Game Notes: OU at Washington

NORMAN, Okla. -- After a pair of convincing home victories, Oklahoma goes on the road for the first time this season when the Sooners visit Washington. The contest completes a two-game agreement between the two schools. It is OU's first trip to a Pac-10 school since a controversial loss at Oregon in 2006.

ESPN has the national telecast beginning at 6:45 p.m. CT (4:45 p.m. Pacific). Mike Patrick will call the game with analysis from Todd Blackledge and sideline reports from Holly Rowe.

Visit Sooner Gameday Central to view complete information for fans attending the game in Seattle and broadcast options for fans following the Sooners across the nation.

The Series
The series is tied at 1-1. Washington won the first meeting in the 1984 Orange Bowl, 28-17, then Oklahoma prevailed at Norman on Sept. 9, 2006, 37-20.

Sooner Gameday Central: OU vs. Washington | Scouting Report: Washington Huskies | Boomer Bytes

OU & Big 12 Game Notes (PDF) | OU Depth Chart | 2008 OU Football Guide | Video Library

The Coaches
Oklahoma: Bob Stoops (Iowa '83) is 99-22 in his 10th season with the Sooners. He is 65-13 vs. the Big 12, 35-9 vs. the Big 12 South, 28-4 vs. the Big 12 North, 5-1 in the Big 12 title game, 34-9 vs. non-conference opponents, 56-2 at home, 27-11 on the road, 16-9 on neutral fields, 28-11 vs. ranked opponents, 4-5 in bowls, 3-5 in January Bowls and 2-4 in BCS games. He is 1-0 vs. Washington.
Washington: Tyrone Willingham (Michigan State '77) is 11-27 in his fourth year at Washington, 76-78-1 in 14 seasons as a college head coach. He is 0-1 vs. Oklahoma.

The Program
• Oklahoma's all-time record stands at 781-295-53.
• The Sooners own seven national championships (1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000).
• OU has 41 bowl appearances (No. 7 nationally) with 24 victories (No. 4 nationally).
• Oklahoma has won 41 conference titles.
• Since WWII, Oklahoma is the most successful college football program with 547 victories.
• Some 144 All-Americans and four Heisman Trophy winners have come from the Oklahoma program.
• OU leads the nation in 10-win seasons with 30 overall.
• Oklahoma Football History & Tradition

This Week's Opponent
• Washington is 0-2 after a 44-10 loss at Oregon and a 28-27 setback to BYU. This is the second of three straight home games for UW.
• The Huskies dropped a heartbreaker last week. QB Jake Locker scored a touchdown with two seconds remaining against No. 15 BYU, but was flagged for excessive celebration. The ensuing 35-yard extra point was blocked and the Cougars escaped with the win.
• Locker has accounted for 426 of UW's 579 total offense yards. With 119 yards he is the team's leading rusher by 86 yards.

Ties With This Week's Opponent
• OU head coach Bob Stoops was a safety on the Iowa team that dropped the 1982 Rose Bowl to Washington, 28-0.
• Darrell Royal, who went on to a 19 years as head coach at Texas, coached Washington to a 5-5 mark in 1956. He was an OU letterman from 1946-49. Royal was succeeded at UW by one of his Oklahoma teammates, Jim Owens, who led the Huskies to a 99-82-6 mark from 1957-74. Owens also played at OU from 1949-46.

Conclusion of this Series
This is the conclusion of a two-game series between these two schools. The first game was played in 2006 when OU posted a 37-20 victory in Norman. Nineteen of the players that were listed on the depth chart heading into that game still play for the Sooners. Six of those are offensive linemen.
• This is Oklahoma's first game in the state of Washington.

Oklahoma and the Pac 10
• Oklahoma holds an all-time mark of 22-14-1 against the Pac-10 and has played at least one game against each of the 10 members. Only Conference USA, with 44 games, exceeds the Pac-10's 37 for most non-conference games for Oklahoma. The ACC is next at 32.
• Former OU defensive coordinator (1999-2003) Mike Stoops, brother of Bob Stoops, is in his fifth season as head coach at Arizona.
• Oklahoma's last visit to a Pac-10 venue resulted in a series of officiating mistakes over the waning minutes that led to the acknowledgement of errors from the conference office, the suspension of crew members and extensive national media coverage. The outcome was a 34-33 loss at Oregon on Sept. 16, 2006. OU finished 11-3.

