Sooner Report: Sugar Bowl Prep Continues

These Seniors Have Class … and Lots of Wins!
A second BCS bowl berth will cap the careers of Oklahoma's senior class when the Sooners square off against Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Over the past four seasons this group of Oklahoma players has been one of the most consistent in recent memory. No Big 12 team has more overall wins (42) or Big 12 wins (27) over the past four seasons than OU.

Additionally, no team has more Big 12 Championships (two – 2010, 2012) over that span. Against rivals Texas and Oklahoma State, OU's seniors registered identical 3-1 records and produced a 21-3 mark on Owen Field.

OU's seniors have registered 13 wins against AP Top 25 foes, including five wins vs. AP Top 10 squads. They'll face another AP Top 10 opponent when they meet the No. 3 Crimson Tide in New Orleans. One of those seniors, CB Aaron Colvin, talked about the OU's bowl matchups.

“Our big thing is about winning ball games,” Colvin said. “No matter who we play we have to win the ball game. That's what we're trying to do.”

While many pundits have labeled Alabama as a prohibitive favorite, that doesn't seem to faze Colvin and the Sooners.

“A lot of the teams we've played we've been ruled out of not winning,” he continued. “With Oklahoma State I'm pretty positive that everybody picked us to lose that game. We don't really get affected by that. I think we enjoy that a little bit, being the underdog and having us against everybody else. I know that I do, personally, and I know that a lot of my brothers do, as well. We're just going to go out there and compete.”

Colvin, Saunders Accept Invites to Senior Bowl
Speaking of CB Aaron Colvin, he and WR Jalen Saunders both accepted invitations to participate in the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. on January 25, 2014. The game will be played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, where it has been housed since 1951.

Colvin, an All-Big 12 First Team selection, has totaled 49 tackles, 39 solo, and five tackles for a loss on a pass defense that ranks first in the Big 12 at 198.0 passing yards against per game. He has added one sack, one interception, three pass breakups and four pass deflections.

Saunders, an All-Big 12 Second Team pick, has been a major contributor to the OU offense as well as the Sooner special teams as a punt returner. He leads the team with 56 receptions and 654 yards for an average of 11.7 per reception to go with six touchdowns. On special teams, Saunders ranks second in the Big 12 and sixth in the nation with a 16.8-yard return average, while running back punts for touchdowns against Iowa State (No. 16) and Oklahoma State (Dec. 7).

Last season offensive tackle Lane Johnson and quarterback Landry Jones represented Oklahoma in the Senior Bowl. It's possible that more Sooners could join Colvin and Saunders in Mobile as invitations are extended to other players in the coming weeks.

Here is a look at the nation's top punt returners this season.

FBS Individual Punt Return Average, 2013

Rank. Player, School	Avg.	Ret.	Yards	TD
1. Nelson Agholor, USC	21.6	16	346	2
2. Chris Davis, Auburn	20.1	14	282	1
3. Ryan Swizer, UNC	20.0	21	419	4
4. Josh Stewart, OK State	18.2	20	364	1
5. B. Chencellor, UNT	16.8	22	370	2
6. Jalen Saunders, OU	16.8	18	302	2

Stoops-Saban: Through The Years
Bob Stoops and Nick Saban last squared off in a head-to-head match-up on January 4, 2004 for the BCS National Championship at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. That day, belonged to Saban and his LSU Tigers as they came away with a 21-14 victory. That game marks the only time the two coaches have faced and the only time Saban has pitted his squad against OU. Stoops, meanwhile, is 2-0 against the Crimson Tide with victories in 2002 and 2003, prior to Saban's arrival in Tuscaloosa.

The two coaches have crossed paths a time or two, aside from that 2004 Sugar Bowl. In Monday's weekly press conference, coach Stoops responded to questions from the media that coach Saban, “is a very good friend and has been for a long time.”

During Saban's time as an assistant coach at Michigan State in the mid-1980s, Stoops indicated that his younger brother Mark was been recruited by Saban.

