Stanford Runs Out Of Luck Before The Sun Bowl

by ccmachine on Dec 7, 2009 10:23 AM CST in Football Comment 4 comments

Early yesterday evening it was announced that Oklahoma and Stanford would face each other in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve. Then it was announced by Cardinal Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh that starting quarterback Andrew Luck wouldn't be playing against the Sooners.

Luck has thrown for 2,575 yards and 13 touchdowns this season but suffered an injury to his hand against Notre Dame and is now recovering from surgery. He'll be replaced by Tavita Pritchard who was once the starting quarterback before Luck arrived. Pritchard has completed 244 of 449 pass attempts at Stanford for 2,747 yards but also has thrown 22 interceptions to 15 touchdowns. Looks like Toby Gerhart is going to get even more touches.

Pritchard led Stanford to their first upset of #2 USC in 2007 so the Oklahoma defense isn't going against someone who has never been under pressure. It doesn't mean that the game plan for Oklahoma's defense didn't just get easier or the bowl game didn't get uglier. There's a reason why Pritchard was beaten out by a redshirt freshman and now having him in the game puts OU at a defensive advantage. Both defenses will be focused on stopping the run and making quarterbacks beat them.

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So what?

So it means a different pair of hands are handing the ball off to Toby Gerhart. So? Oklahoma’s defense is suited to stopping the run, but this will be their best test all season.

by Soonerguys on Dec 7, 2009 12:05 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

stack the box, force the new QB to throw. sooners are gonna have a field day and end the season crushing a heisman hopeful.

by Displaced Longhorn on Dec 8, 2009 1:12 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

we have seen what happens

when the players don’t care if they are playing. I still remember the T-Tech game. I could have scored in that game. It depends on what team shows up and wants to win.

by scarab on Dec 9, 2009 6:26 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

So much for Cal

I suppose in a lot of ways the projected Cal match up would have played out in a similar way, assuming Best actually played at full capacity. Still, I felt a lot more optimistic about our chances in that particular match up.

by Bill Self's Hair Piece on Dec 8, 2009 5:39 PM CST reply actions 0 recs