The 2006 Oklahoma-Washington Meeting
• OU scored the first 24 points of the second half to break a 13-13 tie and take a 37-13 lead.
• Adrian Peterson had 32 carries, 165 yards and two TDs. He also caught two passes for six yards.
• QB Paul Thompson completed 21-of-33 passes for 272 yards with two TDs and one interception.
• Malcolm Kelly caught six passes for a career-high 121 yards and two TDs.
• FS Darien Williams topped the defense with 13 tackles. LB Rufus Alexander had 11 with one TFL and two PBU.
• Washington rushed for 201 yards, including 54 on its first scoring drive.

Oklahoma's Most Recent Game
Oklahoma blasted Cincinnati in Norman last Saturday, 52-26. It was a Bearcat squad that went 10-3 in 2007, was ranked No. 17 in the final 2007 AP poll and trotted out 16 returning starters, including nine seniors on defense ...
• Oklahoma scored on its first two possessions and never trailed.
• Sam Bradford completed 28-of-39 passes for 395 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. His completions and yardage figures were career bests, while his touchdown total tied his best. One of Bradford's interceptions first glanced off a Sooner receiver.
• WR Ryan Broyles enjoyed the best debut game ever for an Oklahoma receiver in both catches and yards. The redshirt freshman caught seven passes for 141 yards and one touchdown.
• RS freshman linebacker Travis Lewis, playing in just his second game, registered a team-high 12 tackles to go with 2.5 tackles for 16 yards in losses and a pair of sacks for -14.
• OU's defense played better than the final score might indicate. The Bearcats scored one touchdown on a kickoff return and another on the game's final play. UC managed just 87 yards on 29 rushing attempts.

The Sooners Briefly
• OU was No. 4 in both of preseason polls. It marked the 10th straight season that was ranked in the first AP poll.
• Oklahoma was tabbed for a first-place finish in the Big 12's South Division in a preseason polling of league media. Defensive end Auston English was named the league's preseason defensive player of the year.
• There are 27 players on this team with previous starting experience. There were 34 in 2007, 10 in 2006.
• Last season, OU was 11-3 overall, 6-2 in the Big 12. The Sooners won their fifth Big 12 crown, second straight and 41st league title overall before advancing to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
• Three players from the '07 team left early for the NFL: WR Malcolm Kelly, LB Curtis Lofton and DB Reggie Smith.

Decade of Dominance
Oklahoma's best-ever decade, in terms of total victories, came in the 1970's when the Sooners were 102-13-3 (.877). In the 2000's, OU is 92-17-0 (844).

New Video Board in Debut Season
• The board measures 113.5 feet wide by 32.5 feet tall (3,689 square feet). The previous video board space on the south end board was 36X21 (756 square feet). It is thought that the new board is the fourth-largest in the nation.
• The board is 16mm High Definition.
• Cost of the new board was $4.5 million.
• The project included a new sound system, the extension of the ribbon boards on the upper decks and a new Sooner Vision high definition control room, which carried a price tag of $2 million.

Home Field Honchos
Bob Stoops' teams are 56-2 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and have won their last 20 in a row there, and 40 of their last 41. The current winning streak is the longest under Stoops, who twice had coached the Sooners to 19 straight wins at home. The current streak is tied for third-longest in school history. The top mark was 25, a string that ended in 1953. A streak of 21 ended in 1975 and another of 20 ended in 1957.

Notable Rule Changes
• The 40-second play clock begins when the ball is dead from the previous play.
• The first two sideline penalties are five yards. Subsequent penalties for the offense are 15 yards.
• The horse-collar tackle now results in a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.
• If a coach's challenge is upheld, the coach retains the challenge.
• Kickoffs that go out of bounds are penalized 30 yards from the spot of the kick.
• Grasping or twisting of the facemask is a 15-yard penalty. Incidental contact is no longer penalized.

