Aug. 26, 2002
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Oklahoma Sooners (0-0) vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 30, 2002 * 7 p.m. * Skelly Stadium * Tulsa, Okla.
Quickly: Oklahoma begins its 107th season of intercollegiate football. The Sooners are opening on the road for the first time since 1997 (Northwestern at Soldier Field, Chicago). It's also the first time that OU has opened on the road since Bob Stoops took over as head coach. By the way, it has not been all that long since Oklahoma played on a weekday. The 2002 SBC Cotton Bowl, played on Jan. 1 of this year, fell on a Monday.
Series History: Oklahoma leads 12-7-1, including a 4-3 mark in Tulsa. The Sooners held a number one ranking on their last visit to Tulsa. That game was played Sept. 26, 1987, and OU won, 65-0.
Last Meeting: OU, ranked No. 3 at the time, won in Norman last season (Nov. 3), 58-0. The game had originally been scheduled for Sept. 15, but was postponed due to the events of Sept. 11.
Polls: Oklahoma is ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and No. 1 in the FWAA's Grantland Rice poll.
On the Air: ESPN is televising this game nationally. The broadcasters for the game are Steve Levy (play-by-play), Rodney Gilmore (color) and Alex Flanagan (sideline). In addition, this game is being carried on live radio by the Sooner Network, which is under the direction of Sooner Sports Properties, a division of Learfield. The broadcasters are Bob Barry, Sr., (play-by-play), Merv Johnson (color) and Mark Rodgers (sideline). Michael Dean is the producer.
Tickets: Oklahoma's home games are sold out for a fourth consecutive season. The OU Athletics Ticket Office, currently located on the east side of the Lloyd Noble Center, can be reached at 405-325-2424.
Coaches: Bob Stoops (Iowa '83) is 31-7 in his fourth year at Oklahoma and overall. Stoops is 1-0 against Tulsa, 3-0 in season openers, 13-2 vs. non-conference foes, 18-5 vs. the Big 12, 17-1 at home, 9-4 on the road, 5-2 on neutral fields and 2-1 in bowl games. He is the only coach in Oklahoma history to lead his first three teams to bowl games. His .816 winning percentage after three seasons ranked No. 5 for the best head coaching start in NCAA history. A more in-depth look at Stoops can be found later in these notes. Keith Burns (Arkansas, '94) is 6-17-0 in his third season at Tulsa. He is 0-1 against Oklahoma.
The Series
Oklahoma leads the series, 12-7-1, including a 4-3 mark in Tulsa. The Sooners reeled off six straight wins in the series until Tulsa prevailed, 31-24, on Sept. 28, 1996. OU then won last season, 58-0, in Norman.
Oklahoma is 7-0 against TU when the Sooners enter the game with a national ranking.
This will be the fourth time that OU has opened a season against Tulsa. The Sooners won in 1932 and 1936, but lost in 1937.
The largest crowd in Skelly Stadium history (47,350) saw OU play Tulsa on Sept. 26, 1987. OU won, 65-0.
Tulsa holds membership in the Western Athletic Conference. OU is 33-11-2 against teams now holding membership in the WAC.
About the Opponent
Tulsa returns 15 starters (seven offense, eight defense) from last season's 1-10 team. The 2001 Golden Hurricane whitewashed Indiana State in the opener, 51-0, then dropped 10 straight.
After hosting the Sooners, Tulsa hits the road for three straight.
OU is one of three Big 12 schools on Tulsa's schedule. The others are Baylor (Sept. 21 at Waco) and Kansas (Sept. 28 in Tulsa).
Like Oklahoma, Tulsa is working to replace both its starting kicker (Chris Earnest) and starting punter (Casey Lipscomb).
Tulsa's Skelly Stadium seats 40,385. It opened on Oct. 4, 1930, and since that time the Golden Hurricane have a record of 270-133-14 in the facility.
Tulsa Ties
Tulsa offensive line coach Mark Hutson was a two-time all-American offensive lineman and a member of four bowl teams at Oklahoma from 1985-88. Golden Hurricane senior linebacker Michael Dulaney lettered at OU in 1998 before transferring out of the program.
Last Year's Game
Oklahoma started slowly, but was no less dominant in the end, posting a 58-0 triumph in Norman. The Sooners led 3-0 after one quarter, but later scored on six straight possessions to put the game out of reach.
OU had season highs in yards per rush (7.0), rushing TDs (4), pass attempts (53), pass completions (39), passing yards (366), points (58) and sacks (5).
