Oklahoma Sooners

Thanksgiving weekend against a non-rival with one of the smallest crowds in the history of the Bob Stoops era at Oklahoma shouldn’t have generated as much interest as it did for defensive end Chaz Nelson (Columbus, Ohio/Garden City CC).

But it was a perfect fit for Nelson and the Sooners, and it speaks volumes about what OU’s tradition means on the recruiting trail. Nelson’s stock was soaring at the time. OU had a need at the position, and Nelson committed before that weekend was over.

And when Nelson got home to Ohio on Friday, he did one better, signing with Sooners. Nelson will enroll at Oklahoma in January and has two years of eligibility remaining.

Nelson gave Sooners fans a bit of a scare Wednesday by not signing on the first day. His national letter of intent papers were in Ohio, while he was in Florida. Nelson said in a text message that there were no worries and that as soon as he got home to Ohio he would sign.

The Sooners have had success before in looking to Garden City (Kan.) products, and Nelson quietly went under the radar. And now in what has turned out to be one of the more successful weekends of the season, Nelson was the first to pledge to OU.

As it turns out, the Sooners also ended up getting junior college defensive back Kass Everett (Philadelphia/Pierce College) and wide receiver Derrick Woods (Inglewood, Calif./Inglewood) on that weekend. Both were on official visits as well and Everett signed Wednesday, while Woods committed three weeks ago.

Nelson is in a prime spot to play as soon as he steps on campus, something that weighed high on his priority list. Frank Alexander is graduating, and most believe Ronnell Lewis has played his final game for OU and will enter the NFL Draft.

At 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, Nelson spent most of the last offseason working in the weight room and working on his technique. It all paid off.

Nelson also had offers from Iowa State, Illinois, Texas Tech, Baylor and Kansas State.

Nelson is one of two defensive ends for the 2012 class, joining Charles Tapper (Baltimore/City College). OU is still on the hunt and still in the hunt for No. 1-ranked Mario Edwards (Denton, Texas/Ryan), but the addition of Nelson guarantees at least one 2012 end will be ready to make an immediate impact.

It would be easy for Oklahoma to come out in the Insight Bowl with subpar enthusiasm and excitement. A three loss season is below the standard set for the Sooners, making for disappointed coaches, players and fans.

Nonetheless, the Sooners have some goals heading into their postseason battle with Iowa.

First, they want to forget about their blowout loss to Oklahoma State and secure a 10-win season.

“It was pretty disappointing but we still have a chance to have a 10-win season,” sophomore offensive lineman Gabe Ikard said. “You want to end on a positive note and you want to go into the offseason with a little more confidence.”

Secondly, they’d like to send this senior class out with a win and keep them from being remembered as a group who lost three out of four games to close the season.

“Our seniors are doing a good job [keeping us focused],” junior offensive tackle Lane Johnson said. “They know it’s their last game and they want to go out with a bang.”

How the Sooners play against Iowa could be a sign as to how the coaches and players have responded to this year’s disappointment. If they move forward and beat the Hawkeyes, it could be a good omen for 2012. If they come out with a lackluster effort, it could be a sign that this year’s issues could carry over into next year.

Jake Trotter answers readers' questions about Oklahoma football in his mailbag every Friday. Got a question for Jake? Submit it here.

Michael in Long Beach, Calif., writes: Was Brandon Williams’ departure a two-way thing? Was he not what OU thought he was going to be? Or would the Sooners have liked to keep him?

Jake Trotter: No, the Sooners didn’t want him to leave and actually tried to talk him into staying. Ultimately, Williams wanted to be closer to his family in Brookshire, Texas. That’s why leaving OU and going to Texas A&M made sense.

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SoonerNation has released the latest edition of the Sooner Intel, a sneak peek inside Oklahoma Sooners football recruiting for SoonerNation subscribers only.

As with any good piece of intelligence, everything that is reported in Sooner Intel stays on the There’s Only One forum. Sometimes some of the information is so sensitive and for Sooner fans’ eyes only, that it simply doesn’t need to be passed on beyond this thread.

