Lynn McGruder Focused to Finish

NORMAN, Okla. -- Rewind to December 6, 2003. The Sooners were undefeated and headed to Kansas City to play in the Big 12 Championship Game. Ditto for 2004. But senior defensive tackle Lynn McGruder says that's where the similarities end.

This is a different team than a year ago and McGruder will be the first to say so. With his days of college ball approaching an end, McGruder, along with 22 other graduating Sooners, plans on writing a better ending to this season.

You didn't experience OU's 2000 National Championship because you were at Tennessee...
I keep missing 'em! Right when I got to Tennessee they had just won one and then right when I get to OU they had just won one! But it's good to be around programs like that. This whole season is giving me the understanding of what it take to be a national champion.

Hopefully, we go up to Kansas City and play a great game and then whatever happens after that, hopefully we play another great game. It would be fun to win one because we were so close last year. It's a beautiful thing to be part of and a very historical game. You can't ask for anything better than that as a college player.

Has the long break between the Baylor game and the Big 12 Championship made you even more anxious to play?
Yeah, I came home early. We weren't supposed to come back until Sunday, but I was back here on Friday. I hate anything to linger around, whether it be problems I'm dealing with or anything else. I just like to get it done.

This year the team looks to be hitting its full stride at the right time. Is that the way you see it?
That's easy to agree with and it's true in a way, but we didn't really come to play last year when it came down to the games that really mattered. This time we have an example from last year so now it's kind of hard to go into this game and be lackadaisical and not want to win and play hard.

In the last two games, this defense has not given up a single touchdown. How can the defense improve?
You always have something that you can improve on. We just want to be more relentless, more dominant, more disruptive. We also want to make more plays on defense -- get more interceptions, more sacks, and maybe some touchdowns.

Did you expect to play Colorado or were you expecting a matchup against Iowa State?
The odds were against Colorado, but I'm from Vegas (wink,wink) so the odds really don't matter sometimes. But I am happy to play Colorado because I have played against them four times.

The defense and the team as a whole is much healthier at this point in the season than this time last year...
It will be huge because the players that you have healthy you don't have to make changes and adjustments. It's also good because you have that experience out there and also you are able to play with the players you have been with the whole season.

Compare Colorado running back Billy Purify to other backs you've played against...
Purify is a strong back. I watched a couple games and he really surprised me. We just have to get on him early and get some good licks on him. If he gets any type of momentum on us it could be a long day, so we just have to stop him early on.

What differences do you see in Colorado's style of play from last year?
They have more experience. With all the things they've been through [in the off-season] it looks like they have really come together. Their struggles have given them their motivation so we just have to go in their early and make some plays and tackle well.

Do you feel like last season is a motivation for this season?
That's not enough by itself, but it definately helps. No matter how much we want payback for last season, we still have to show up on Saturday and play four quarters in order to get the 'W' in our column.

What will be your defining moment as a Sooner?
As a Sooner my defining moment would be to bring us a National Championship and to finish the season undefeated. We've been through a lot of adversity and to finish undefeated would perfectly define the whole season's hard work.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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