Stoops Era Yielding Record Attendance
Oklahoma has drawn 4,668,225 fans for Bob Stops' 58 home games (started in 1999)...
• All 58 have been sold out and the Sooners have prevailed 56 times.
• Last year's average home attendance of 84,858 was the largest in school history. The top eight seasons for OU home attendance have come on Stoops' watch.
• The crowd of 85,357 for the `07 Miami game was the largest to see a sporting event in the state of Oklahoma.
• OU has exceeded its listed capacity of 82,112 in 32 consecutive games.
• Oklahoma has played before sellout crowds in 102 of Stoops' 121 games. A total of 8,953,033, or an average of 73,992, has seen those games.
• Oklahoma Sets Attendance Records at Memorial Stadium

About the Offense

• Under Stoops, Oklahoma has produced its career leader in passing and receiving, while turning out the No. 3- and No. 4-ranked rusher in school history and the school record holder for single-season rushing, passing and receiving yards.
• OU has scored at least one touchdown in every game dating back to Nov. 7, 1998.
• Under Stoops, OU has rushed for 200 yards 36 times, including 30 over the last five seasons.
• Also under Stoops, OU has 125 touchdowns of 25-plus yards and 254 scoring drives that took less than two minutes.

Since Sam
Oklahoma has played 16 games since Sam Bradford was named the starting quarterback. He missed nearly all of the Texas Tech game last season due to injury (out after first series). Here is a look at OU's offensive production in those other 15 games, in which the team has a record of 13-2, a Big 12 title and BCS Bowl appearance ...
• The Sooners averaged 37.7 points per game and eclipsed 50 points seven times.
• Bradford averaged 2.9 touchdown passes per game, while completing 283-of-401 passes (.706) with 43 TDs and 10 interceptions.
• Oklahoma averaged 391.8 yards total yards per game.
• Bradford threw for more than 300 yards three times while piloting an offense that was averaging 196.2 yards per game during that same period.
• Threw multiple TD passes in 13 games including five each against Miami (Fla.), Texas A&M and Cincinnati.

Iglesias Piles Up Yards
WR Juaquin Iglesias is one of the top all-around performers ever to wear a Sooner uniform ...
• He led the Sooners in receptions and receiving yards last season with 41 for 514, respectively.
• With 1,883 all purpose yards last season, he posted the seventh-best figure in school history.
• His career total of 3,235 all purpose yards is 20th on the career list at Oklahoma.
• He ranked No. 16 nationally last season with 28.48 yards per kickoff return.
• Iglesias has the nation's fifth-longest streak for receptions in consecutive games with 34. He trails Rice's Jarrett Dillard (38), UNLV's Casey Flair (37), Ball State's Dante Ball (35) and South Carolina's Kenny McKinley (35).

Yakety Yak
To date, Oklahoma receivers have 264 of 700 passing yards after the catch. Four receptions contributing to that total yardage were credited with no running yards because they were caught in the end zone for touchdowns ...
• vs. UTC, OU's receivers gained 127 yards after the catch. Manuel Johnson had 56 of his 120 yards on the run.
• vs. Cincinnati, OU's receivers gained 137 yards after the catch. Ryan Broyles had 38 of 141 on the run.

Three-Headed Running Game
Aside from Allen Patrick's 1,009 rushing yards last season, reserves Chris Brown (611 yards) and DeMarco Murray (764 yards) combined for 1,375. Murray scored 13 TDs, Brown nine. Thus far in '08, starter DeMarco Murray has 30 carries for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Back-ups Brown and Moses Madu have combined for 49 attempts for 206 yards and four touchdowns.
• In the opener, Brown became the 66th player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a career. Murray is 24 yards away from becoming No. 67.

The Line on the Line
With an average height of just over 6-5 (77.1 inches) and 302.8 pounds on the two-deep this is one of the biggest offensive lines in OU history. During the Stoops era this is the third-heaviest line, down by an average of 13.8 pounds from last year despite the fact that it's mostly the same group. Last year's was the heaviest line at 316.6. By height, this is the third-tallest line of the Stoops era. The 2002 and 2003 lines both measured 77.2 inches.
• This veteran line (two-deep) has combined for 138 starts and 196 games played.
• Oklahoma ranks No. 15 in sacks allowed at 0.5/game. Several of the schools ahead of OU in that category employ quick-throwing, spread formations.

