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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Oklahoma Hosts Baylor in Big 12 Opener
October 09, 2009 | Football
NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma and Baylor open Big 12 Conference play when the two collide in Norman on Saturday at Owen Field. ABC will televise the game with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m.
The Sooners are coming off a 21-20 loss at then-No. 17 Miami last Saturday, while Baylor notched a 31-15 home victory over Kent State on that same night.
Visit Sooner Gameday Central to view complete information for fans attending the game in Norman plus TV, radio and internet options for fans following the Sooners across the nation.
SoonerSports.com will again bring fans the Sooner Gameday Blog live from Owen Field on Saturday night. The feature provides instantaneous reaction from the field as the game unfolds including observations from our staff, notes from the media relations staff in the press box and fan emails during the game.
The Game
Oklahoma has two losses this season -- both one-point setbacks to nationally-ranked foes away from Norman. Both of these teams have injury headaches. OU's medical list of Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham and Ryan Broyles is well-documented, as was the season-ending knee injury to Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.
The Series
Oklahoma has won all 18 previous meetings with Baylor, including 10 in Norman. Last season, OU won 49-17 at Waco.
The Coaches
• Bob Stoops (Iowa '83) is 111-26 in his 11th season at Oklahoma. He is 72-14 vs. the Big 12, 39-10 vs. the Big 12 South, 33-4 vs. the Big 12 North, 6-1 in the Big 12 title game, 39-12 vs. non-conference opponents, 62-2 at home, 32-12 on the road, 17-12 on neutral fields, 33-14 vs. ranked opponents, 4-6 in bowls. He is 10-0 vs. Baylor.
• Art Briles (Texas Tech '79) is 7-9 in his two seasons at Baylor, 41-37 in seven seasons overall. He is 0-2 vs. OU, 0-1 as Baylor's coach.
The Program
• Oklahoma's all-time record stands at 793-299-53 in 115 seasons. Since WWII, OU leads the nation with 557 victories.
• The Sooners have captured seven national championships (1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000).
• OU has 42 bowl appearances (No. 7 nationally) with 24 bowl victories (No. 4 nationally).
• Oklahoma has 42 conference championships, including the last three Big 12 Conference crowns and six Big 12 titles overall (no other league member has more than two)
• OU has produced 148 All-Americans and five Heisman Trophy winners. Sooners have also won the Bednarik (1), Butkus (4), Walter Camp (4), Lombardi (3), Maxwell (2), Nagurski (2), O'Brien (3), (Outland (5), Tatupu (1), Thorpe (3) and Unitas (1) Awards.
• With 31, 10-win seasons, OU leads the nation in total number of years in which the team achieved double-digit victories.
• This is Oklahoma's best decade for total victories. In the 2000s, OU is 104-21-0 while the Sooners were 102-13-3 in the 1970s.
Oklahoma Football History & Tradition
This Week's Opponent: Baylor
• Baylor moved to 3-1 with a 31-15 home win over Kent State last Saturday. This start matched the 3-1 mark start accomplished by the 2007 Bears.
• BU suffered a blow when it lost speedy quarterback Robert Griffin III to a season-ending knee injury on Sept. 26. Last season, Griffin accounted for 78 of Baylor's 336 points and 2,934 of its 4,517 total yards.
• The Bears were quarterbacked in the Kent State game by third-stringer Nick Florence, who completed 20-of-27 passes for 216 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Blake Szymanski, the second-team signal-caller, who has been sidelined by a bruised shoulder, has previous experience against Oklahoma. In the 2007 game at Norman, a 52-21 OU victory, Szymanski completed 25-of-42 passes for 280 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. In the 2006 game at Waco, he went 22-of-45 for 188 yards and two interceptions with no touchdowns. He was sacked five times in that game including once for a safety. Ironically, Szymanski got that start after Shawn Bell went down with a knee injury.
Ties With This Week's Opponent
• Jeff Lebby, Baylor's Assistant Director of Football Operations, was a student assistant coach at OU for four years before joining the BU staff in 2008. Lebby had signed to play offensive line at Oklahoma, but never did due to a back injury.
Sooners in Big 12 Openers
• Oklahoma opens Big 12 play against Baylor this week, and it will mark the second straight year that the Sooners have locked up with the Bears in the league opener. OU is 7-6 in Big 12 beginners, 7-3 under Bob Stoops.
• Oklahoma's most frequent opening day opponent has been Kansas. The Sooners and Jayhawks have opened Big 12 play three times. There have been two Big 12 openers against Colorado, Kansas State and Texas
Oklahoma's Big 12 Dominance
• Oklahoma's all-time Big 12 regular season record is 75-29, 81-30 if counting title games. Stoops is 67-13 in the regular season, 73-14 counting all. Before he arrived, OU's Big 12 mark against the league was 8-16.
• The Sooners have won the last three Big 12 Championships. No other program has ever won back-to-back titles.
OU Sets Home Win Streak
Oklahoma has won 26 straight home games, the longest current streak in the nation, and a school record. The current record was set with the win over Tulsa. The previous mark was set at 25 before loss in the 1953 season opener to Notre Dame, 28-21.
• Bob Stoops' teams are 61-2 at home and the Sooners have won 45 of their last 46 on Owen Field.
• Other long OU home streaks and the years they ended include 21 (1975), 20 (1957).
• Other long home streaks under Stoops were 22, 19, 19.
