Sooners, Aggies Meet in Big 12 South Tilt

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma and Texas A&M, both coming off frustrating road defeats, collide in Norman Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (CT). A limited number of tickets are still available and will go on sale Friday at 8 a.m. View complete information here.

Visit Sooner Gameday Central for complete information for fans attending the game plus TV, radio and internet options for following the Sooners from around the world.

SoonerSports.com will again bring fans the Sooner Gameday Blog live from Owen Field 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
This begins an end-of-season stretch that will have the Sooners at home for two of their last three.

Oklahoma will celebrate Veteran's Day at this game. Special recognition will be made of U.S. Army 1st Lt. David Wright II who was killed in action on Sept. 14, 2009, in southern Afghanistan. Wright, a hurdler on the Sooner track team, graduated in 2006.

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OU, Texas A&M & Big 12 Game Notes | OU Depth Chart | 2009 OU Football Guide

The Series
Oklahoma leads it, 17-10, including a 11-2 advantage in Norman. OU has won its last six games against the Aggies. In 2008, the Sooners prevailed at College Station, 66-28. In 2007, Oklahoma won in Norman, 42-14.

The Coaches
• Bob Stoops (Iowa `83) is 114-28 in his 11th season at Oklahoma. He is 75-16 vs. the Big 12, 40-11 vs. the Big 12 South, 35-5 vs. the Big 12 North, 6-1 in the Big 12 title game, 39-12 vs. non-conference opponents, 64-2 at home, 33-13 on the road, 17-13 on neutral fields, 34-15 vs. ranked opponents, 4-6 in bowls. He is 9-1 against Texas A&M.
• Mike Sherman (Central Connecticut State '77) is 9-12 in his second season at Texas A&M . He is 0-1 against Oklahoma.

The Program
• Oklahoma's all-time record stands at 796-301-53 in 115 seasons. Since WWII, OU leads the nation with 552 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 107-23-0 (.823) while the Sooners were 102-13-3 (.877) in the 1970s.
Oklahoma Football History & Tradition

Ties with This Week's Opponent
• Oklahoman's remember, not fondly, Texas A&M offensive coordinator Nolan Cromwell. Cromwell was the Kansas quarterback in 1975 when the Jayhawks upset the Sooners in Norman, 23-3. The Sooners rebounded from that mistake-plagued game to win the national championship.
• Defensive coordinator Joe Kines was on the Florida State staff when Oklahoma and FSU met in the 2000 national title game (2001 Orange Bowl), a 13-2 OU win.

Veteran's Day Recognition
Saluting a Hero | David T. Wright II Memorial Scholarship
Veteran's Day is Nov. 11, but it will also be marked on Saturday as part of the Oklahoma-Texas A&M game. All Veterans will be recognized and former Sooner athlete David Wright will be spotlighted ...
• 1st Lt. David Wright II died on Sept. 14, 2009, when he and another soldier were killed after a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in southern Afghanistan.
• The 2004 All-Big 12 honoree in the 110-meter hurdles graduated from OU in 2006 before enlisting in the Army.
• Wright was given the Army Achievement Award and designated the Soldier of the Cycle for finishing at the top of his basic training class. He completed officer's training school at Fort Benning.
• Wright's Bravo Company, 2-1 Regiment is part of he 5th Stryker Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Lewis. His unit is still stationed in Afghanistan. Members of that company have recorded the introduction to Saturday's moment of silence. It will be shown on the stadium's video boards prior to Saturday's games.
• The Wright family has established the David T. Wright II Memorial Scholarship. Proceeds from this endowment will go to support scholarships for student-athletes on the Oklahoma Track & Field program. Those wishing to contribute to the David T. Wright Memorial Scholarship may do so by mailing a check to:

The Sooner Club
c/o David T. Wright II Memorial Scholarship
180 West Brooks, Suite 3575
Norman, OK 73072
Checks should be made payable to the OU Foundation.