Nearing 30,000 Points
By points, Oklahoma is the highest scoring program in the history of college football. In 1,129 games, the Sooners have scored 29,886 points, an average of 26.5 per game. Chasing the Sooners are Michigan with 29,363 points in 1,196 games and Nebraska with 29,163 in 1,192. OU's opponents have scored 13,947 tallies for an average of 12.4 per game.

About the Defense

• OU forced at least one turnover in 107 of Bob Stoops' 121 games and has at least one interception in 79 of the last 105; multiple picks in 33 of the last 76 outings.
• Oklahoma has nine shutouts under its current head coach. Opponents failed to score more than seven points 30 times and scored less than 14 in 57 games.

Sack Exchange Rate Good
Over the last two seasons, Oklahoma's defense has 39 (2.4) sacks while allowing only 15 (0.9). This season, that ratio is 8:1.

English Lesson
DE Auston English is 10th in the nation with 1.25 sacks per game picking up right where he left off in 2007 ...
• With 9.5 sacks, English tied with Torrance Marshall (1999) for the 14th-best single season total in school history. It was the second-best total in the Stoops era behind the 10 by Calvin Thibodeaux (2005) and Dan Cody (2004, 2003).
• English broke a non-weight-bearing bone in his right leg in the Texas A&M game. A rod was inserted and he missed the next three contests. He returned for the Big 12 Championship game and the Fiesta Bowl with the rod still in place.

Weak Freak
A lot of attention was focused on the weakside linebacker spot during the preseason, but Travis Lewis has answered some of those questions in the early going. The redshirt freshman leads the team with 18 tackles, 12 of which came against Cincinnati. He had 2.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks in that game.

He's New, Sorta
First-year Sooner Mike Balogun was born Sept. 28, 1983, and is 24 years old. Former OU players C.J. Ah You (2006) and Billy Sims (1979) were 24 during their senior seasons. Players of that age were typical after WWII. Since that time, the oldest Sooner football player was DL Dick Passo, who was 26 when he played in 1968.

Push 'em Back
With 76 tackles for loss this season, the Sooners have exceeded their opponents in that category by 50 yards. The foes have thrown OU players for just 26 negative yards.

Rip and Run
Bob Stoops' teams have been notorious for their interception return yardage. The 2007 team was among OU's best in that department ....
• Oklahoma had 19 interceptions for 346 interception return yards and three touchdowns. That yardage total ranked No. 3 since Stoops became the head coach. The 2002 team put up a ridiculous 516 return yards on 24 interceptions. The 2000 National Champions notched 369 return yards, also on 24 picks.
• The 2007 OU defenders touched the ball 70 times (5.4 times per game) with 42 PBUs, 19 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries. To put that in perspective, opposing teams have just 46 touches in 27 break-ups, 11 fumble recoveries and eight interceptions.
• OU averaged 18.0 yards on INT/FUM returns with five TDs to tie the school record set in 1956, 2000 and 2001.

More Than Run Stoppers
Defensive ends and blitzers tend to be associated with the sack, but the Sooner interior has played a role in that statistic too. OU's four-man defensive tackle has a combined total of 11.0 career sacks.
• This group of tackles includes a fine tradition at the position. A pair of former Sooners, Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek, started at defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears at Indianapolis last Sunday night.

Stoops Era Staple: Run Defense
Last season, six opponents rushed for 66 or fewer yards. Eighteen times, Bob Stoops-coached Oklahoma teams have held opponents under 40 rushing yards in a game. Four times the total has resulted in negative yards.

About the Special Teams

Oklahoma's special teams under Bob Stoops ...
• There have been 25 special teams TDs, including 19 in the last 66 regular season games. Those 19 came via five different kinds of plays -- 10 punt returns, two faked field goals, two blocked punts, four kickoff returns and a faked punt. Special teams also own one safety in that span.
• In total, OU has returned eight kickoffs and 14 punts for touchdowns on Stoops' watch (since 1999).
• The Sooners have blocked 21 kicks.