• OU's all-time record at its current facility, which opened in 1923, is 344-78-15 (.804).
Oklahoma's Most Recent Game | Miami 21, Oklahoma 20
Blog | Photos | Highlights
Oklahoma dropped a 21-20 decision at Miami last Saturday at Land Shark Stadium ...
• Oklahoma jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first half and led 10-7 at halftime, but Miami converted a turnover into a touchdown early in the third quarter and never trailed again.
• Landry Jones started at quarterback and went the distance. He completed 18-of-30 passes for 188 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
• Jones' favorite target was WR Cameron Kenney, a junior college transfer, who established career highs with six receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown.
• The OU offense took a substantial hit during the first quarter when WR Ryan Broyles, the team's leading receiver and scorer, was knocked out of the game with a broken shoulder blade.
• Oklahoma had a 95-yard scoring drive in the game, the longest of the season for the Sooners. It resulted in a 21-yard Jimmy Stevens field goal.
• DeMarco Murray's 23 rushing attempts were the most by a Sooner this season and just three shy of his career high of 26 in last year's Baylor game.
• DE Jeremy Beal paced the defense with three sacks. It marked the second straight game in which he recorded three sacks. He also batted down a pair of passing attempts.
• Each of Oklahoma's cornerbacks, Dominique Franks and Brian Jackson, recorded an interception in the game.
• K Jimmy Stevens converted both of his field goal attempts. Those tries came from 21 and 39 yards.
Stoops' Mark Legendary
George Woodruff completed his first 10 years of coaching, all at Penn, in 1901 with 124 victories. That's the only 10-year start that exceeds the 109 games won by Bob Stoops, now in his 11th season at Oklahoma. ...
• All but two of Stoops' wins came against FBS programs.
• Thirty-two of Stoops' wins, nearly one-third, came against ranked opponents.
• Seventy-two of the victories came over Big 12 opponents, including 39 against the Big 12 South.
• Forty-nine Stoops wins occurred away from Norman.
Ambitious Scheduling | Future Schedules
Oklahoma has numerous marquee non-conference opponents coming up on future schedules ...
• Florida State (2010), at Florida State (2011)
• Notre Dame (2012), at Notre Dame (2013)
• Tennessee (2014), at Tennessee (2015)
• Ohio State (2016), at Ohio State (2017)
• LSU (2018), at LSU (2019).
• Under Bob Stoops, Oklahoma has already played Louisville, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Alabama (twice), UCLA (twice), Oregon (twice), Washington (twice), South Florida, Miami (twice) and Cincinnati in regular season contests.
Nailbiters
Both of OU's losses were by one point to nationally-ranked opponents. Six of the last 10 losses were by three points or less including four be a single digit.
Football Facilities Get Upgrade
The $15 million Phase IV of the Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was completed this summer and included the following ...
• A 9,000 square-foot football locker room, including grooming areas, cold-plunge hydrotherapy, and lounge.
• A 10,000 square-foot athletic training space.
• A 6,500 square-foot equipment room.
• A 4,000 square-foot team meeting room equipped with the latest technology, sound and video equipment and seating for more than 200 added to the more than 8,000 square feet of existing team meeting rooms.
• Expansion of and upgrades to the SoonerVision studio and production facilities.
Stoops Era Yielding Record Attendance
Oklahoma has drawn 5,183,778 fans for Bob Stoops' 64 home games (started in 1999) and all have been sold out.
• The Sooners are 62-2 on Owen Field under Stoops and have won 26 straight, a school record.
• The current string of sellouts is the second longest in school history, trailing a string of 69 from 1971-84.
• The average home attendance of 85,075 in 2008 was a school record. The top nine seasons for football attendance at Oklahoma came on Stoops' watch.
• The largest home crowd in school history was 85,646, on hand for the 2008 OU-Texas Tech game.
• Oklahoma has exceeded its listed seating capacity of 82,112 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in 38 consecutive home games.
• Oklahoma has played before sellout crowds in 111 of the 137 games (home, away, neutral) since Stoops became the head coach. During that time, a total of 9,959,228 (average of 72,695) have watched the Sooners. The figure should move above 10 million at the Baylor game.
Oklahoma Sets Attendance Records at Memorial Stadium
• Under Stoops, OU produced its career leader in passing and receiving, its No. 3 and No. 5 career rushers and school record holders for season rushing, passing and receiving yards.
• Of 82 offensive records at OU, 54 were set under Stoops.
• OU scored a TD in every game since Nov. 7, 1998.
• OU has rushed for 200 yards 42 times under Stoops, 36 in the last six years.
• Also under Stoops, OU has 143 touchdowns of 25+ yards and 290 scoring drives of 2:00 or less.
• OU is the highest scoring program in college football history. In 1,144 games, the Sooners have scored 30,577 points, or 26.7 per game. Michigan has 29,702 points in 1,208 games and Nebraska 29,598 in 1,204.
Keeping Up With Jones
With 81 passing attempts, Landry Jones already has more passing attempts than any other OU quarterback, other than Sam Bradford, had all of last season. Joey Halzle had 30 tries during the 2008 season.
Hardly a First
This marks the 19th time since 1954 that Oklahoma's starting QB has been injured and replaced by a back-up. It is the third time it has happened on Bob Stoops' watch.
Bradford Gets Passing Mark
Sam Bradford became Oklahoma's all-time leading passer with his 96 yards in the season opener, giving the junior a career total of 7,937 yards.