Oklahoma's Big 12 Dominance
• Oklahoma's all-time Big 12 regular season record is 78-31, 84-32 if counting title games. Stoops is 69-15 in the regular season, 75-16 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 titles. No other program has ever won back-to-back titles.

Oklahoma's Most Recent Game | Nebraska 10, OU 3
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Highlights
Oklahoma dropped a 10-3 decision at Nebraska last Saturday ...
• The Sooners failed to score a touchdown for the first time since a 29-0 loss to Texas A&M on Nov. 7, 1998. They had crossed the goal line in 143 consecutive games
• Oklahoma committed five turnovers in the games, all interceptions thrown by QB Landry Jones. The lone Nebraska touchdown came after an interception return to the OU one yard line.
• Jones tied a school record with 58 passing attempts, equaling the mark set by Josh Heupel against Colorado in 1999. Jones, a two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week recipient this year, completed 26 of the attempts.
• The Sooner defense was brilliant forcing Nebraska to punt the ball 11 times. The Cornhuskers mustered just seven first downs and 180 yards of total offense.

OU Slate Among Toughest
Current NCAA strength of schedule rankings...

	Opp. Wins	Opp. Losses	Opp. %
1. San Jose State	35	12	.745
2. Virginia Tech	47	17	.734
3. Mississippi State	42	19	.689
4. Florida State	36	18	.667
5. Washington	46	24	.657
6. Oklahoma*	38	21	.644
7. Oregon State	38	21	.644
8. Connecticut	34	19	.642
9. Syracuse	37	21	.638
10. Clemson	37	22	.627

* Four ranked opponents

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.

OU Sets Home Streak Record
Oklahoma has won 28 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 64-2 at home and the Sooners have won 48 of their last 49 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 347-78-15 (.806).

Injury List Ridiculous
Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham, Brody Eldridge, Jarvis Jones and DE Auston English are out for the season...
• Bradford, the Heisman-winning QB, sprained the AC joint in his right shoulder in the second quarter of the season opener vs. BYU then aggravated the injury on the second series of game six vs. Texas. The only game he completed uninjured was game five vs. Baylor. Bradford set 15 school records. Among those are career passing yards (8,403) and touchdown passes (88)
• TE Gresham did not play after season-ending knee surgery in early Sept. He had 26 career TD receptions, seven shy of the NCAA record, and more TD catches and yards (1,629) than any TE at OU.
• Eldridge started the season opener at center, played games two-five at tight end before moving to left guard. He suffered his season-ending shoulder injury at Nebraska. Eldridge was the only player BCS player this season to start at three different positions and the first OU player to do so during one season (modern era).
The senior has had the top line grade in all five of his line starts. He had 66 knockdowns, a high of 20 against BYU.
• English suffered a season-ending ankle injury at Nebraska. He wraps up his career with 14.5 sacks, 27.5 TFL and 92 total tackles.
• Jones, an OT, fractured his heal at Nebraska.
• OU played without three key performers in G Brian Simmons (missed last three games), RB DeMarco Murray (missed Kansas) and WR Ryan Broyles (missed Baylor, played one snap at Miami).

Stoops Era Yielding Record Attendance
Oklahoma has drawn 5,352,457 fans for Bob Stoops' 66 home games (started in 1999) and all have been sold out.
• The Sooners are 64-2 on Owen Field under Stoops and have won 28 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 40 consecutive home games.
• Oklahoma has played before sellout crowds in 116 of the 142 games (home, away, neutral) since Stoops became the head coach. During that time, a total of 10,276,934 (average of 72,372) have watched the Sooners. The gathering of 96,009 for this season's Texas game was the largest ever to see OU play.
Oklahoma Sets Attendance Records

About the Sooner Offense

• Under Stoops, OU produced career leaders in passing and receiving, its No. 3 and No. 5 career rushers and season record holders in rushing, passing, receiving yards.
• Of 83 offensive records at OU, 55 were set under Stoops.
• OU has rushed for 200 yards 42 times under Stoops, 36 in the last six years.
• Under Stoops, OU has 143 touchdowns of 25+ yards and 294 scoring drives of 2:00 or less.
• OU is the highest scoring program in college football history. In 1,148 games, the Sooners have scored 30,690 points, or 26.8 per game. Michigan has 29,753 points in 1,211 games and Nebraska 29,662 in 1,208.

