We start off with the news that apparently Sam Bradford is ruling out surgery. We've already talked about how he was really motivated to make this the season, but obviously this poses a slight wrinkle in the plan. I will note that Stoops did not say definitively that Bradford would be back, starting, in 2-4 weeks. I think the 2-4 week time frame is when Bradford will make up his mind when he gets to the field again. Bradford apparently talked it over with a lot of people, including Eli Manning:
Bradford said he spoke Sunday with New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who had a bruised AC joint during his team’s run to the Super Bowl two years ago. Bradford has been told he has a Grade 3 sprain. He already started rehabbing Sunday, trying to improve the range of motion in his shoulder.
Sam also received a classy text message from Texas QB Colt McCoy wishing him the speediest possible recovery. Say what you will about Colt or Sam if you're a fan of the other team, but both of them are great role models and very classy. Florida QB Tim Tebow similarly expressed that he would like to see Bradford back playing as soon as possible.
In any event, we know that the Sooners will be without Bradford until at least the bye week, which means that Landry Jones will be starting against Idaho State and Tulsa. Where does that leave the Sooners? We talk about it after the jump.
Offensive Line Reshuffled...Again (link)
The new starting offensive line will be, from left tackle to the right, Trent Williams, Brian Simmons, Ben Habern, Stephen Good, and Jarvis Jones. Noticeably absent are Cory Brandon who had quite a few false starts, and Brody Eldridge. Don't worry about Brody, they are moving him back to tight end. I don't blame the coaches for that decision, even though Brody had 20 knockdown blocks at center against BYU. I think the Sooners need more receiving weapons on the field, and while Eldridge is known for his blocking, he's also an experienced receiver.
Captain Obvious (link)
"I do feel that we did play in a 15-yard box," offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "We didn't get the ball downfield hardly at all."
And I feel like a big reason we lost the game is because we didn't stretch the field. We showed no inclination to throw deep or mix things up at all. We ran a minuscule percentage of the playbook. Although, to their credit, BYU played a 4-deep coverage a lot, as Ryan Broyles explains:
"It was just the coverages they were giving us, four deep almost the whole game, receiver Ryan Broyles said. "We didn't gameplan that too much, so we just took the shots we thought were the most consistent."
If they were playing 4-deep coverage, it seems odd to me that the underneath stuff wasn't more open.
Kevin Wilson Takes Blame For Delay of Game (link)
Kevin Wilson accepted the blame for the delay of game on the 4th and 1 play from the goal line. He said he should have been paying more attention to the clock. However, it might not entirely be his fault. Apparently after Landry Jones' sneak attempt on 3rd down, a BYU ran with the ball down the sideline, even though the ball was ruled down (no fumble). Usually if there's a delay like that, the officials will wait until they get the ball back, and then start running the play clock from 25 seconds. In this case, they immediately started running the 40-second clock. This break from typical procedure caught the Sooners off guard. One has to wonder what might have been...
FOX Sports Summarizes The Suckiness of the Bradford Situation (link)
Overall, a nice summary of everything. It really does stink when an injury like this happens because a young man who stays in college for the right reasons - to win a championship and pursue an education - gets "punished" via injury and will likely see his draft stock fall. And this kind of thing probably will cause more players to jump ship early. It's a shame.
An Extreme Perspective from Longhorn Country (link)
Apparently this writer thinks that the Sooners are going to tank and get to the Alamo Bowl. Certainly, that could happen. And I will give him all of his props and kudos if it does happen. but the Big 12 will, in all likelihood, send two teams to the BCS again - one to the national championship and one to the Fiesta Bowl. That means that they still have to also fill the Cotton Bowl and Holiday Bowl, and perhaps even the Gator Bowl which selected Nebraska last year (probably because Nebraska fans travel well). Therefore, the Sooners would need to finish about 5th to 6th overall in the Big 12 with probably 4 or 5 losses. Call me crazy, but I think we still have a really talented team with or without Sam Bradford and that we'll pull it together.
Doing Away With The No Huddle? (link)
Another shift in the way the offense does things, as the Sooner offense practiced without the no huddle. They say they might still use it against Idaho State, but slowing things down helped them get on the same page, and helped Landry Jones see things. Question: if it works in practice, why not do it during the game?
Expect an Announcement on Gresham Today (link)
Apparently they are just waiting on one more doctor's opinion on whether or not Gresham should go ahead with surgery to repair cartilage damage in his right knee. Stoops said an announcement should be made today. As Jake Trotter points out, Eldridge was moved to tight end. Was this because it was necessary in general, or because they're preparing for a longer absence of Gresham?