• Bradford eclipsed Jason White's mark of 7,922 yards, set from 1999-2004, with an 18-yarder to Brandon Caleb late in the first half. It was his last completion of the game.
• Bradford holds 14 school records at OU.
Four Weeks Claims 112 Receptions
When camp began in August, Oklahoma returned players who accounted for 182 (52%) of last season's 350 pass receptions. With the season-ending injury to TE Jermaine Gresham (66 receptions last season) and now an injury to WR Ryan Broyles (46 receptions last season), that number is down to 70 (20%), a loss of 112 ...
• Broyles is OU's leading receiver this season with 23 grabs, seven for touchdowns, and 346 yards. He's still tied for No. 13 nationally in scoring at 10.5 pts./game. After Broyles, the next top receiver is Brandon Caleb with 14 grabs for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
• Broyles is OU's leader in receptions, receiving yards, touchdowns, all purpose yards (525), punt return yards (92/11.5) and kickoff return yards (81/20.2).
• Of the 22 plays of 20 yards or longer by OU this season, Broyles accounted for 10. DeMarco Murray's four is next.
• Caleb, a junior, entered the season with five catches for 52 yards and no TD. Thus far in 2009, he has 10 receptions for 175 yards and two TD.
Touchdown Brown
RB Chris Brown has scored a touchdown in 13 of the last 18 Oklahoma games.
• This season, DeMarco Murray has 55 rushes with 16 going for first downs and three for touchdowns. Brown has 55 attempts with 16 first downs and one TD.
Position Changes
Several players have either changed positions or worked in dual spots in pre-season drills ...
• Former linebacker Brandon Crow moved to fullback.
• RB Mossis Madu also took snaps at slot receiver.
• TE and H-back Brody Eldridge worked at center.
• Under Bob Stoops, OU's position changes have a history of working out well. Perhaps the most notable was Jammal Brown's move from defensive tackle to becoming the 2004 Outland winner at offensive tackle.
About the Offense in 2008
• OU scored a school record 99 TDs to clip the 80 in 2003.
• With 716 points, it was the highest scoring team in the modern era of college football. It also was the first in that span to score 60+ points in five consecutive games.
• It was the first team ever with a 4,000-yard passer (Bradford) and two 1,000-yard rushers (Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray).
• OU set a school record for first-half points with 55 at
• The Sooners went over 500 total yards 10 times, over 600 four times. The best total was 674 yards against Kansas, the most yardage by OU since piling up 829 against Kansas State in 1988.
Gresham Out for the Season
Jermaine Gresham did not play this season after season-ending knee surgery.
• The senior entered the 2009 season with 26 touchdown receptions, seven shy of the NCAA record of 33 set by Ibn Green of Louisville from 1996-99. Missouri's Chase Coffman holds the Big 12 mark at 30. Gresham already had more TD receptions and yards than any TE at Oklahoma. Gresham has 1,629 yards.
Trench Talk
OU is missing four starters from last year's o-line ...
• The four players who are not back started 148 games at OU. Three are in the NFL -- OT Phil Loadholt (Vikings), C Jon Cooper (Vikings) and OG Duke Robinson (Panthers).
• The returning OU offensive linemen entered the season 44 games played and 22 starts.
• OU returns two linemen with starting experience, tackle Trent Williams and guard Brian Simmons. Williams entered the season 20 career starts, 19 at right tackle and one at left tackle (2008 season opener).
• So far this season, nine different players have had starting assignments on the OU line. The latest was Tavaris Jeffries, who started at right guard vs. Miami.
• OU forced at least one turnover in 121 of Bob Stoops' 137 games and has at least one interception in 90 of the last 119; multiple picks in 43 of the last 90 outings.
• Oklahoma has 11 shutouts under its current head coach. Opponents failed to score more than seven points 31 times and scored less than 15 in 58 games.
Sooner "D" Nationally
Oklahoma's defense currently ranks No. 3 in tackles for loss (9.5), No. 4 in scoring defense (8.75), No. 4 in sacks (4.0), No. 6 in rushing defense (65.5) and No. 10 in total defense (253.0).
BTW TFL
The number is somewhat skewed by the record-tying total of 17 against Idaho State, but it's worth noting that Oklahoma is averaging 9.5 tackles for loss per game this season. Last year's team, averaged 7.6 per game.
• Eighteen Sooners have tackles for loss this season led by DE Jeremy Beal with 8.
The Real Beal
DE Jeremy Beal is off to a flying start with 8 tackles for loss and 6 sacks ...
• He has three sacks in each of the last two games.
• Of his 14 tackles this season, 8 were behind the line.
• With 15.5 career sacks, the junior needs 2.5 more to crack OU's top 10 list.
The Real McCoy
A front runner for several national awards, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, still just a junior, is the most experienced player on the defense with 27 career starting assignments, five more than Auston English.
• The Sooners intercepted Tim Tebow twice in last year's BCS title game and McCoy had one of those with a 12-yard return. Now, both of OU's starting defensive tackles have a career interception. Adrian Taylor picked off a Baylor pass in 2007 and ran it back 18 yards.
• McCoy is second on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss. He now has 24 for his career or 42% of his 58 career stops.
The End(s)
Oklahoma's stable of defensive ends is truly an impressive group. Frank Alexander, Jeremy Beal and Auston English all have extensive starting experience ...
