Tuesday, September 29, 2009
«VOLLEYBALL Tomorrow, The Daily previews the big match against Nebraska.
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Annelise Russell, sports editor dailysports@ou.edu • phone: 325-7630 • fax: 325-6051
FOOTBALL
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK FOUR WRAP-UP JONO GRECO Daily Staff Writer
BEING A TOP 10 TEAM DOES NOT GUARANTEE SAFETY
With the No. 8 Sooners idle over the weekend, OU players, coaches and fans had a chance to take a look at the rest of the college football world. A lot of storylines came out of week four– here are a few things we learned from OU’s bye week.
The theme to the 2009 season has been which top 10 team will fall, but it is hard to believe almost half of week four’s 10best teams would lose. Four teams ranked in the top 10 – Mississippi, Penn State, California and Miami – lost either Thursday or Saturday, and one other, Louisiana State, narrowly escaped joining that list with a goal line stand at the end of its game against Mississippi State. Through four weeks, eight teams in the top 10 have been defeated. The Sooners lost their No. 3 ranking in week one, Oklahoma State lost its No. 5 ranking in week two and the Southern California Trojans and Brigham Young Cougars lost their top-10 rankings in week three. Now that conference play has started for many teams, expect for more highly ranked teams to lose from here on out. Each top 10 team has a big target on its back, so no game should be taken lightly until bowl season returns.
THE KEY TO BEATING THE HURRICANES HAS BEEN FOUND It is not that much of an upset that the No. 6 Virginia Tech Hokies handed the No. 17 Miami Hurricanes their first loss of the season. Entering the game the two teams were ranked just two spots apart, but Virginia Tech flexed its muscles and easily defeated Miami 31-7 at home. In the Hokies’ victory, they exploited some of the Hurricanes’ defensive deficiencies, with the most important being putting constant pressure on and rattling Miami sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris. The Sooners should be able to look at the game tape and find what Virginia Tech did to get to Harris early and often, and emulate that with their talented front four. Through three games this season OU has racked up 12 sacks, including six in its last game against Tulsa. If the Sooners are able to get constant pressure and sack Harris often this week in Miami, Fla., then they should come back to Norman with a victory and thank the Hokies for showing them and the rest of the nation how.
HAVING A BYE WEEK CAN SOMETIMES BE A BAD THING With multiple top tier teams losing this weekend, it was expected there would be a shake-up in the polls released Sunday morning. But, it seemed the Sooners got the short end of the stick for not playing during a week that many teams want to forget.
AP PHOTO
Virginia Tech rover Matt Reidy (23) celebrates a defensive touchdown as Miami punter Matt Bosher (25) and Tech split end Marcus Davis (7) look on during the first half of an NCAA college football game at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. Saturday. Heading into the weekend OU was ranked No. 10, and jumped two spots after this weekend’s activities. Climbing in the polls is always nice, but not playing in a week with a lot of important losses seemed to have hurt the Sooners with two other teams jumping OU. Both the Trojans and Hokies jumped
COLUMN
five spots with their respective victories over Washington State and Miami. USC moved from No. 12 to No. 7, and Virginia Tech moved up to No. 6 from No. 11. This concept may help the Sooners later on down the road if they are put into the position of jumping an idle team, but for the time being it was not one of the Sooners’ friends in week four.
SOONER FOOTBALL SOUNDBITES
Get used to losing during college football season There is a new craze sweeping college football, and as much as it is hated by hardcore fans who live week-to-week depending how their team performs, it may be here to stay. The days of undefeated powerhouses teams are beginning to wane, making way for a new age of college football where LUKE the one-loss teams ATKINSON reign supreme. Losing is becoming normal in the race to the championship, which has been throwing off teams, fans and, more importantly, the polls for nearly five years now. The last team to go undefeated and capture a national title was the 2005 Texas Longhorn team under the direction of Vince Young. Before that? The 2004 USC Trojans, 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes, 2001 Miami Hurricanes and the 2000 Sooners. So what’s behind this shake-up of power? Parity. Today, we’re seeing a number of great coaches head programs that never had a chance, taking NFLcaliber players and cultivating them into studs who lead their team to top-25 ranks and ESPN top-10 plays each Sunday. Don’t believe me? Take a look at
the current top 25 and list the teams ma k i n g na m e s f o r t h e m s e l v e s. Houston, a team that you probably haven’t heard of since former Cougar Andre Ware won the Heisman in 1989 (if you paid attention to college football when you were a toddler), is being considered an offensive giant,
“The time of our fathers’ college teams have gone, and in its place comes a mass of confusion in deciding who needs to be number one.” especially after watching their yardage stack up after games with Texas Tech and Oklahoma State - which we know are programs of top offensive production. Think about TCU, a team that has risen up as one of the nation’s best defensive programs in recent times. The Horned Frogs are now ranked No. 11, and could give any top 10 team problems in the regular season. Before that, they were someone you wanted on your non-conference season because you were sure to emerge the victor. In addition, Boise State has emerged an impressive team, still hated by Sooner fans for their upsetting bowl win and successful seasons. Whether or not these teams
belong at their rank is another argument, but it’s safe to say if you don’t prepare for these teams or just don’t show up on Saturday, you are likely to get beat. That’s just what the 2007 Michigan Wolverines did against Appalachian State, and look where it has lead us now. There are now plenty of inspirations, like the Michigan upset, for these smaller teams to one-up the programs which historically never lose. I t ’s a f e e l i n g v e r y c o m m o n among Sooner fans, who are, in fact, spoiled by the “Stoops’ Troops” performance. It’s not very often you witness a Sooner loss, but lately there have been seasons with odd missteps that have placed a one in the loss column for the Sooners. It’s only four weeks into the season, but we’re already beginning to see a repeat of years like 2007. The time of our fathers’ college teams have gone, and in its place comes a mass of confusion in deciding who needs to be number one. Or number 10 for that matter. Is there a cure for programs who traditionally control the sport? Doubtful. As the number of potential spoiler teams and trap games rises, expect the numbers of losses to rise too.
•Head coach Bob Stoops on Heisman winning junior quarterback Sam Bradford’s progression in practice.
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He looked good and [he is] seeing the field fine. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but we’ll see once he’s in there and he’ll put some ice on it. How [his shoulder] feels [Tuesday] morning probably matters. I think there’s a gradual buildup to the number of throws and how you throw it during the week. I think it’s something that’s going to take some days here until we know.”
•Senior offensive lineman on playing the No. 17 Miami Hurricanes after losing to No. 6 Virginia Tech Saturday.
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I think it’s a little bit more scary because I know they’re going to come out with vengeance and they’re going to play hard coming off a tough loss. When we lost to [Brigham Young University] I know the feeling that we had coming out the next week. I know [the Hurricanes] are going to come out with a full head of steam.” –Jono Greco/The Daily
Luke Atkinson is a broadcast and electronic media senior.
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