John Shinn
By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer
There’s no sure bet who will be under center when Oklahoma faces North Texas Sept. 1 at Owen Field.
But the odds are pretty good, whether its Sam Bradford, Joey Halzle or even freshman Keith Nichol, he’s going to have a lot of weapons at his disposal.
That was apparent Saturday afternoon at the Red/White Spring Game at Owen Field.
Redshirt freshman running back DeMarco Murray capped his breakout spring, rushing for 103 yards on just four carries and helping the offense, who wore red, show off vast big-play potential.
“DeMarco has been special all spring and he was again today,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “There were some big plays and I think the fans probably enjoyed that.”
Over 21,000 fans braved temperatures in the 40s and a 20 mile-an-hour north wind to see the Sooners’ final spring scrimmage.
Most, however, were more interested on who would be handing and throwing the ball to players like Murray next fall.
Bradford, Halzle and Nichol were pretty even in the snaps they took. Halzle, who started, and Bradford were both at the helm for seven series. Nichol had five.
Statistically, it was Bradford’s day. The redshirt freshman completed 9-of-14 attempts for 110 yards. Halzle was 7-for-18 for 162 yards. Nichol was 3-for-7 for 25 yards.
Stoops said Saturday’s performances were just a small part in deciding who will get the starting job.
“That position has to be earned,” he said. “It only happens through snaps and earning it and showing it and getting whacked and getting back up and making a bad play and coming back and making three good ones. It takes time for that to develop.
“Otherwise, a guy that doesn’t have that respect in the locker room is going to have a hard time running the huddle. They just need time to earn it.”
Of course that decision won’t be made until August. But it was obvious the Sooners will display some big-play potential next spring.
The offense rolled up 52 points using a scoring system devised by the coaching staff.
The scoring system awarded points to the offense for a first down (1 point), a point after touchdown (1 point), a play of longer than 30 yards (2 points), a field goal (3 points) and a touchdown (6 points).
The defense scored by holding the offense to a three-and-out (2 points), a forced punt (1 point), a fourth-down stop (2 points), a turnover (3 points) and a turnover for touchdown (9 points).
The offense had their way, rolling up 52 points and finding the end zone five times.
Murray scored on an 18-yard run for the first touchdown. Later he added a 68-yard non-scoring burst. Allen Patrick later plunged over from 1-yard out to cap that drive, which covered 80 yards in just three plays.
Carter Whitson snagged a 23-yard pass from Bradford to cap a four-play 53-yard drive.
Adron Tennell hit pay dirt twice. He fell on a Chris Brown fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and capped the unit’s afternoon with 45-yard snag from Halzle.
It was a departure from past spring games. Defense usually has the upper hand at this time of year but that wasn’t the case Saturday.
The unit will be playing with several first-year starters throughout the defensive line and at the linebacker spots. The experience difference between offense and defense was apparent
“They’ve got a lot of returning starters on the offensive line and I think that showed a lot,” linebacker Curtis Lofton said. “When we’re blitzing, you could see it from all there checks. I think that helped them out a little bit.”
The defense, or white, still had its moments.
Safety Nic Harris led the way eight tackles. Junior college transfer linebacker Mike Reed added seven stops plus one tackle for loss, a forced fumble and one pass deflection.
DeMarcus Granger was credited with three sacks while fellow defensive tackle Adrian Taylor had two. Defensive end Auston English also had two sacks. Linebacker Lewis Baker had three tackles, one interception for 13 yards and one fumble forced.
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables would have liked a few more of those pass deflections turn into interceptions, but had no major gripes.
“We kept things awfully simple for obvious reasons,” he said. “But you want to see guys play good fundamental football and there was a lot of it. There was also a lot you can move on and teach from as well.”
The Sooners have two more practices left this spring. They’ll workout Monday and Tuesday before shutting it down until August.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