• The trio has combined for 70 career games played, 48 starts, 202 tackles, 61 tackles for 311 yards in losses and 34 sacks for 246 yards in losses.
• English is the only senior in the group. Alexander is a sophomore and Beal a junior.
Hush the Rush
• Oklahoma limited Idaho State to -22 yards on 32 rushing attempts. That was the second-best rushing defense performance by the Sooners under Bob Stoops. The 2006 team limited Baylor to -48 (on 20 attempts), mostly on five sacks. The Sooners had just two sacks vs. ISU.
• In the opener, BYU rushed 33 times for 28 yards.
Weak Freak
Weakside LB Travis Lewis led the Oklahoma defense last season with 144 tackles, a figure that ranked No. 4 nationally and established a school record for stops by a freshman (besting Brian Bosworth's mark of 133).
• Lewis has two double-digit tackle games this season and nine in the 18 total games played during his career.
• The sophomore is closing in on the 200-tackle mark for his career. He's at 183. Daryl Hunt owns the school record of 530. To crack the top 10, Lewis would have to eclipse Lee Roy Selmon's total of 335.
Turnovers=Points
Last season, Oklahoma converted 22 of 34 takeaways into touchdowns, including two that the defense returned to the end zone. That conversion rate was .647.
• The Sooners turned a turnover into a touchdown in nine of 14 games last season.
• Thus far through the 2009 season, Oklahoma has 11 takeaways. The team converted seven of those into scores amounting to 45 points (conversion rate is .636).
• Oklahoma's offense has turned a takeaway into points at least once in every game thus far in 2009.
• The OU defense has scored in each of Bob Stoops' 11 seasons. The only position that has not scored a touchdown during that time is defensive tackle.
Oklahoma's special teams under Bob Stoops ...
• There have been 26 special teams touchdowns, including 20 in the last 72 regular season games. Those 20 came via five different kinds of plays -- 11 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.
• OU has returned eight kickoffs and 15 punts for TDs.
• The Sooners have blocked 22 kicks.
Many Happy Returns
Information on returns during the Stoops era ...
• Kickoff Returns --90 returns of 25 yards+ with eight TD.
• Punt Returns -- 55 ret., of 15+ with 15 touchdowns.
• Interception Returns -- 79 ret., of 10+ yards with 21 TD.
• Fumble Returns -- five returns of 15+ yards with 7 TD.
Getting His "Way" at Punter
Tress Way, a kicker and punter, redshirted in '08 then won the punting job in August. He is averaging 45.3 yards on 19 punts with seven downed inside the 20 and seven of 50+ yards ...
• The average of 45.3 yards per punt ranks No. 5 nationally and has helped OU achieve a No. 13 national ranking in net punting (40.16).
• The best punting average achieved in Bob Stoops' tenure at Oklahoma was 42.8 yards in 2006.
• Way unleashed a 71 yard punt at Miami, the longest by a Sooner since Mike Cohen's 72-yarder in 2006.
• Way was called on to attempt a 54-yard field goal at the 1:28 mark of the fourth quarter in the BYU game, but the kick fell short. It was his first collegiate attempt.
• The second-team punter is WR Cameron Kenney. At Garden City (Kan.) CC last season, Kenney had a 47-yard punting average. He also converted 11-of-13 PATs and 8-of-9 FGs, including makes from 40, 41 and 52 yards. Kenney is also a receiver on the depth chart. OU has not a position player in a kicking role since DB Darrol Ray punted in 1978.
Whitson Holding Steady
Wide receiver Carter Whitson is back for his second year as the holder for place kicks. A quarterback for part of his high school career, Whitson is the first holder to serve in that role for back-to-back seasons during Bob Stoops' tenure at Oklahoma.
• Whitson's back-up is quarterback John Nimmo, a steady golfing partner with Sam Bradford.
• Whitson had a two-yard rush on a faked field goal at Miami. The play resulted in a first down and kept alive a drive that ultimately yielded a field goal.
Got It Covered
Last season, OU opponents returned four kickoffs for TDs and averaged 23.8 per return. This year, there have been no TDs and the return average is a mere 18.9.
Stevens Off to a Good Start
Sophomore Jimmy Stevens returns at placekicker and is on the watch list for the Lou Groza Award ...
• Stevens is 5-of-6 on field goals with the lone miss coming from 40 yards. He has made 17-of-18 PATs with the lone miss coming in rainy conditions at OU's home opener.
• Stevens made 8-of-12 field goals last season with a long of 42 yards at Texas A&M. He set a school record with 94 point after touchdown conversions.
• Stevens ranked second on the team in points with 118. Chris Brown, with 21 touchdowns, scored 126 to lead the team. Brown became the first running back to lead the team in scoring since 2005 when Adrian Peterson did so with 14 touchdowns. Brown's TD total was the best by a Sooner since Billy Sims got 23 in 1979.
• The back-up for placements is punter Tress Way. Way is also the back-up for kickoffs.
• Matthew Moreland, who handled kickoffs last season, looks is in that role again this season. Moreland had 121 kickoffs with 15 touchbacks and only two out of bounds last season. Way is Moreland's back-up.
Snappy
Ben Hampton is in his second season of snapping for placements. He also is slated to handle the placements for punts this season.
• The back-up snapper is WR James Winchester, whose sister, Carolyn, wrapped up her eligibility with the OU women's basketball team last season. James and Carolyn's father, Mike, was a punter at OU and lettered from 1984-85.