Keeping Up with Jones
QB Landry Jones has played in all games and was the starter vs. Idaho St., Tulsa, Miami, Kansas, Kansas St., and Nebraska.
• Jones set a school record with six TD passes vs. Tulsa. The previous mark of five was held by Sam Bradford, Jason White and Josh Heupel, two Heisman winners and a Heisman runner-up.
• This is the 19th time since 1954 that OU's starting QB has been injured and replaced by a back-up, the third time on Bob Stoops' watch.

TD Passes by Freshman		Top OU Freshman Passers
Name, School	TDs	Name	Yr	C-A-I	Yds	%	TDs
Landry Jones, Oklahoma	17	S. Bradford	2007	237-341-8	3,121	69.5	36
Kyle Parker, Clemson	14	L. Jones	2009	169-287-11	1,902	58.9	17
Spencer Keith, Kent State	13	E. Moore	1995	90-200-9	1,375	45.0	7
Zac Dysert, Miami (OH)	11	J. Fuente	1996	91-196-10	1,271	46.4	8
Andrew Luck, Stanford	11	C. Gundy	1990	54-109-3	904	49.5	4
Dave Shinskie, Boston College	11
B.J. Daniels, South Florida	10
Matt Barkley, USC	10
Tate Forcier, Michigan	10

Trench Talk
OU has one returning starter on the offensive 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 returnees entered '09 44 games and 22 starts.
• So far this season, nine different players have had starting assignments on the OU line and the Sooners have started five different combinations.
• In '08, the same combination started the last 13 games. This season, the longest streak was three.

For the First Time Ever...
OU has two players on the same roster with at least 40 career TDs. Chris Brown has 43 and DeMarco Murray 40.
• Last season, teamed with Sam Bradford to set an NCAA record. They made Oklahoma the first program ever to have two 1,000-yard rushers and a 4,000-yard passer during the same campaign.

2,000 Yards x2
Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray are the sixth tandem in school history to exceed 2,000 career rushing yards while playing on the same roster.
• Brown, a senior, has 2,734 yards, while Murray, a junior, has 2,278.
• Here is the elite list of players who eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards while holding down a spot on the same Oklahoma roster ...
1971 -- QB Jack Mildren, RB Greg Pruitt
1972 -- RB Greg Pruitt, FB Leon Crosswhite
1975 -- QB Steve Davis, RB Joe Washington
1978 -- QB Thomas Lott, RB Billy Sims, FB/RB Kenny King
1986 -- RB Lydell Carr, RB Spencer Tillman
1987 -- RB Lydell Carr, QB Jamelle Holieway
2005 -- RB Adrian Peterson, RB Kejuan Jones
2009 -- Chris Brown, DeMarco Murray

Broyles' Breakout Year
Twice this season (Tulsa, Kansas) Ryan Broyles has logged 11 receptions in a game. The school record is 12. He leads the team with 52 grabs for 665 yards and 10 TDs.
• Injury held him out vs. Baylor and most of Miami tilt.
• He needs 4 catches and 44 yards to crack OU's top 10 season list in those two categories. He is already tied for No. 5 in season touchdown receptions.

Receiving Touchdown Leaders
Name, School	TDs
James Cleveland, Houston	11
Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma	10
Freddie Barnes, Bowling Green	10
Dorin Dickerson, Pittsburgh	10
Austin Pettis, Boise State	10
Golden Tate, Notre Dame	10

About the Sooner Defense

• OU forced at least one turnover in 126 of Bob Stoops' 142 games and has at least one interception in 94 of the last 124; multiple picks in 45 of the last 95 outings.
• Oklahoma has 11 shutouts under its current head coach. Opponents failed to score more than seven points 32 times and scored less than 15 in 60 games.

