Oklahoma Sooners

KC Joyner of Scouts Inc. wrote today about Oklahoma and Oklahoma State's battle off the field for recruits, and how the Cowboys have gotten the "best bang for the buck out of recruiting" recently.

Joyner looks at the ESPN recruiting rankings for the starting 22 for both Oklahoma State and Oklahoma in their Dec. 3 game and notes how the Sooners have the higher-ranked recruits, but that didn't translate to the field.

Read the full Insider article here.

What do you think? With Oklahoma State winning the Big 12 this season, will they now compete with the Sooners for more recruits?

Leading up to the Under Armour All-America game on Jan. 5, Tom Luginbill, ESPN's National Recruiting Director, takes a look at which players have the most to gain with a strong performance.

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Despite getting in for only a dozen plays, backup quarterback Blake Bell was named the Insight Bowl offensive MVP by ESPN. While meeting with a small pool of reporters Saturday morning, Bob Stoops admitted he was stunned after first hearing that. And implied that Landry Jones warranted that honor.

“How many times has he really been hit hard? He didn't even take a shower after the game,” Stoops said. “Landry's in there getting showered up... after the press conference. He’s getting on to Blake because he isn't taking a shower. (Bell) says, 'What? I only played nine or 10 plays.' And he gets the MVP. Can you believe they gave it to him? Geez, oh man.”

Jones completed 16 of 25 passes for only 161 yards. Bell, meanwhile, rushed for 51 yards on 10 carries and three touchdowns. But Stoops said it was Jones who got Bell in position to make some of those plays.

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Steven Pledger sparked a second half run that boosted Oklahoma to a 83-63 win over Northwestern State (La.) on Saturday afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. The Sooners guard had seven points and one assist during a 19-3 run in the middle of the second half as OU pulled away to finish its non-conference slate at 10-2.

Two days after a disappointing road loss to Cincinnati, the Sooners struggled with NSU until their second half run. OU lead 48-46 with 12:30 left in the game when Pledger upped his intensity and took over the game. He attacked the basket for a tough baseline jumper then buried a three-pointer two possessions later to give OU an 57-46 lead with 10:40 remaining.

OU cruised from there, finishing the game 31 of 55 from the field (56.4 percent) and 18 of 22 from the free throw line (81.8 percent).

Player of the Game: Pledger. After walking into the locker room with six points at halftime, he scored 12 in the second half and sparked the game-deciding 19-3 run. He finished with 18 points, five assists, two rebounds and one block. Pledger was 6 of 11 from the field including 3 of 5 from the 3-point line.

Unsung Hero: C.J. Washington. The senior forward was extremely active in his 14 minutes of action. He finished with eight points, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

Key Stat: 44. OU attacked the paint on offense, finishing with 44 of its 83 points in the paint. Pledger was the only Sooner who took a three-point shot in the game as OU shot 50 field goals inside the three-point arc.

Quotable: “I thought individually, that was Sam Grooms' best stretch of play all year. He has been doing a lot of good things. We are excited about that.” - OU coach Lon Kruger on the play of Sam Grooms, who finished with 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field along with four assists and three turnovers.

“We just came together. And I told them, we're not going to have another letdown. That's something we're not going to do." - Pledger on the second half run.

“Coach always talks about initiating some enthusiasm and some aggressiveness. Sometimes, even in practice, he just lets us figure it out; he doesn't want to have to say it all the time.” - Forward Romero Osby on Kruger not calling timeout when NSU cut the lead to two points.

Up Next: The Sooners will travel to Missouri on Tuesday to open Big 12 Conference play at 7 p.m.

Jake Trotter grades Oklahoma's performance against Iowa after a 31-14 win in the Insight Bowl:

Quarterbacks: A-
What a sensational finish for freshman Blake Bell. OU’s reserve quarterback scored three touchdowns out of the Belldozer package, including a 21-yard scamper with 45 seconds left to stamp an exclamation point. Bell also converted a critical third-and-2 late in the game, which set up a field goal that put OU up by two scores. Landry Jones, meanwhile, didn’t finish the season with a memorable performance. Jones completed 16 of 25 passes for only 161 yards, though ended his touchdown pass drought with a three-yard scoring lob to tight end Trent Ratterree. Jones played tough, though, taking a shot to head from Jordan Bernstine, who actually chipped one of Jones’ teeth.

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