The Sooners are coming off a 21-20 loss at then-No. 17 Miami last Saturday, while Baylor notched a 31-15 home victory over Kent State on that same night.
Visit Sooner Gameday Central to view complete information for fans attending the game in Norman plus TV, radio and internet options for fans following the Sooners across the nation.
SoonerSports.com will again bring fans the Sooner Gameday Blog live from Owen Field on Saturday night. The feature provides instantaneous reaction from the field as the game unfolds including observations from our staff, notes from the media relations staff in the press box and fan emails during the game.
The Game
Oklahoma has two losses this season -- both one-point setbacks to nationally-ranked foes away from Norman. Both of these teams have injury headaches. OU's medical list of Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham and Ryan Broyles is well-documented, as was the season-ending knee injury to Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.
 OU, Baylor & Big 12 Game Notes | OU Depth Chart | 2009 OU Football Guide
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The Series
Oklahoma has won all 18 previous meetings with Baylor, including 10 in Norman. Last season, OU won 49-17 at Waco.
The Coaches
• Bob Stoops (Iowa '83) is 111-26 in his 11th season at Oklahoma. He is 72-14 vs. the Big 12, 39-10 vs. the Big 12 South, 33-4 vs. the Big 12 North, 6-1 in the Big 12 title game, 39-12 vs. non-conference opponents, 62-2 at home, 32-12 on the road, 17-12 on neutral fields, 33-14 vs. ranked opponents, 4-6 in bowls. He is 10-0 vs. Baylor.
• Art Briles (Texas Tech '79) is 7-9 in his two seasons at Baylor, 41-37 in seven seasons overall. He is 0-2 vs. OU, 0-1 as Baylor's coach.
The Program
• Oklahoma's all-time record stands at 793-299-53 in 115 seasons. Since WWII, OU leads the nation with 557 victories.
• The Sooners have captured seven national championships (1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000).
• OU has 42 bowl appearances (No. 7 nationally) with 24 bowl victories (No. 4 nationally).
• Oklahoma has 42 conference championships, including the last three Big 12 Conference crowns and six Big 12 titles overall (no other league member has more than two)
• OU has produced 148 All-Americans and five Heisman Trophy winners. Sooners have also won the Bednarik (1), Butkus (4), Walter Camp (4), Lombardi (3), Maxwell (2), Nagurski (2), O'Brien (3), (Outland (5), Tatupu (1), Thorpe (3) and Unitas (1) Awards.
• With 31, 10-win seasons, OU leads the nation in total number of years in which the team achieved double-digit victories.
• This is Oklahoma's best decade for total victories. In the 2000s, OU is 104-21-0 while the Sooners were 102-13-3 in the 1970s.
Oklahoma Football History & Tradition
This Week's Opponent: Baylor
• Baylor moved to 3-1 with a 31-15 home win over Kent State last Saturday. This start matched the 3-1 mark start accomplished by the 2007 Bears.
• BU suffered a blow when it lost speedy quarterback Robert Griffin III to a season-ending knee injury on Sept. 26. Last season, Griffin accounted for 78 of Baylor's 336 points and 2,934 of its 4,517 total yards.
• The Bears were quarterbacked in the Kent State game by third-stringer Nick Florence, who completed 20-of-27 passes for 216 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Blake Szymanski, the second-team signal-caller, who has been sidelined by a bruised shoulder, has previous experience against Oklahoma. In the 2007 game at Norman, a 52-21 OU victory, Szymanski completed 25-of-42 passes for 280 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. In the 2006 game at Waco, he went 22-of-45 for 188 yards and two interceptions with no touchdowns. He was sacked five times in that game including once for a safety. Ironically, Szymanski got that start after Shawn Bell went down with a knee injury.
Ties With This Week's Opponent
• Jeff Lebby, Baylor's Assistant Director of Football Operations, was a student assistant coach at OU for four years before joining the BU staff in 2008. Lebby had signed to play offensive line at Oklahoma, but never did due to a back injury.
Sooners in Big 12 Openers
• Oklahoma opens Big 12 play against Baylor this week, and it will mark the second straight year that the Sooners have locked up with the Bears in the league opener. OU is 7-6 in Big 12 beginners, 7-3 under Bob Stoops.
• Oklahoma's most frequent opening day opponent has been Kansas. The Sooners and Jayhawks have opened Big 12 play three times. There have been two Big 12 openers against Colorado, Kansas State and Texas
Oklahoma's Big 12 Dominance
• Oklahoma's all-time Big 12 regular season record is 75-29, 81-30 if counting title games. Stoops is 67-13 in the regular season, 73-14 counting all. Before he arrived, OU's Big 12 mark against the league was 8-16.
• The Sooners have won the last three Big 12 Championships. No other program has ever won back-to-back titles.
OU Sets Home Win Streak
Oklahoma has won 26 straight home games, the longest current streak in the nation, and a school record. The current record was set with the win over Tulsa. The previous mark was set at 25 before loss in the 1953 season opener to Notre Dame, 28-21.
• Bob Stoops' teams are 61-2 at home and the Sooners have won 45 of their last 46 on Owen Field.
• Other long OU home streaks and the years they ended include 21 (1975), 20 (1957).
• Other long home streaks under Stoops were 22, 19, 19.
• OU's all-time record at its current facility, which opened in 1923, is 344-78-15 (.804).
