By John Shinn
Defensive end Alan Davis said he feels a little different heading into Saturday’s game at Colorado.
Davis, along with Jeremy Beal, will see more playing time this week with John Williams out for the season due to injury.
“It is a different week of preparation,” Davis said. “I know that I am going to have to live up to some standards that people might have for me, and I have to live up to my own standards.
“Knowing that John Williams went down I know that I am going to have to step up and play a much bigger role than I have been playing as backup. I am going to have step up, do more film study, coaches are going to be on me more, but that’s all right. I am going to need that criticism.”
Auston English and Alonzo Dotson will remain the starters. English, Dotson and Williams played the bulk of the snaps through the first four games.
Defensive ends coach Chris Wilson isn’t nervous about reserves playing bigger roles.
“I don’t have any concerns about those guys,” Wilson said. “Everyone else might because they haven’t seen them do it on a consistent basis. But I know what they’re capable of.”
Williams underwent successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon Tuesday.
Hartley’s tired
Kicker Garrett Hartley has missed three extra points this season, one in each of the last three games. He also missed a short field goal at Tulsa.
Stoops had an explanation for the kicker’s struggles.
“He gets tired,” the Sooner coach said, drawing some laughs. “You notice when those have all happened, it’s been after about nine kickoffs and I don’t know how many touchdowns. I think when you’ve hit so many something’s bound to miss eventually ... I’m just kidding.”
Stoops said one of the missed kicks Friday was due to a bad hold. The other was the result of a bad kick.
But the confidence in Hartley remains high.
“When you get a huge bulk of them it’s going to happen from time to time,” Stoops said. “Hopefully, it won’t again or it won’t in an important situation.”
More work for Murray
Running back DeMarco Murray will see more time as kick returner Saturday at Colorado. The redshirt freshman had an 81-yard kick return for a touchdown against Tulsa.
Stoops said how much time he sees at the position depends on how much the Sooner defense is on the field. Cornerback Reggie Smith has been handling the chores along with wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias.
We’re going to keep getting (Murray) more and more, sure,” Stoops said. “I felt the other day Reggie was on the field in a couple of those drives with 10, 11 plays and I figured here’s a guy sitting there fresh, ready to go that’s got great speed. So we’ll just see who’s feeling the best and get him back there.”
Coaching their kids
Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins is the son of Buffaloes coach Dan Hawkins. Seeing a father coach his son is something that happens all the time on the high school level. But it rarely happens in college.
Stoops, who has two sons, said he isn’t sure whether he would like to coach either of them, but admires what he sees at Colorado.
“I think it would be tough, just with all the scrutiny and opinion out there,” Stoops said. “But just knowing Dan a little bit and being around him, I’m sure he’ll handle it as well as anyone can. I think it’s great to have a chance to see your son every day, and to be in competitive situations with him would be neat.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