Many Happy Returns
Information on returns during the Stoops era ...
• Kickoff Returns --78 returns of 25 yards or more with eight TD.
• Punt Returns -- 48 returns of 15 or more yards with 14 TD.
• Interception Returns -- 69 returns of 10 or more yards with 20 TD.
• Fumble Returns -- four returns of 15 or more yards with five TD.

Oklahoma Led Nation in Kickoff Returns
Oklahoma is No. 6 in kickoff return average (33.0) and DeMarco Murray is No. 23 (28.0) in that category. OU led the nation for 2007 with an average of 28.27 yards per return ...
• The Sooners had 19 kickoff returns that covered at least 30 yards.
• Four different players had a return of more than 35 yards.
• All five players who returned kicks last season averaged at least 24 yards.
• DeMarco Murray ran 81 yards for a touchdown against Tulsa on the second kickoff return of his college career. His first came earlier in that same game. He then went for 91 yards and a touchdown against Baylor.

Knall Emerges at Punter
Mike Knall won the starting job in the 10th game (vs. Baylor) of the 2007 season and held it for the remainder of the season. Prior to that time he had been used mostly in short-yardage situations as the pooch punter ...
• Finished the season with 24 punts for an average of 43.7. He unleashed a 66-yarder, the longest of the season for OU, against Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game.
• In his five starting assignments, he averaged 42.2 yards per punt and was under 40 yards in just one game (39.5 vs. Baylor).
• His best game was the Missouri tilt with four punts for a 49.5-yard average.

Freshman Kicker
Redshirt freshman Jimmy Stevens is the team's placekicker. He is the first freshman to tackle that chore since Garrett Hartley did so in the Baylor game of 2004 (Nov. 20).

Hold It
WR Carter Whitson, a walk-on, takes over as the team's holder. The sophomore played most of his high school career at Shawnee, Okla., before spending his senior season at Broken Arrow HS. He was a quarterback during his prep days. Whitson was the holder at Shawnee during his sophomore season.
• With redshirt freshman Jimmy Stevens at kicker, Whitson at holder and Ben Hampton as the long snapper, all three ball-handlers on placements are new this season. Hampton held at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M junior college for two seasons before transferring to Oklahoma. Derek Shaw, the holder the last two seasons, is recovering from an off-season injury.
• Long snapper James Winchester, a freshman, is the son of former Sooner Mike Winchester, who lettered as a punter from 1984-86. Carolyn Winchester, a senior member of the OU women's basketball team, is James' sister.

Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops

History is one tough customer at Oklahoma. The tradition, so rich and so long-standing, is as daunting as it is impressive. To be among the best at Oklahoma is to be among the best in college football.

Such dramatics are lost on Bob Stoops. The Sooner head coach befriended the would-be albatross of OU's successful past from his first day on campus and remains steadfastly focused on tomorrow and the championship it holds.

It falls then to the observers and experts of the game to define Stoops' impact. Rarely have the pundits had it so easy.

Under Stoops, Oklahoma has won 99 games (99-22), nine bowl games, six of the BCS variety, had one string of 88 consecutive appearances in the AP poll and captured five Big 12 crowns (the next highest total in the league is two). His 2000 team won the national championship. On a playing field leveled by scholarship limits and parity, this era stares down the Oklahoma standard and does not blink.

The achievement dulls the memory of what Stoops inherited. When he arrived in Norman, the proud Sooner program was five years removed from a winning record, four from bowl play. Those atypical days of angst are so forgotten now that they might as well be mentioned with the land rush and dust bowl.

Stoop, born Sept. 9, 1960, has been characterized as a grounded family man, brilliant big-game coach, relentless recruiter, disciplined leader and a person with uncommon perspective.

His success emanates from a disciplined style true to his roots in the Steel Valley of Ohio, but he is far from inflexible. The principles to which he holds are the tried and true axioms of the sport … mixed with cutting edge strategy and an appreciation for the calculated risk.