Oklahoma's Most Recent Game | Miami 21, Oklahoma 20
Blog | Photos | Highlights
Oklahoma dropped a 21-20 decision at Miami last Saturday at Land Shark Stadium ...
• Oklahoma jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first half and led 10-7 at halftime, but Miami converted a turnover into a touchdown early in the third quarter and never trailed again.
• Landry Jones started at quarterback and went the distance. He completed 18-of-30 passes for 188 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
• Jones' favorite target was WR Cameron Kenney, a junior college transfer, who established career highs with six receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown.
• The OU offense took a substantial hit during the first quarter when WR Ryan Broyles, the team's leading receiver and scorer, was knocked out of the game with a broken shoulder blade.
• Oklahoma had a 95-yard scoring drive in the game, the longest of the season for the Sooners. It resulted in a 21-yard Jimmy Stevens field goal.
• DeMarco Murray's 23 rushing attempts were the most by a Sooner this season and just three shy of his career high of 26 in last year's Baylor game.
• DE Jeremy Beal paced the defense with three sacks. It marked the second straight game in which he recorded three sacks. He also batted down a pair of passing attempts.
• Each of Oklahoma's cornerbacks, Dominique Franks and Brian Jackson, recorded an interception in the game.
• K Jimmy Stevens converted both of his field goal attempts. Those tries came from 21 and 39 yards.
Stoops' Mark Legendary
George Woodruff completed his first 10 years of coaching, all at Penn, in 1901 with 124 victories. That's the only 10-year start that exceeds the 109 games won by Bob Stoops, now in his 11th season at Oklahoma. ...
• All but two of Stoops' wins came against FBS programs.
• Thirty-two of Stoops' wins, nearly one-third, came against ranked opponents.
• Seventy-two of the victories came over Big 12 opponents, including 39 against the Big 12 South.
• Forty-nine Stoops wins occurred away from Norman.
Ambitious Scheduling | Future Schedules
Oklahoma has numerous marquee non-conference opponents coming up on future schedules ...
• Florida State (2010), at Florida State (2011)
• Notre Dame (2012), at Notre Dame (2013)
• Tennessee (2014), at Tennessee (2015)
• Ohio State (2016), at Ohio State (2017)
• LSU (2018), at LSU (2019).
• Under Bob Stoops, Oklahoma has already played Louisville, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Alabama (twice), UCLA (twice), Oregon (twice), Washington (twice), South Florida, Miami (twice) and Cincinnati in regular season contests.
Nailbiters
Both of OU's losses were by one point to nationally-ranked opponents. Six of the last 10 losses were by three points or less including four be a single digit.
Football Facilities Get Upgrade
The $15 million Phase IV of the Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was completed this summer and included the following ...
• A 9,000 square-foot football locker room, including grooming areas, cold-plunge hydrotherapy, and lounge.
• A 10,000 square-foot athletic training space.
• A 6,500 square-foot equipment room.
• A 4,000 square-foot team meeting room equipped with the latest technology, sound and video equipment and seating for more than 200 added to the more than 8,000 square feet of existing team meeting rooms.
• Expansion of and upgrades to the SoonerVision studio and production facilities.
Stoops Era Yielding Record Attendance
Oklahoma has drawn 5,183,778 fans for Bob Stoops' 64 home games (started in 1999) and all have been sold out.
• The Sooners are 62-2 on Owen Field under Stoops and have won 26 straight, a school record.
• The current string of sellouts is the second longest in school history, trailing a string of 69 from 1971-84.
• The average home attendance of 85,075 in 2008 was a school record. The top nine seasons for football attendance at Oklahoma came on Stoops' watch.
• The largest home crowd in school history was 85,646, on hand for the 2008 OU-Texas Tech game.
• Oklahoma has exceeded its listed seating capacity of 82,112 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in 38 consecutive home games.
• Oklahoma has played before sellout crowds in 111 of the 137 games (home, away, neutral) since Stoops became the head coach. During that time, a total of 9,959,228 (average of 72,695) have watched the Sooners. The figure should move above 10 million at the Baylor game.
Oklahoma Sets Attendance Records at Memorial Stadium
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About the Sooner Offense |
• Under Stoops, OU produced its career leader in passing and receiving, its No. 3 and No. 5 career rushers and school record holders for season rushing, passing and receiving yards.
• Of 82 offensive records at OU, 54 were set under Stoops.
• OU scored a TD in every game since Nov. 7, 1998.
• OU has rushed for 200 yards 42 times under Stoops, 36 in the last six years.
• Also under Stoops, OU has 143 touchdowns of 25+ yards and 290 scoring drives of 2:00 or less.
• OU is the highest scoring program in college football history. In 1,144 games, the Sooners have scored 30,577 points, or 26.7 per game. Michigan has 29,702 points in 1,208 games and Nebraska 29,598 in 1,204.
Keeping Up With Jones
With 81 passing attempts, Landry Jones already has more passing attempts than any other OU quarterback, other than Sam Bradford, had all of last season. Joey Halzle had 30 tries during the 2008 season.
Hardly a First
This marks the 19th time since 1954 that Oklahoma's starting QB has been injured and replaced by a back-up. It is the third time it has happened on Bob Stoops' watch.
Bradford Gets Passing Mark
Sam Bradford became Oklahoma's all-time leading passer with his 96 yards in the season opener, giving the junior a career total of 7,937 yards.