Some things discussed:

• More on Kass Everett's decision to sign with Oklahoma.
• Where do the Sooners stand with Mario Edwards and Dorial Green-Beckham?
• Does Alex Ross have grade issues? Well, we asked him.
• Tony Jefferson, Kameel Jackson talk about what they say to recruits on official visits.
• With two tight end commits for 2012, what's next?
• Linebacker Brian Nance talks about his situation.

Check out the Sooner Intel here.

The ESPNHS All-American teams were announced today and Oklahoma Sooners commit Ty Darlington (Apopka, Fla./Apopka) made the second team. Darlington is rated as the No. 2 center in the nation and ranked No. 97 in the ESPNU 150. He is the only OU commit on the All-American team.

Several Sooners targets made the list, however. Receiver Dorial Green-Beckham (Springfield, Mo./Hillcrest) and defensive end Mario Edwards (Denton, Texas/Billy Ryan) made the first team. Safeties Nelson Agholor (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) and Su'a Cravens (Murrieta, Calif./Vista) made the second team. There were no Oklahoma targets on the third team.

View the full list here.

South Carolina State head coach Tim Carter’s complimentary words toward Oklahoma after his team’s 83-48 loss at Lloyd Noble Center on Wednesday will be a nice Christmas gift for the Sooners to take into their short holiday break this weekend.

“[Pittsburgh's] defense is nothing [near] as difficult as what we faced tonight.” said Carter, whose team trailed the Panthers by nine with six minutes left before losing 69-55 last Saturday.

The Sooners held SCSU to 33.9 percent shooting (20 of 59 from the field) while out-rebounding the Bulldogs 63-36. SCSU (4-9) was 2 of 16 from the three point line in a game they never led.

Offensively the Sooners struggled shooting the ball at 39.5 percent (32 of 81 from the field) but made up for it with 34 points in the paint and 22 second-chance points. Junior guard Steven Pledger led OU with 22 points on 6 of 15 shooting.

OU (9-1) will take a couple of days off before returning to practice on Christmas night in preparation for their Dec. 29 game against Cincinnati.

Player of the Game: Romero Osby. The junior grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds while adding 10 points and three steals. He was active on the glass throughout the night.

Unsung Hero: C.J. Washington. The senior was extremely aggressive in the paint, grabbing 12 rebounds including seven offensive boards in just 13 minutes of action. He also added five points.

Key Stat: 24. The Sooners allowed just 24 points in the first and second half. Even though they went into the locker room with a 15-point halftime lead, OU came out with the same defensive intensity in the final 20 minutes and outscored the Bulldogs by 20 to cruise to the win.

Key Stat, Part II: 81. OU averages 62 field goal attempts per game yet shot the ball an eye-popping 81 times on Wednesday night thanks in large part to their 26 offensive rebounds.

Quotable: “He’s got them guarding as well as any OU team I’ve seen. They play hard, they play together, they hit the open man and do things the right way.” - Carter on Sooners head coach Lon Kruger.

“I hope the check doesn’t bounce.” - Carter, essentially saying he knew what his team was getting into when they decided to play a non-conference game at Oklahoma.

“Coach (Kruger) always tells me before every game to go out there get every rebound. And it’s just something I have to do and it just seemed like one of those days where they were all coming to me.” - Osby on his 18 rebound performance.

“I thought defensively we were pretty consistent from start to finish.” - Kruger on his team’s strong defensive effort.

ESPN's Todd McShay released the first version of his 2012 NFL mock draft earlier today, projecting the first round of April's draft. McShay has Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck as the first pick to the Indianapolis Colts, with USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil and LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne rounding out the top three.

Oklahoma underclassmen Landry Jones and Ronnell Lewis are among McShay's first 32 picks. He has Jones going No. 16 to the Seattle Seahawks and Lewis as the last pick in the first round to the Green Bay Packers. Jones is the fourth quarterback in the first round behind Luck, Baylor's Robert Griffin III (No. 7) and USC's Matt Barkley (No. 8).