Individual season highs came in the areas of touchdown rushes (3, Quentin Griffin), pass completions (36, Hybl) and longest punt return (56, Brandon Jones).
Trent Smith had a career-high 104 receiving yards.
Nate Hybl became just the third Sooner to complete 30 passes in one game.
Tulsa averaged just 1.4 yards on its 34 rushes. It was one of six times during the season that an opponent fell shy of 2.0 yards/carry. The others were North Carolina (1.8), Texas (1.1), Texas Tech (-0.4), Oklahoma State (1.9) and Arkansas (0.9).
The Sooners Against The State
The Sooners hold an all-time mark of 113-22-1 against the other colleges and universities located in the state of Oklahoma. OU is 12-7-1 vs. Tulsa, 74-14-7 vs. Oklahoma State, 2-0 vs. Southwestern Oklahoma, 17-1-1 vs. Central Oklahoma, 1-0 vs. East Central, 4-0 vs. Northwestern Oklahoma, 1-0 vs. Oklahoma Christian and 2-0 vs. Phillips. Oklahoma is 55-12-8 against the state in games played away from Norman (includes road and neutral field games).
For Openers
Oklahoma is 81-20-6 in season openers, including a 33-12-1 record in openers played away from Norman (including a pair neutral field games). Only once has OU opened at Tulsa and that was in 1937. The Golden Hurricane won that one, 19-7.
This marks the first time that Oklahoma has played an opener away from Norman since 1997 when the Sooners lost a neutral field match-up to Northwestern, 24-0, at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The last time OU played a season opener on an opponents' home field was 1994 when the Sooners edged Syracuse, 30-29.
From 1992-94, Oklahoma played three consecutive season openers on the road. That fell during the Gary Gibbs regime when OU played four of six openers away from Norman.
OU won last year's opener in the Hispanic Scholarship Classic at Norman. OU downed North Carolina, 41-27. The Sooners returned a kickoff, a punt, an interception and a fumble for touchdowns against the Tar Heels, while UNC had a punt return for a TD. Including Roy Williams' 35-yard interception return against UTEP in 2000, the OU has had at least one return for a score in each of its last two openers.
TGIF
This marks the second time in the post-World War II era that OU has opened on a Friday.
The 1947 opener, Bud Wilkinson's first game as the Sooners' head coach, was played at the University Detroit on Friday, Sept. 26.
Non-Conference Success
In Bob Stoops' three seasons, Oklahoma is 11-1 in regular season non-conference games. Throw in the three bowl tilts and the Sooners are 13-2 vs. non-Big 12 teams.
OU has won nine straight non-conference games, including the Cotton Bowl win over Arkansas in January. That streak includes three games that were not played in Norman -- the bowl games against Arkansas and Florida State and last year's contest at Air Force.
OU's last loss to a non-league opponent came on Dec. 31, 1999, when Mississippi downed the Sooners, 27-25, in the Independence Bowl. The last regular season setback at the hands of a non-conference foe came on Oct. 2, 1999, when Notre Dame clipped OU, 34-30.
2001 In Review
Oklahoma went 11-2 overall, 6-2 in the Big 12 South.
The Sooners enjoyed their 12th 11-win season. OU has averaged one 11-win season every 3.8 seasons dating back to 1955.
Oklahoma posted double digit victories in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1986 and 1987.
Oklahoma got its second straight bowl win, a 10-3 triumph over Arkansas in the SBC Cotton Bowl. OU was No. 6 in both final polls (AP and ESPN/USA Today). It marked the 29th time in the last 63 years that the Sooners have finished among the AP's top 10.
Oklahoma set or tied 36 school records and has now set or tied 67 during Bob Stoops' tenure.
Numbers That Define a Defense
The OU defense has forced at least one turnover in 36 of the last 38 games and has at least one interception in 25 of the last 27 games.
OU has scored a defensive touchdown in seven of the last 15 regular season games.
Sooner opponents have completed 50% of their passes just 12 times in the 38 times coached by Bob Stoops. During that same span, OU foes have scored 14+ points just 12 times.
Streaks
Oklahoma has not allowed 300 yards rushing since Nebraska eclipsed that figure in 1997 (51 consecutive games). The Sooners have not allowed 200 or more rushing yards in 33 straight games.
RB Quentin Griffin has at least one reception in a school-record 27 straight games.
Griffin also enters the season with the longest string of consecutive starts on the team at 30. The next longest string belongs to CB Derrick Strait at 26.