“At the time he would travel through our school and my dad being an assistant would be at the school (Cardinal Mooney HS in Youngstown, Ohio) and my dad got to know Coach Saban really well,” stated Stoops. “There was a time or time, maybe Mark's senior year playing up at Michigan State, Coach Saban and his wife Terry invited my mother and my father and whoever is with them to their home after the game.”

Prior to a stint as head coach of the Spartans, Saban spent four years as the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns, roughly 75 miles from Stoops' hometown.

“When Coach Saban was at the (Cleveland) Browns, I remember my uncle and I going up there to watch them practice and study their defense and what they were doing,” recalled Stoops, who was the co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State during that time. “That's a long time ago so he has always been very good to me and my family and my dad and my uncle.”

Entering next month's match-up, Stoops enters with a career record of 159-39 for a .803 winning percentage, while Saban is 165-56-1 (.745). The 324 combined wins are the most for any coaching match-up in a bowl game this season.

“Coach Saban is just a really good person and he's a great coach,” added defensive coordinator Mike Stoops. “When you come up in football, maybe we can just relate to him. You understand his philosophy and his dedication to being a perfectionist. I think everyone respects that.”

Ikard Receives Recognition Both On-and-Off the Field
Senior center Gabe Ikard has received a variety of honors this season, including being recognized as a Walter Camp First-Team All-American and the Wuerffel Trophy winner, among others listed below.

He also received praise from his head coach Bob Stoops on Monday, who said Ikard has had “a great career on-and-off the field” and called him a “leader up front there and our quarterback at the line of scrimmage.”

“He's got a bright future for sure beyond football,” Stoops said.

According to Stoops, Ikard's success proves that it is possible for people to receive an education if they work on it, regardless of who they are.

“With the facilities and the investment and the support structure we have around our players, if you will use it, you will do well,” Stoops said. “You will succeed and earn your degree. Unfortunately, not everybody is that interested in it. We do all that we can.”

Stoops shared that Ikard is one OU player, along with other former and current ones like Travis Lewis and Trey Millard, who have used the resources OU offers them in order to work toward their education.

“Gabe is a guy that has really used it in the right way and a number of other guys have, as well,” Stoops continued. “We have a lot of guys that really take advantage of the opportunity to get their education and we love it when they do. We all, universities around the country anymore, we have great support structure now that support tour athletes.”

Last week, Ikard traveled to New York for the National Football Foundation's annual awards dinner, an experience he said was a “good time.”

Ikard stated he is honored by the recognition he has received, but at the same time, he credits a lot of his success to his teammates.

“When it comes down to it, it's only possible because of the great people I have in my life and the great teammates I have on the field,” Ikard said. “When it comes to the offensive line it's more of a group award. I have had four or five guys out there helping me all year long. They know how thankful I am for them. I'm just honored to be able to represent the University of Oklahoma with some of those awards. It has been my goal to represent this place well and represent my family well.”

Ikard's Honors for the 2013 Season
- Walter Camp First-Team All-American
- Wuerffel Trophy winner
- Lee Roy Selmon Spirit Award winner
- Don Key Award winner
- Capital One Academic All-American of the Year
- National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award recipient
- Finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy
- Senior CLASS Award finalist
- 2013 CoSIDA Academic All-District
- 2013 Gerald Lage Award winner
- 2013 Dan S. Petty Scholar-Athlete Award
- Finalist for the Rimington Trophy
- All-Big 12 First-Team
- Honorable mention votes for Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year
- Academic All-Big 12 First Team

Sooners Salute Mack Brown
“I have great respect for how he has worked his program. He has always done it in a first-class way. He has always done it the right way. I appreciate that and respect that as a coach because I know how difficult it is. I think us that have to do it, have more of an appreciation every day for the challenges that he faces. He has done it in a remarkable way. He really has.”
Head coach Bob Stoops

“I was able to talk to him on my trip to New York in the elevator and he was very complimentary and very classy to me. He has always been a guy that isn't scared to tell you how he feels, tell you you're a good player and stuff like that. He has always been very complimentary, very nice to the guys on our team.”
Center Gabe Ikard