• Bradford eclipsed Jason White's mark of 7,922 yards, set from 1999-2004, with an 18-yarder to Brandon Caleb late in the first half. It was his last completion of the game.
• Bradford holds 14 school records at OU.
Four Weeks Claims 112 Receptions
When camp began in August, Oklahoma returned players who accounted for 182 (52%) of last season's 350 pass receptions. With the season-ending injury to TE Jermaine Gresham (66 receptions last season) and now an injury to WR Ryan Broyles (46 receptions last season), that number is down to 70 (20%), a loss of 112 ...
• Broyles is OU's leading receiver this season with 23 grabs, seven for touchdowns, and 346 yards. He's still tied for No. 13 nationally in scoring at 10.5 pts./game. After Broyles, the next top receiver is Brandon Caleb with 14 grabs for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
• Broyles is OU's leader in receptions, receiving yards, touchdowns, all purpose yards (525), punt return yards (92/11.5) and kickoff return yards (81/20.2).
• Of the 22 plays of 20 yards or longer by OU this season, Broyles accounted for 10. DeMarco Murray's four is next.
• Caleb, a junior, entered the season with five catches for 52 yards and no TD. Thus far in 2009, he has 10 receptions for 175 yards and two TD.
Touchdown Brown
RB Chris Brown has scored a touchdown in 13 of the last 18 Oklahoma games.
• This season, DeMarco Murray has 55 rushes with 16 going for first downs and three for touchdowns. Brown has 55 attempts with 16 first downs and one TD.
Position Changes
Several players have either changed positions or worked in dual spots in pre-season drills ...
• Former linebacker Brandon Crow moved to fullback.
• RB Mossis Madu also took snaps at slot receiver.
• TE and H-back Brody Eldridge worked at center.
• Under Bob Stoops, OU's position changes have a history of working out well. Perhaps the most notable was Jammal Brown's move from defensive tackle to becoming the 2004 Outland winner at offensive tackle.
About the Offense in 2008
• OU scored a school record 99 TDs to clip the 80 in 2003.
• With 716 points, it was the highest scoring team in the modern era of college football. It also was the first in that span to score 60+ points in five consecutive games.
• It was the first team ever with a 4,000-yard passer (Bradford) and two 1,000-yard rushers (Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray).
• OU set a school record for first-half points with 55 at
• The Sooners went over 500 total yards 10 times, over 600 four times. The best total was 674 yards against Kansas, the most yardage by OU since piling up 829 against Kansas State in 1988.
Gresham Out for the Season
Jermaine Gresham did not play this season after season-ending knee surgery.
• The senior entered the 2009 season with 26 touchdown receptions, seven shy of the NCAA record of 33 set by Ibn Green of Louisville from 1996-99. Missouri's Chase Coffman holds the Big 12 mark at 30. Gresham already had more TD receptions and yards than any TE at Oklahoma. Gresham has 1,629 yards.
Trench Talk
OU is missing four starters from last year's o-line ...
• The four players who are not back started 148 games at OU. Three are in the NFL -- OT Phil Loadholt (Vikings), C Jon Cooper (Vikings) and OG Duke Robinson (Panthers).
• The returning OU offensive linemen entered the season 44 games played and 22 starts.
• OU returns two linemen with starting experience, tackle Trent Williams and guard Brian Simmons. Williams entered the season 20 career starts, 19 at right tackle and one at left tackle (2008 season opener).
• So far this season, nine different players have had starting assignments on the OU line. The latest was Tavaris Jeffries, who started at right guard vs. Miami.
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About the Sooner Defense |
• OU forced at least one turnover in 121 of Bob Stoops' 137 games and has at least one interception in 90 of the last 119; multiple picks in 43 of the last 90 outings.
• Oklahoma has 11 shutouts under its current head coach. Opponents failed to score more than seven points 31 times and scored less than 15 in 58 games.
Sooner "D" Nationally
Oklahoma's defense currently ranks No. 3 in tackles for loss (9.5), No. 4 in scoring defense (8.75), No. 4 in sacks (4.0), No. 6 in rushing defense (65.5) and No. 10 in total defense (253.0).
BTW TFL
The number is somewhat skewed by the record-tying total of 17 against Idaho State, but it's worth noting that Oklahoma is averaging 9.5 tackles for loss per game this season. Last year's team, averaged 7.6 per game.
• Eighteen Sooners have tackles for loss this season led by DE Jeremy Beal with 8.
The Real Beal
DE Jeremy Beal is off to a flying start with 8 tackles for loss and 6 sacks ...
• He has three sacks in each of the last two games.
• Of his 14 tackles this season, 8 were behind the line.
• With 15.5 career sacks, the junior needs 2.5 more to crack OU's top 10 list.
The Real McCoy
A front runner for several national awards, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, still just a junior, is the most experienced player on the defense with 27 career starting assignments, five more than Auston English.
• The Sooners intercepted Tim Tebow twice in last year's BCS title game and McCoy had one of those with a 12-yard return. Now, both of OU's starting defensive tackles have a career interception. Adrian Taylor picked off a Baylor pass in 2007 and ran it back 18 yards.
• McCoy is second on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss. He now has 24 for his career or 42% of his 58 career stops.
The End(s)
Oklahoma's stable of defensive ends is truly an impressive group. Frank Alexander, Jeremy Beal and Auston English all have extensive starting experience ...
• The trio has combined for 70 career games played, 48 starts, 202 tackles, 61 tackles for 311 yards in losses and 34 sacks for 246 yards in losses.
