)

Sacks

Harris 1.5 (-8 yds, -11 yds.)

Thompson 1 (-2 yds.)

Jackson 1.5 (-7 yds., -11yds.)

Wilkerson 1 (-5)

Fumble Recovery

Joseph

Deflections

Woolfolk

Poteat

McCoy

Tackle For Loss

Lehman(-4yds.)

Ingram (-1)

Allen (-1)

Bassey (-2)

Jackson (-1)

Blocked Kick

#13 Bassey ( recovered by #23 Pool)

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Stoops Pleased With Sooners' First Scrimmage

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