Mark Clayton had at least one reception in each of the 13 games of his frosh season.
OU has scored at least one touchdown in 40 consecutive games. During that same span, the Sooners held the opponent out of the end zone seven times.
OU has sold out its last 18 home games, every game of Bob Stoops' tenure.
Four For the Receiving Record
Records are made to be broken ... but by four players in one season? Eddie Hinton's OU record for receptions in a career (114) has stood since he completed his college career in 1968. Now, four Sooner players stand poised to eclipse Hinton's mark. Antwone Savage (113), Quentin Griffin (111), Trent Smith (108) and Curtis Fagan (101) all are close. Before this barrage, OU had produced just two 100-reception players -- Hinton and current San Diego Chargers tight end Stephen Alexander, who had 104.
QB Accuracy Times two
Last season was the first in which two OU quarterbacks cracked the school's top 10 list for completion percentage. Jason White completed 73-of-113 for 64.6%, just 0.1% behind Josh Heupel's record of 64.7% in 2000. Nate Hybl hit on 58.4% (222-380) to land at the No. 6 spot.
Weekend Warriors
WR Antwone Savage and TE Trent Smith lead this team in total games played at 38. Others with more than 30 games played include WR Curtis Fagan with 37, OL Mike Skinner (33), DB Andre Woolfolk (32) and WR Quentin Griffin (31).
That's Special
Oklahoma scored three special teams touchdowns last season -- a kickoff return, a faked punt and a faked field goal.
OU has returned four kickoffs and two punts for TDs during Bob Stoops' tenure.
The Sooners have blocked eight kicks over the last three seasons.
Sooner Summation
OU 84 scoring drives of less than two minutes over the last three seasons.
Special teams and/or defense have at least one TD in 14 of Bob Stoops' 38 games.
As part of the OU's $100 million Great Expectations: The Campaign for Sooner Sports, Memorial Stadium will be upgraded. The $65 million project will renovate 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. Work began after the 2001 season and be complete in time for the 2003 season.
The Sooners appeared on national covers or preseason preview editions with Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News and on a regional cover with ESPN The Magazine.
The Sooners at a Glance
LB Gayron Allen -- OU's top tackler in two of the three preseason scrimmages. Has move to No. 2 at WLB.
SS Eric Bassey -- Consistently tests as the fastest player on the team. Tied with Antonio Perkins for the fastest 40 time in the preseason drills at 4.32.
OT Jammal Brown -- One of OU's top pass protectors, he starts at right tackle.
C Vince Carter -- Started the last nine games last year as a true freshman and gets the nod again as a soph.
WR Mark Clayton -- Caught a pass in all 13 games last season, his true freshman campaign at OU.
DE Dan Cody -- Played in the 2001 opener, then sat out the remainder of the season for medical reasons.
OG Brad Davis -- Made a strong preseason push to nail down the starting job at
K Trey DiCarlo -- Was at the Naval Academy, but left before practice began. DiCarlo was a four-year starter as the placekicker at Carrollton's Creekview High School, where he split the punting chores with another Sooner freshman, wide receiver Travis Wilson. His career long field goal was a 55-yarder. He made nine field goals and 45 point after touchdown kicks as a senior.
DT Dusty Dvoracek -- Missed much of the preseason with a toe ailment, but is expected to play in the season opener.
FS Brandon Everage -- Slowed some by a shoulder injury in the preseason, but should be ready to go for the opener. Hard hitter who forced three fumbles last season.
WR Curtis Fagan -- One of the four receivers over 100 career receptions on this team. Handled most of OU's punt return duties last season.
P Blake Ferguson -- Brother of Jeff Ferguson, who punted for OU over the previous four seasons. Sat out last season after transferring from North Carolina.
OL Jerod Fields -- Took a helmet in the back in the first fall scrimmage and is rehabbing.
RB Quentin Griffin -- Needs just 128 rushing yards to reach 2,000 for his career. Needs just 47 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for his career. One of 42 backs on the Doak Walker Watch List.
DT Tommie Harris -- Candidate for all-America and for some of college football's most prestigious awards. Of his 32 tackles last season, 17 were behind the line of scrimmage.
QB Nate Hybl -- Back-up signal caller who started each of OU's 11 victories last season. No. 7 on the school's career passing list with 2,378 yards.
LB Clint Ingram -- A physical player slated to back up Lance Mitchell at MLB.
DE Jonathan Jackson -- Half of his six tackles came in the Tulsa game last season. Slated to make his first career start.