• English is the only senior in the group. Alexander is a sophomore and Beal a junior.
Hush the Rush
• Oklahoma limited Idaho State to -22 yards on 32 rushing attempts. That was the second-best rushing defense performance by the Sooners under Bob Stoops. The 2006 team limited Baylor to -48 (on 20 attempts), mostly on five sacks. The Sooners had just two sacks vs. ISU.
• In the opener, BYU rushed 33 times for 28 yards.
Weak Freak
Weakside LB Travis Lewis led the Oklahoma defense last season with 144 tackles, a figure that ranked No. 4 nationally and established a school record for stops by a freshman (besting Brian Bosworth's mark of 133).
• Lewis has two double-digit tackle games this season and nine in the 18 total games played during his career.
• The sophomore is closing in on the 200-tackle mark for his career. He's at 183. Daryl Hunt owns the school record of 530. To crack the top 10, Lewis would have to eclipse Lee Roy Selmon's total of 335.
Turnovers=Points
Last season, Oklahoma converted 22 of 34 takeaways into touchdowns, including two that the defense returned to the end zone. That conversion rate was .647.
• The Sooners turned a turnover into a touchdown in nine of 14 games last season.
• Thus far through the 2009 season, Oklahoma has 11 takeaways. The team converted seven of those into scores amounting to 45 points (conversion rate is .636).
• Oklahoma's offense has turned a takeaway into points at least once in every game thus far in 2009.
• The OU defense has scored in each of Bob Stoops' 11 seasons. The only position that has not scored a touchdown during that time is defensive tackle.
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About the Sooner Special Teams |
Oklahoma's special teams under Bob Stoops ...
• There have been 26 special teams touchdowns, including 20 in the last 72 regular season games. Those 20 came via five different kinds of plays -- 11 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.
• OU has returned eight kickoffs and 15 punts for TDs.
• The Sooners have blocked 22 kicks.
Many Happy Returns
Information on returns during the Stoops era ...
• Kickoff Returns --90 returns of 25 yards+ with eight TD.
• Punt Returns -- 55 ret., of 15+ with 15 touchdowns.
• Interception Returns -- 79 ret., of 10+ yards with 21 TD.
• Fumble Returns -- five returns of 15+ yards with 7 TD.
Getting His "Way" at Punter
Tress Way, a kicker and punter, redshirted in '08 then won the punting job in August. He is averaging 45.3 yards on 19 punts with seven downed inside the 20 and seven of 50+ yards ...
• The average of 45.3 yards per punt ranks No. 5 nationally and has helped OU achieve a No. 13 national ranking in net punting (40.16).
• The best punting average achieved in Bob Stoops' tenure at Oklahoma was 42.8 yards in 2006.
• Way unleashed a 71 yard punt at Miami, the longest by a Sooner since Mike Cohen's 72-yarder in 2006.
• Way was called on to attempt a 54-yard field goal at the 1:28 mark of the fourth quarter in the BYU game, but the kick fell short. It was his first collegiate attempt.
• The second-team punter is WR Cameron Kenney. At Garden City (Kan.) CC last season, Kenney had a 47-yard punting average. He also converted 11-of-13 PATs and 8-of-9 FGs, including makes from 40, 41 and 52 yards. Kenney is also a receiver on the depth chart. OU has not a position player in a kicking role since DB Darrol Ray punted in 1978.
Whitson Holding Steady
Wide receiver Carter Whitson is back for his second year as the holder for place kicks. A quarterback for part of his high school career, Whitson is the first holder to serve in that role for back-to-back seasons during Bob Stoops' tenure at Oklahoma.
• Whitson's back-up is quarterback John Nimmo, a steady golfing partner with Sam Bradford.
• Whitson had a two-yard rush on a faked field goal at Miami. The play resulted in a first down and kept alive a drive that ultimately yielded a field goal.
Got It Covered
Last season, OU opponents returned four kickoffs for TDs and averaged 23.8 per return. This year, there have been no TDs and the return average is a mere 18.9.
Stevens Off to a Good Start
Sophomore Jimmy Stevens returns at placekicker and is on the watch list for the Lou Groza Award ...
• Stevens is 5-of-6 on field goals with the lone miss coming from 40 yards. He has made 17-of-18 PATs with the lone miss coming in rainy conditions at OU's home opener.
• Stevens made 8-of-12 field goals last season with a long of 42 yards at Texas A&M. He set a school record with 94 point after touchdown conversions.
• Stevens ranked second on the team in points with 118. Chris Brown, with 21 touchdowns, scored 126 to lead the team. Brown became the first running back to lead the team in scoring since 2005 when Adrian Peterson did so with 14 touchdowns. Brown's TD total was the best by a Sooner since Billy Sims got 23 in 1979.
• The back-up for placements is punter Tress Way. Way is also the back-up for kickoffs.
• Matthew Moreland, who handled kickoffs last season, looks is in that role again this season. Moreland had 121 kickoffs with 15 touchbacks and only two out of bounds last season. Way is Moreland's back-up.
Snappy
Ben Hampton is in his second season of snapping for placements. He also is slated to handle the placements for punts this season.
• The back-up snapper is WR James Winchester, whose sister, Carolyn, wrapped up her eligibility with the OU women's basketball team last season. James and Carolyn's father, Mike, was a punter at OU and lettered from 1984-85.
Thursday, July 23
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