Jones has a decision to make after the Insight Bowl. He talked extensively with reporters about his thought process Tuesday night and said where he stacks up against other quarterbacks will not impact his decision to stay or go.

"I don't think you can make a decision based on whether your class is deep," he said. "In every draft, there's going to be guys. (But) there are a lot of different factors in what you want to do."

Lewis, on the other hand, is almost certainly done at Oklahoma. Coach Bob Stoops said Monday that the defensive end would miss the bowl game because of an academic issue, and that he expects Lewis to declare for the NFL draft.

"I don't want to come out and speak for [Lewis], but we've talked and I feel it's in his best interest to go on to the NFL," Stoops said.

What do you think? Should Lewis and Jones come back to Oklahoma for their senior season or leave early for the draft? Here's McShay's full mock draft.

Fans are going to have to wait a couple of more days before defensive end Chaz Nelson (Columbus, Ohio/Garden City CC) is officially signed with the Sooners.

Nelson texted me moments ago that his national letter of intent papers are in Ohio. He is in Florida right now and will be back in his hometown of Columbus on Friday. He said there are no worries at all, he's still signing with Oklahoma.

"The papers got to my house yesterday, so [as] soon as I get home, I'm signing."

UPDATE: Junior college cornerback Kass Everett (Philadelphia/Pierce College) had a change of heart late Wednesday afternoon and stunningly signed his national letter of intent with the Sooners. Here's our story.

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Oklahoma could have picked up three defensive backs this week. And after landing the verbal commitment of cornerback Kevin Peterson (Wagoner, Okla./Wagoner) on Sunday, the week started off on a good note.

That note turned sour Wednesday as the Sooners were unable to secure the signings of two elite junior college defensive backs. Oklahoma was a finalist for Pierce College (Woodland Hills, Calif.) teammates cornerback Kass Everett and Gerald Bowman but neither one is heading to Norman, Okla.

Everett announced he was signing with Texas Tech at a press conference at Pierce College on Wednesday afternoon. Minutes after, Bowman signed with USC. Everett’s top two schools were OU and Tech, while Bowman was in a three-way race between OU, USC and Miami (Fla.).

Bowman seemed like a slight USC lean the last few weeks so his choice of the Trojans wasn’t surprising. Missing out on Everett, however, is a major disappointment for OU fans. The Sooners put on a full court press to try to land Everett.

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Oklahoma officially has the first member of its 2012 recruiting class as junior college tight end Brannon Green (Altamont, Kan./Fort Scott CC) signed his national letter of intent on Wednesday morning.

Green, 6-foot-4 and 268 pounds, was surrounded by family and friends as he made it official. Green wasn’t even on OU’s radar three weeks ago, but now he’s a Sooner.

“It’s amazing,” Green said. “It just shows that hard work always pays off.”

Not wasting time helps, too. Tight ends coach Bruce Kittle visited Fort Scott two weeks ago and offered Green, nicknamed “Moose.” Before Kittle had the chance to leave the school, Green had made his intentions known he wanted to come to OU.

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The expectations for Oklahoma, the No. 1 preseason ranking and BCS title hopes, might have ended up hurting the Sooners in 2012. OU went 9-3, with losses to Texas Tech, Baylor and Oklahoma State. The Sooners' home loss to the Red Raiders was their first defeat at Owen Field since 2005.

“That’s why you can’t buy into all the positive stuff,” safety Tony Jefferson said. “You’re No. 1 going into the season, you always have that target on your back.”

With a roster depending on several sophomores including Jefferson, receiver Kenny Stills, linebacker Corey Nelson and others, the Sooners didn’t play with urgency at times, often falling behind opponents early.

Nonetheless it was a learning experience for Oklahoma players.

“We know what we have to do to get there,” Jefferson said. “We just have to get over that hill and do the extra stuff.”