LB Pasha Jackson -- Starting strong side linebacker when OU is in a three linebacker set.
WR Brandon Jones -- Big-play receiver who worked primarily on special teams last season. Starting center fielder for OU's baseball team last spring.
WR Kejuan Jones -- Quick back who redshirted last season. Moved up depth chart in spring and fall and will be one of the first off the bench.
OL Davin Joseph -- Spent the first two weeks of camp on the defensive line, before moving to offensive guard.
DL Kory Klein -- One of the Sooners' most consistent players. He tied for the team lead in QB hurries last season with 14.
LB Teddy Lehman -- Speedster who moves from the middle to the weak side this season. Just six tackles shy of his 100th career stop. Three fumble recoveries last season.
DB Matt McCoy -- Sometimes overlooked DB, who is key in nickel and dime packages. Had four interceptions last season including one in the SBC Cotton Bowl.
DT Lynn McGruder -- Transferred to OU from Tennessee. Has slimmed down from the spring and has been impressive in the August workouts.
LB Lance Mitchell -- Rated the No. 1 junior college linebacker in the nation last year, he steps into the middle of OU's defense. Eligibility glitch at Florida landed him at Oklahoma where he joins former JUCO teammate Pasha Jackson.
WR Will Peoples -- Gifted athlete who played most ly on special teams last season, but should see more snaps at receiver in '02.
CB Antonio Perkins -- Impressed in the preseason testing. Should see plenty of work in the secondary and has won the job as the starting punt returner.
QB Brent Rawls -- Injured thumb ligaments in his right thumb and will likely miss the first three weeks of the season.
WR Antwone Savage -- Needs two receptions to set an OU career receptions record.
OL Wes Sims -- Moved from right to left tackle this season.
OL Mike Skinner -- The most experienced of OU's offensive linemen with 33 games played.
TE Trent Smith -- Led the nation's tight ends with 61 catches last season. Only one of the three 2001 Mackey finalists back for the 2002 season. OU's offensive MVP last season.
CB Derrick Strait -- His five career receptions are tops among active Sooners.
FS Michael Thompson -- Missed last season while recovering from injuries suffered in an off-season automobile accident. Key cog on 2000 national championship team.
QB Jason White -- Won the starting job in a preseason competition with Nate Hybl. Played in seven games last season with starts against Baylor and Nebraska.
DE Jimmy Wilkerson -- Led OU in tackles for loss last season with 18 and tied for the sacks lead with five.
CB Andre Woolfolk -- Split time between offense and defense last season. Will go full-time defense this season. Only senior starter on defense.
Head Coach Bob Stoops
When Bob Stoops arrived at Oklahoma prior to the 1999 season, it had been five seasons since the storied Sooner program had finished above the .500 mark, four since it last played in bowl game. In Stoops' three seasons, OU has a national championship, 31 victories and three bowl appearances. The lightning-quick return to national prominence has been so complete as to almost obliterate per-haps the most impressive achievement of all ... the turnaround itself.
Few could have envisioned OU's dip in the middle '90's. Virtually none could have predicted the extent to which the Schooner would be righted.
The head coach stubbornly points to the program as a whole when defining the resurgence. Humility aside, it is Stoops who deserve a lion's share of the credit ...
He is the first OU coach to take his first three teams to bowl games.
One of 18 head coaches hired on the D-I level in 1999, he has been the most successful of the class with a 31-7 mark.
His 31-7 start is the fifth-best three-year mark in NCAA history.
Some 67 school records have been set during the his tenure.
In 18 home games, his teams have out-scored their opponents 680-181.
Every home game of his OU tenure has been a sellout. The average attendance at Memorial Stadium during that time is 75,082. The facility has a listed capacity of 72,765.
During his tenure, OU has 16 television appearances, eight vists from ESPN's GameDay and five cover photos on Sports Illustrated.
If not for its meteoric pace, Stoops' career would read like a textbook rise in the coaching profession.
A four-year starter as a player at Iowa, he began his coaching career in a volunteer capacity at his alma mater in 1983. He worked through the ranks until he became co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State from 1991-95. With the Wildcats, he played a key role in the impressive turnaround. During his final four seasons there, K-State was 35-12 with three bowl appearances.
Then came a three-year stint as Florida's defensive coordinator from 1996-98. It was during that time that the national spotlight focused on his accomplishments and the door opened for a head coaching post.
It was a hiring for the ages. At Oklahoma Stoops has restored the pride, while carving out a niche' for this era and these teams.
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