Many Oklahoma fans directed their frustrations toward offensive coordinator Chuck Long after Saturday’s loss to TCU, criticizing Long’s choice of plays.
OU coach Bob Stoops believes the criticism is unwarranted.
“I have total confidence in Chuck, and I think his track record, you can say what you want, speaks to it,” he said
Stoops pointed out OU has had two running backs, Quentin Griffin and Adrian Peterson, rush for over 1,800 yards during Long’s tenure as offensive coordinator, even as one ran out of the shotgun — Griffin — and the other ran out of the more traditional I-formation — Peterson.
Additionally, as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, Long has directed a Heisman Trophy winner in Jason White. He was also Josh Heupel’s position coach the season (2000) Heupel placed second to Florida State’s Chris Weinke in the Heisman race.
“It’s easy to jump on one guy when something goes wrong,” Stoops said. “Hey, that’s fine. We deserve the criticism, but track records over time also stand for something.”
Millington back
Offensive tackle Akim Millington returned to practice Monday after quitting the team a week ago.
Millington, a 6-5, 306-pound sophomore from Wheaton, Ill., was slated to start against TCU, but shocked the team and the coaching staff by abruptly quitting the Sooners.
OU coach Bob Stoops said Millington will have to start over at square one and the chances of him playing against Tulsa Saturday were “doubtful.”
“He needs to earn the respect of his peers and I don’t know how he does that or when he does that …,” offensive line coach Kevin Wilson said. “Trust is a big deal. For that to happen last week, we’ll move past that, but I don’t have a timetable.”
Cooper out
Freshman offensive lineman Jon Cooper was injured during Monday’s practice and won’t play Saturday.
Cooper, who is 6-3 and weighs 278 pounds, was expected to played against TCU and is one of three freshmen offensive linemen Wilson expects to play this season.
Freshmen tackles George “Duke” Robinson and Branndon Braxton are also expected to play against Tulsa.
Bright spot
It may have been hard to find bright spots from the TCU game but Stoops said there were a couple.
He believes the secondary — which featured three first-time starters — played well.
TCU completed one long pass on a blown play and the coach said that miscue was credited to a linebacker.
“I thought the secondary played solid and good the entire day. The one deep wheel route we gave up on our boundary was somebody else outside of the secondary busting an assignment and not covering their guy,” Stoops said. “They tackled well for the most part, their positions on the ball and challenging in many coverage, I thought, were really pretty good.”
Money raised
Contributions totaling $140,000 were collected at Saturday’s game for those affected by Hurricane Katrina, OU President David Boren announced Tuesday.
Donation baskets were passed around during the game and all the money will be given to the American Red Cross.