Sooner 'D' Nationally
OU's ranks No. 3 nationally in red zone defense (65%), No. 3 in tackles for loss (8.6), No. 5 in rushing defense (86.8), No. 6 in sacks (3.2), No. 7 in scoring defense (12.3), No. 9 in first-down defense (15.0), No. 9 in total defense (266.4), No. 11 in INTs (13), No. 18 in turnovers gained (21), No. 15 in pass efficiency defense (100.8) and No. 19 in third-down defense (33.1%).

Giving '01 a Run
By many accounts, the 2001 defense was the best of Bob Stoops' tenure. They didn't all win their awards that season, but players on that unit included two Nagurski winners (Derrick Strait and Roy Williams), two Thorpe winners (Strait and Williams), two Butkus winners (Rocky Calmus and Teddy Lehman) and a Lombardi winner (Tommie Harris). Seven from that unit were eventually drafted. The `09 defense is putting up similar numbers...

	2001	2009
Rushing Defense	85.1	86.8
Passing Defense	160.6*	179.7
Total Defense	245.7	266.4
Scoring Defense	13.0	12.3

* This is the only one of these categories that was not the previous best under Stoops. The `03 defense allowed 146.4 passing yards.

The Real McCoy
A frontrunner for several national awards, DT Gerald McCoy, still a junior, is the most experienced player on the defense with 35 career starts. He has been a regular target of double-team blocking this season ...
• McCoy is second on the team with 12.0 TFL (No. 23 nationally). He has 29.5 or 42% of his 70 career stops.
• McCoy made his 36th consecutive start last Saturday to tie with Rick Bryan (1980-83) and Bob Slater (1981-83) for the second-longest consecutive streak start for an OU interior defensive linemen. The record of 37 is held by Scott Evans (1987-90). The OU all-time record for consecutive starts is 44 by Quentin Griffin (1999-2002).

The Real Beal
DE Jeremy Beal has 14.5 tackles for loss (No. 8 nationally) and 9.5 sacks (No. 7 nationally) ...
• He had a career-high 12 tackles vs. Texas.
• He is the only player in school history to log two, three-sacks games in the same season (Tulsa, Miami).
• With 19 career sacks, he is tied for No. 8 in OU history with 10-year NFL veteran Kelly Gregg (Ravens).

Weak Freak
WLB Travis Lewis led Oklahoma last season with 144 tackles (No. 4 nationally and a freshman school record, Brian Bosworth's mark of 133).
• He leads again this season with 74. Lewis averages 8.2 tackles per game, down from last season's 10.3, but it should also be noted that OU opponents are running five fewer plays per game this season than last.
• Lewis has three double-digit tackle games this season and 10 in his 23 career games.
• The sophomore is at 218 career. 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.

Interceptions in Bunches
Oklahoma has 13 interceptions this season. The best total of the 11-year Stoops era is 24 in 2002. OU is averaging 13.8 yards per return.
• OU has multiple interceptions in five games (season-high three at Kansas) and at least one in seven games.

Pick Streak Ends for Jackson
CB Brian Jackson's streak of interceptions in consecutive games ended at four at Kansas. It marked only the second time in school history that a player has had an interception in four straight games (modern era), the first by a cornerback. Scott Case, a safety, did it in 1983.
• Jackson ranks No. 15 nationally with .4 INT/game.

Defensive Miscellany
• Oklahoma has 21 takeaways. The team converted 10 of those into scores amounting to 62 points.
• 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.
• OU set a school record with 17 TFL vs. Idaho State.
• Oklahoma limited Idaho State to -22 yards on 32 rushing attempts. That was the second-best performance under Bob Stoops. The '06 team limited Baylor to -48 (20 attempts). In the opener, BYU rushed 33 times for 28 yards. Baylor had 17 rushes for 6 yards.
• OU held Nebraska to 39 passing yards, the lowest total of the season. The lowest passing total vs. a Stoops team was 13 yards by Arkansas in the 2002 Cotton Bowl.
• OU's defensive ends -- Frank Alexander, Jeremy Beal and Auston English -- have combined for 79 career games played, 56 starts, 247 tackles, 74 tackles for 357 yards in losses and 39.5 sacks for 277 yards in losses. English is the only senior in the group. Alexander is a sophomore and Beal a junior.

