Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma sophomore running back Brennan Clay emphatically shot down all rumors Tuesday that he might be transferring to another school.

"That's dead wrong,” Clay said. “Not true at all."

Since the weekend, rumors ran rampant that the San Diego native was considering a transfer, joining a long list of running backs who have already left the team. Coach Bob Stoops, however, said during Monday’s news conference that he hadn’t heard any rumblings of Clay transferring.

Tuesday, Clay quashed those rumors for good.

“It is what it is,” Clay said. “People always want to speculate. It’s not true.”

After starting the opener, Clay played sparingly the second half of the season, in part due to an array of injuries.

But with Brandon Williams and Dominique Whaley still recovering from a fractured ankle, Clay and Roy Finch are the only two healthy running backs left on the roster.

“It’s amazing. We’re hurting out there in reps, no lying,” Clay said. "But we have to take up the slack. We’re the only few left. But we’re good. We’re going to stick it through.”

Josh Heupel’s tenure in the press box could be shortlived.

This week, Bob Stoops didn’t rule out the possibility that OU’s first year offensive coordinator could be calling plays on the sideline next season. The reason would be so Heupel could have more face-to-face interaction with the quarterbacks.

“That something they could talk about, and will,” Stoops said. “It's worth considering.”

Even though he clearly wasn’t pleased with the 38-10 pass-run ratio in the first half at Oklahoma State, Stoops, however, said he wouldn’t increase his role with the offensive play-calling.

“I'm not going to be the play-caller,” Stoops said. “You can't get in the middle of what a guy's thinking or setting up. I don't believe in that.”

ESPN's Andy Katz blogged today about Oklahoma's 8-1 start under new head coach Lon Kruger. Here's an excerpt from Katz's blog:

Oklahoma pulled off a solid coaching hire when it brought Lon Kruger back to the Big 12 to replace Jeff Capel.

How so? Kruger can be labeled as a bit bland, but he has been remarkably consistent wherever he has been, which includes stops at Kansas State (in the Big Eight), Florida, Illinois and UNLV. (It's not fair to lump in his coaching tenure with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks since that was a no-win situation.)

Kruger isn't likely to compete for a national title with the Sooners. But his teams will be in the hunt for the postseason on a regular basis. His squads defend, they improve over the course of the season, and trouble usually doesn't follow them around.

Katz talked to guard Steven Pledger, who has improved immensely this season. Pledger is averaging 29.5 minutes a game, scoring 19.5 points and leading all Division I guards with a 60.4 field-goal percentage, including 51.2 percent on 3s.

"Coach has given us so much confidence,'' Pledger said. "He's giving us a little bit of praise, and we're doing the right things on the court and off the court. Around campus, we're respectful, and it shows with what we're doing. Last year when we were losing, people didn't feel like talking much to other people.''

Read the rest of the blog here.

SoonerNation writer Jake Trotter chatted with readers Monday. Here's the full transcript. If you didn't get your question answered, send it to Jake's mailbag to be published on Friday.

Here are a few highlights from his chat:

Nate (OK): Does Iowa even stand a chance? Also, when do you think Ryan Broyles will be drafted and where to?

Jake Trotter: Last year in the Insight Bowl, Iowa beat a Missouri team that was ranked higher than this OU team is now. So yeah, Iowa has a chance. Too soon to project Broyles' draft stock because of the injury, but the best he could hope for is third round. Because he won't be able to work out for NFL teams before the draft, he could go lower.

Rob (Yukon): What minor shakeups do you predict?

Jake Trotter: For one, an overhaul of the roster. Sooners need to get deeper, and I think that's why you see them going after so many JUCOs. OU didn't have enough guys available to play this year and it showed.

Robert (Tahlequah, Oklahoma): Does the Big 12 have next year's schedule out yet? Do we play TCU there? Is there a chance they move that game to Cowboys Stadium?

Jake Trotter: No schedule out yet. I don't see that with TCU. If OU plays in Cowboys Stadium, I would expect it to be an out-of-conference game, such as BYU in 2009.