During his time, OU has produced record–setting passers and receivers, five 1,000-yard rushers, suffocating defense and special teams units that rank among the most dynamic in the land. Every facet has been impacted.

His players have snagged 16 national awards, including the 2003 Heisman Trophy won by Jason White. There have been more than 60 academic honorees, 62 All-Big 12 players, 24 All-Americans and 36 NFL draft choices.

Stoops has won a total of 10 national coach of the year awards and has been Big 12 Coach of the year three times.

This is one of the finest coaches in the history of one of college football's most storied traditions.

The son of a coach, Stoops was a four-year starter at Iowa. He began his coaching career in 1983 as a volunteer in the Hawkeye program under Hayden Fry. He worked through the ranks until he became co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State (1991-95) during Bill Snyder's rein.

With the Wildcats, he played a key role in an impressive turnaround. During his final four seasons there, K-State was 35-12 with three bowl appearances. Eventually, he left for Florida and a three-year stint as Steve Spurrier's defensive coordinator. In 1996, he was part of a national championship team. It was with the Gators that the spotlight found Stoops and made him one of the hottest names in the profession.

Stoops, who is widely known for countless hours of charitable work, most of which is directed towards children, graduated from Iowa in 1983 with a degree in marketing. He and his wife, Carol, have three children: daughter, Mackenzie, and twin sons, Drake and Isaac.

Head Coach Bob Stoops | OU Coaching Staff

Notes on the Sooners

DT Cory Bennett: Leads the defensive tackles in games played with 40.

LB Austin Box: Missed opener with arthroscopic surgery on left knee, then played vs. UC.

QB Sam Bradford: See notes on offense's page.

OT Branndon Braxton: Used primarily at right tackle, but also spent part of the preseason working at guard..

RB Chris Brown: Three touchdowns in the opener ... nearly one-third (30%) of his career rushes have resulted in a touchdown or first down -- 245 carries with 58 first downs, 16 touchdowns.

WR Quentin Chaney: Over the last two bowl games, he combined for eight receptions for 166 yards and two TDs.

FB Matt Clapp: A player to watch after a very good redshirt season ... in the best condition of his playing career.

LB Keenan Clayton: Has converted from strong safety to strong side linebacker.

C Jon Cooper: His 31 career starts lead the team ... anchors a veteran offensive line.

TE Brody Eldridge: All-Big 12 fullback last season despite the fact that he had no carries.

DE Auston English: Had 4.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in the opener.

CB Dominique Franks: Knocked down three passes in the opener, the second start of his career ... INT vs. Cincy.

DT DeMarcus Granger: Led OU's defensive tackles with 3.5 sacks last season.

TE Jermaine Gresham: His 11 TD receptions last season were the most ever by a Sooner TE.

QB Joey Halzle: Hit 21-of-41 for 291 yards in a back-up role at Texas Tech last season, 14-of-16 in '08 opener.

DB Nic Harris: Six career interceptions and 15 deflections.

DB Lendy Holmes: Worked at both secondary position in August before settling at safety ... INT vs. Cincy.

WR Juaquin Iglesias: See notes on offense and special teams pages.

WR Manuel Johnson: Only current Sooner receiver who has a career reception, rush and pass completion.

P Mike Knall: Was one punt shy of the 25 points necessary to count officially, but had it counted, his 43.7-yard average would have rated as the second-best in school history.

OT Phil Loadholt: Thirteen pounds lighter than last season -- 350 to 337.

LB Travis Lewis: Tied for or had the outright lead in tackles in each of the first two games.

RB Mossis Madu: Will play more this season, but impressed in 2007 with 5.8-yard rushing average.

DT Gerald McCoy: Quick tackle looking to parlay Freshman All-America status into more national honors.

RB DeMarco Murray: Carried 15 times for 124 yards (8.3/carry) and two touchdowns in opener.

LB Ryan Reynolds: Only Sooner who had started an OU game at linebacker prior to the season opener ... eight tackles vs. Cincinnati.

OG Duke Robinson: Consensus All-American last season.

OG Brandon Walker: Had the highest overall grade of all OU offensive lineman last season (80%).

OT Trent Williams: Started opener at left tackle, second game at right tackle.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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