About the Sooner Special Teams

Oklahoma's special teams under Bob Stoops ...
• There have been 26 special teams touchdowns, including 20 in the last 74 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 24 kicks.

Many Happy Returns
Information on returns during the Stoops era ...
• Kickoff Returns -- 92 returns of 25 yards+ with eight TD.
• Punt Returns -- 57 ret., of 15+ with 15 touchdowns.
• Interception Returns -- 80 ret., of 10+ yards with 21 TD.
• Fumble Returns -- five returns of 15+ yards with 7 TD.

Getting His "Way" at Punter
Tress Way is averaging 43.8 yards on 41 punts with nine downed inside the 20 and 12 of 50+ yards ...
• His ranks No. 17 nationally in punting average.
• The best punting average achieved in Bob Stoops' tenure at Oklahoma was 42.8 yards in 2006. Way's current average would rank No. 2 to Jack Jacobs, who averaged 47.8 on 40 punts in 1940.
• Way had a 71-yard punt at Miami, the longest by a Sooner since Mike Cohen's 72-yarder in 2006.
• The second-team punter is WR Cameron Kenney. At Garden City (Kan.) CC last season, Kenney averaged 47.0 yards. He also converted 11-of-13 PATs and 8-of-9 FGs, (makes from 40, 41 and 52 yards). OU has not a position player in a kicking role since DB Darrol Ray punted in 1978.

Potent Punt Return Tandem
Ryan Broyles and Dominique Franks are the first two OU punt returners to log 100-yard games in the same year.
• Franks had a 30+ yard punt return in three straight. He inherited the role after Ryan Broyles suffered a shoulder injury against Miami.
• Franks ranks No. 2 nationally at 17.0 yards/return, while Broyles is No. 17 at 13.8. OU's team rank is No. 7 (15.2).
• Franks had four returns for 100 total yards against Baylor, the first 100-yard punt return game by a Sooner since 2003 when All-America return specialist Antonio Perkins accomplished the feat against Missouri. Broyles then went for 102 on six returns at Nebraska.

Whitson Holding Steady
WR Carter Whitson is in his second year as holder. A QB for part of his HS career, Whitson is the first to serve in that role for back-to-back seasons during Stoops' tenure.
• 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 later yielded a field goal.

Got it Covered
• Oklahoma ranks No. 3 nationally in punt coverage. Opponents have returned 10 punts for a total of 20 yards. Tress Way has punted 41 times for the Sooners. He has nine touchbacks and six fair catches.
• Last season, OU opponents returned four kickoffs for TDs and averaged 23.8 per return. This year, there has been one TD and the return average is down to 21.3.

Kick It
Jimmy Stevens was OU's kicker for placements through the first six games and was then replaced by Tress Way ...
• Way is 1-of-5, but his misses came from 54, 46, 45 and 42 yards. He got his first start against Kansas and has made all 11 of his PAT tries.
• Stevens is 11-of-13 on field goals this season with the misses coming from 40 and 45 yards. He has made 21-of-22 PATs with the lone miss coming in rainy conditions at OU's home opener.
• Stevens tied the school record for field goals made when he went 4-of-4 against Baylor.
• Matthew Moreland, who handled kickoffs last season, 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.

Right Back at Ya
The Sooners have three blocked kicks this year, a punt against Idaho State and two PATs against Kansas State. Marcus Trice got the punt, while Adrian Taylor and Auston English batted down the PATs.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners, Aggies Meet in Big 12 South Tilt

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