Madison Miller (Grove, OK): What do you think about the Sooners football [team] next season?

Jake Trotter: I think it could be a transitional year. The defense is losing its three best players. The offense could be losing its QB, and has to retool at WR, TE and possibly even RB. OU has a chance to be good. But no one is going to be picking the Sooners to win the national title before the season.

Mike (Dallas): There seems to be a lot of off-the-field issues with OU as much as on-field issues. I don't think Bob Stoops has lost control of his team, but I do feel he has a lot more work ahead of him besides X's and O's. Your thoughts?

Jake Trotter: Agreed. Attitude, chemistry, leadership of this team is to be desired. Those problems were much bigger than any game plan or scheme.

Adding to the immense unease surrounding the Oklahoma football program is the damaged kidney suffered by wide receiver Jaz Reynolds against Oklahoma State.

Reynolds spent more than a week in the hospital after his bruising his kidney in the game.

“Even before that, his kidney wasn’t functioning properly. And then it got it badly bruised,” Stoops said. “It was a bad situation there for a full week. He’s still walking around gingerly and sore.”

Reynolds has already been ruled out for the Insight Bowl. His status after that remains unknown.

“The plan from here, there's a couple of options,” Stoops said. “I'm not going to cover them all, but they'll, as a family, decide what they're going to do. But he is expected to be able to play next year.”

Bob Stoops was asked again Monday about the possibility of his brother returning to the Oklahoma coaching staff. He hardly shut the door.

“I am happy with my staff,” Bob Stoops first said, then added, “it's fair to say throughout the country, with all the coaching changes, anything can happen. You never know. So, we'll see.”

Certain OU fans got overly excited about that possibility. Mike Stoops’ Wikipedia page was edited to say that he had been hired back as the Sooners’ defensive coordinator. OU assistant Willie Martinez’s Wikipedia page was also amended to include “former” OU defensive backs coach.

Both pages were fixed back by the end of the day Monday.

Freshman running back Brandon Williams, the gem of Oklahoma’s 2011 recruiting class, has been granted a release to transfer, coach Bob Stoops confirmed Monday.

Stoops said he didn’t know where Williams would transfer, but sources at OU have indicated Williams is likely to end up at Texas A&M, which is an hour drive away from his hometown of Brookshire, Texas.

Williams, who enrolled in the spring, was OU’s top-rated recruit according to ESPNU, which ranked him the No. 5 running back in the country. Because of fumbling issues in practice, Williams played sparingly at the beginning of season. But an injury to starter Dominique Whaley allowed Williams to become a bigger part of the offense late in the season. As a backup, Williams rushed for 116 yards in the Sooners’ final three games and averaged 5.5 yards per carry.

Williams suffered a neck injury in the season finale against Oklahoma State that required him to wear a brace, but he is expected to make a full recovery.

Williams is the third running back to leave OU this year alone. Earlier in the season, Jermie Calhoun and Jonathan Miller also were granted releases to transfer.

With Williams gone and Whaley still recovering from a fractured ankle, the Sooners will be down to just two running backs -- Roy Finch and Brennan Clay -- for the Dec. 30 Insight Bowl against Iowa.

Junior defensive end Ronnell Lewis has likely played his last game in an Oklahoma uniform.

Coach Bob Stoops said Monday that Lewis will miss the Dec. 30 Insight Bowl because of academic issues. Stoops also said he expects Lewis to declare for the NFL Draft.

Read the rest of the story here.

Oklahoma guard Steven Pledger was named Co-Big 12 Player of the Week today after his performance in the Sooners' 79-74 All-College Classic win over Houston on Saturday in Oklahoma City.

Pledger scored 31 points while shooting 10-for-13 from the field and 4-for-5 from 3-point range against Houston. He ranks No. 1 nationally among guards with his .604 field goal percentage.

Pledger shared the award with Baylor's Perry Jones III.