NORMAN — Oklahoma will have defensive end Frank Alexander for Saturday’s game against No. 17 Florida State. But defensive ends coach Bobby Jack Wright said Alexander still isn’t fully healed from the ankle injury he suffered in the preseason.
“He had a better day today than he’s had since the injury,” Wright said of Alexander after Wednesday’s practice, “but he’s still not 100 percent. He’s going to play, but we’ll see how much he can do and see how he holds up and kind of decide as the game progresses how many snaps he can get.”
With Alexander and senior Pryce Macon back on the practice field, OU will have six six defensive ends available against the Seminoles.
Jeremy Beal, David King, R.J. Washington and Ronnell Lewis played last week against Utah State.
King, Lewis and Beal all recorded sacks in the season opener.
Stopping Ponder
OU’s biggest goal Saturday is slowing Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder. The senior threw for 2,717 yards last season and four of his 12 completions went for touchdowns in the Seminoles’ 59-6 rout of Samford last week.
“What makes him so good is, first, his experience, maturity. And then you’ve got skill and talent throwing the football,” Stoops said. “He’s got good feet and makes quick decisions.”
The Sooners struggled against Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel last week. Borel threw for 341 yards in OU’s 31-24 victory.
It marked just the third time in the last 14 games OU has given up more than 300 yards through the air.
New number
Freshman linebacker Corey Nelson has changed his number and will be wearing No. 25 against Florida State.
Nelson, who is listed as the No. 2 weakside linebacker on OU’s depth chart, wore No. 7 in the season opener. He had to change the number because he plays on special teams units with DeMarco Murray, who also wears No. 7.
Tickets available
The OU Athletics Ticket Office has tickets available for the Sooners’ road games at Cincinnati and Texas A&M.
The Cincinnati game will be played Sept. 25 in Paul Brown Stadium and tickets are available for $55 each.
The Texas A&M game is set for Nov. 6 at College Station. Those tickets are $80 each.
The kickoff time for both games is yet to be determined.
Tickets can be purchased either at the ticket office, located on the west side of Owen Field or by calling 405/325-2424. Online ordering is not available for these tickets.
Save your ticket
The OU athletics department announced the “Gridiron and Goals” promotion for two home football and soccer weekends during the 2010 season.
Fans that present their OU football ticket stub vs. Florida State at the OU Soccer Complex this Sunday will receive a special $4 admission for the 1 p.m. contest against Rice.
The promotion is also available for the weekend of Oct. 16-17 as football hosts Iowa State and soccer welcomes Colorado.
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
