OU Prepared to Welcome Horned Frogs

NORMAN, Okla. -- There will be plenty of new starters on the field for Oklahoma.

Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jason White is gone, and he wasn't even among the 10 Sooners from last season who went to the NFL. Missing on defense, where only two starters are back from the Orange Bowl, are such stars as Dan Cody, Tommie Harris and Derrick Strait.

"Every year coming into the season, I'm always the most anxious because you want to see what you are. How competitive are we? How tough are we? What's our attitude?," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "And what's the players' demeanor in the locker room and coming out of the tunnel?"

Stoops gets to find out Saturday when the new-look and fifth-ranked Sooners play their season opener against TCU.

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In other Big 12 season openers Saturday, seventh-ranked Texas plays Louisiana-Lafayette; No. 17 Texas A&M plays at Clemson, Colorado goes against Colorado State, and Baylor is at SMU.

Seven of the Big 12 teams are playing their openers at home against NCAA Division I-AA opponents: Oklahoma State vs. Montana State; Nebraska vs. Maine; Missouri vs. Arkansas State; Kansas vs. Florida International; Kansas vs. Florida Atlantic and Iowa State vs. Illinois State.

The lone league team not playing this weekend is No. 21 Texas Tech, which will wait until Sept. 10 to play its season opener against Florida International.

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Junior Paul Thompson takes over as Oklahoma's starting quarterback. He was the backup in 2003 to the Heisman Trophy winner and then redshirted last season when White returned with a medical exemption for a sixth season.

The Sooners do have running back Adrian Peterson, who averaged 148 yards per game last season and was the Heisman runner-up behind USC's Matt Leinart. And, remember, Peterson was just a freshman last season.

On defense, Stoops said at least four freshmen have a chance to play Saturday. The Sooners lost their top defensive end, Larry Birdine, for the season to a biceps injury suffered in practice and tackle Dusty Dvoracek is recovering from a similar injury and is expected to play, but not start.

"You feel that for them where they've got a lot to prove, and you're right there with them," defensive coordinator Brent Venables said.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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