McCoy: Dream Season; Bradford: Nightmare
The 2009 football season has had opposite outcomes for Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford and Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.
Bradford, who set a host of passing records last year and won the Heisman Trophy, injured his shoulder in the season opener against BYU. OU lost that game by one point and then lost on the road to No. 9 Miami by one point.
Many think Bradford’s presence in both of those games would have resulted in Sooner victories.
On the other hand, McCoy, who came in second in the Heisman balloting, has led his team to a No. 3 ranking and an undefeated record.
Bradford and McCoy were at the top of the charts nationally last year in passing efficiency.
This year, McCoy is No. 22 (149.15 rating), two spots behind OU’s Landry Jones (149.84 rating). Jones took over when Bradford got hurt against BYU and took the bench against Baylor.
Bradford doesn’t have enough attempts to be on the charts yet this season. Last year against Texas, Bradford hit 28 of 39 passing attempts with two touchdowns and 387 yards. OU lost that game after middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds was lost in the third quarter with a season-ending knee injury.
McCoy is hitting 73 percent of his passes this year, but he has only 10 touchdown passes and has thrown six interceptions. McCoy has hit 134 of 184 attempts for 1,410 yards.
The two quarterbacks, who became pals during the offseason, will lead their respective teams against each other Saturday in Dallas in the Red River Shootout.
Texas is favored by three points over No. 18 OU.
That spread would be greater if Bradford had not returned Saturday to lead OU to a 33-7 win over Baylor. Showing no signs of injury, Bradford played four quarters and hit 27 of 49 passes for 389 yards and one touchdown.
And, receivers dropped at least 10 of Bradford’s passes - three would have been touchdowns.
“He just has a great presence about him,” said OU coach Bob Stoops. “Everyone understands what a great competitor he is in our locker room. So he naturally brings confidence to the players around him. They want to play better when he’s on the field. He just exudes that. He’s that type of leader and that type player that the guys around seem to play better when they’re working for him.”
The game matches up one of the best offenses in the country with the Longhorns and one of the best defenses with the Sooners.
Texas is No. 1 in the nation in scoring offense (47.2 points per game). The Longhorns also rank No. 1 in rushing defense, allowing only 46 yards per game. And in special teams play, UT leads the nation, averaging 34 yards per kickoff return.
But, Oklahoma is No. 3 in the country in rushing defense, allowing 53 yards a game. The Sooners rank fourth in sacks (3.6 per game) and fifth in tackles for loss (8.8 per game). OU’s scoring defense (8.4 points per game) is third in the nation and Oklahoma ranks 10th in turnover margin with only 1.2 per game.
This is the 104th meeting of the two teams. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. and the game will be televised by ABC (KTUL).
When asked about the OU game, McCoy said, “It’s another conference match-up.”
Bradford wanted to come back against Baylor as a tuneup to the Texas game.
“I think that definitely is important,” Bradford said. “Obviously that’s something that I’ve talked to Coach Heupel about, to get a game under my belt before Texas would definitely be beneficial for me and our offense.”
His performance dispelled doubts about whether he would return at all this season.
Bradford said his shoulder feels fine.
He’s not worried about re-injuring the shoulder.
“I really don’t think there’s much concern for me taking a hit,” Bradford said. “From everything I’ve received from the doctors it’s like taking any other hit. You can’t do much more damage. The odds of me hurting it now were just like the odds of me hurting it before anything happened to it.”
Stoops said he relied on team doctors and Bradford as to the timing of his return.
“He’s the only one that truly knows,” Stoops said. “Sam’s a smart guy. If he’s not going to play effectively, in other words to be able to sling it out there in a split second when he sees something pop open, then he understands that maybe he isn’t benefitting the team and he knows that Landry has played well. In the end, he has to gauge how confident he is in making the throws and working the offense. Truly, he’s the only one who knows how he feels.”
Another challenge for the Sooners is the injury to All American tight end Jermaine Gresham and to top wideout Ryan Broyles. Gresham had knee surgery and is out for the year. Broyles suffered a hairline fracture against Miami but could be cleared for duty against Texas.
Stoops was pleased with Bradford’s performance against the Bears.
“He played really well,” Stoops said. “To have been off as much as he has and to go out there for his first go at it and to play as well as he did, I thought he played great. He stays away from the negative plays, the bad plays. He had a great night with seven, eight or nine drops. You can cut that and say there were five legitimate drops that were in their hands, he had an incredible night. He is a great competitor and talking to him in the locker afterwards, I asked him how it felt and he said it felt great. Right now, he doesn’t have any discomfort and that is encouraging. He will only get better from this. In practicing, he will trust it more and I think in another week he will get stronger with his throws and he will continue to get better.”
After the game, Bradford said he saw improvement in his shoulder.
“It feels good,” Bradford said. “It’s felt a lot better this week compared to last week.”
Stoops said the development of Jaz Reynolds and Dejuan Miller is taking some of the pressure off the depleted receiver corps.
“I thought they did well,” Stoops said. “They will see plays where they can play better, catch the ball and make some plays. As they are on the field, they should get better and I thought Dejuan (Miller) came up with some nice catches and showed some spark that he can play for us.”
OU receiver Brandon Caleb said it was great to see Bradford back on the field.
“I was excited,”Caleb said. “He’s been rehabbing a lot and working hard, so when he was out there I was just excited. They’re [Sam and Landry Jones] both great. When Sam came back he made plays and when Landry [Jones] was in he was making plays too. We have both great quarterbacks so we’re excited about either one of them.”
Texas safety Blake Gideon said he thought Bradford would return for the Red River Shootout.
“I knew he would be out there against us,” Gideon said. “A competitor like Sam is not going to back away. We knew that if it wasn’t this week, he was going to be on the field next week. What a great opportunity for us to get out there and play our best.”
OU’s Dominque Franks said beating Baylor was a confidence boost for the ailing Sooners.
“It does a lot for us,” Franks said. “At the same time, we have to and clean up our mistakes. Texas is a great football team and we can’t give up the same things we gave up (against Baylor).”
“We played well, but there was a lot of little things we gave up that we have to be better at if we’re going to beat a team the caliber of Texas,” said OU defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.”We’re not worried about the respect. We’re just worried about our season. Texas is the next game on the schedule, and you know how the game is. Texas is Texas. It’s going to be a big game, and we have to come out ready. This (Baylor) game is behind us and we know what kind of task we have coming up.”
“It’s big, it’s real big,” said Miller. “That’s why I came here, to play in games like this. Texas is on a roll, they have a lot of talent in the secondary and have a lot of guys that can make plays. They have a lot of game-breakers. It’s OU/Texas, that’s all you have to say about it.”
With the victory, Oklahoma extends its home winning streak to 27 games, a program best. The current streak is the best in the nation.
The Sooners have won 47 of their last 48 on Owen Field.
OU’s offense piled up 592 yards of total offense, the third time this season of 500-plus yards and the 39th time in the Stoops’ era.
Kennan Clayton recorded his second interception of the season and third of his career with a pick of BU QB Nick Florence in the third quarter.
Senior Brian Jackson recorded an interception for the third straight game, marking the sixth of his career. OU has recorded multiple picks in 44 of the last 91 outings.