Patrick still the starter

John Shinn's Oklahoma Football Notepad

One Sooner who can’t wait for some cooler temperatures to set in is running back Allen Patrick. The senior missed most of the second half due to cramps against Texas. He also missed the second half of the Miami game due to the same ailment.

“It’s was like a full-body cramp. I couldn’t get over that,” Patrick said. “I was over on the sideline trying to put down a lot of fluids. It just never came back to me.”

Running backs coach Cale Gundy said Patrick tends to suffer more cramps than other players because his body-fat is so low. Patrick’s is about 4 percent, one of the lowest on the team.

“He doesn’t have a whole lot to give up,” Gundy said. “When you don’t have much body fat you tend to cramp up more.”

Patrick was OU’s leading rusher heading into the Texas game, but finished with just 10 yards on 11 carries. DeMarco Murray passed him in the team lead in both carries (67) and yards (444) with his 17-carry, 128-yard performance.

Gundy stressed there are no plans to detour from the running back rotation the Sooners have used through the first half of the season.

Patrick remains the starter.

“It’s worked out well for us,” Gundy said.

Homecoming

Saturday’s game with Missouri will serve as OU’s homecoming, but it will be the first time in nearly a month the Sooners have played at Owen Field.

Their last home game was Sept. 15 against Utah State and the three-game stretch away from Owen Field was the longest regular-season stretch without a home game since OU played at Louisville, at Notre Dame and against Texas in Dallas in 1999.

“I’m excited. I got tired of wearing those white jerseys,” OU offensive lineman Brian Simmons said. “It’s good to be home. It’s good to be around the home fans even though the Red River game felt like a home game. It was as loud as our house.”

Special teams woes

OU’s special teams have been a mixed bag. The Sooners lead the Big 12 in kickoff returns and punt average, but have struggled in kickoff coverage and field-goal attempts.

OU coach Bob Stoops believes kicker Garrett Hartley will solve his kicking problems that have led to two missed field goals and three missed PATs this season.

The problems with the kick coverage will get a closer look this week.

“The kickoff deal, we’ve got some guys that aren’t holding up that have missed tackles, that have been there to make plays and didn’t make them,” he said. “And then we’ve had some guys that are allowing themselves to be blocked and not getting into the position that we try and practice to get. So we’ve got to make some changes there or get some guys to get it done and coach them a little better.”

No hangovers?

There’s a widespread belief the Sooners suffer a letdown the week after the Texas game. Might have been true in previous decades.

Under Stoops, however, OU is 8-0 in the games following the Red River Rivalry. Those wins have been convincing, too. All have been by at least 10 points and by an average of 37-12.

“I just don’t get the hangover deal. There isn’t anyone here walking around like we’ve done something,” Stoops said. “In the end, what does beating Texas do? It doesn’t do anything.

“We’re in the middle of the season … We’re trying to compete and win championships here, so you’re not going to get a lot of pats on the back around here for not doing that. The only way to do it is to win this week and keep winning.”

John Shinn

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jshinn@normantranscript.com