Oklahoma Sooners

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:

- Is Dorial Green-Beckham visiting Oklahoma soon?
- News on a new juco tight end offer and visitor for Iowa State
- Is juco safety Gerald Bowman's teammate interested in Oklahoma after he was offered this week?
- Defensive end Austin Flynn has a special visitor
- Who said this? “The whole family has OU stuff now. ... But seriously, without a doubt, we are still 100 percent committed to OU."

Check out the Sooner Intel here.

Coach Bob Stoops said Monday he expects true freshman running back Brandon Williams to see more carries the final two games of the season to help out Roy Finch.

Midway through the fourth quarter at Baylor, Williams rushed for gains of 13 and 12 yards on a touchdown drive that pulled the Sooners to within 38-31.

“Roy is getting tired and worn down and he can only take so much,” Stoops said. “We talked in our staff meeting on Sunday that (Williams) did look really good. We expected him to and it's just being more and more where we know we can count on him.”

Stoops said Williams’ performance against Baylor showed he’s ready for a bigger role.

“It's very encouraging,” Stoops said. “We love him. He's getting better and better and I hope in the next couple of games he can be a spark and we can go to him more.”

On Baylor’s game-winning touchdown pass, Robert Griffin III showed why he’s earned the respect of Big 12 coordinators with his arm. The Bears quarterback threw from the left side of the field to the right corner of the endzone between OU safety Sam Proctor and cornerback Demontre Hurst.

It was a throw that few quarterbacks can make.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Hurst said of his thoughts when he saw the ball in the air. “I saw the ball thrown and it pretty much fell right into his hands. Watching film today I was sick to my stomach that he made a great pass like that. It was just an amazing throw.”

Film review in general was quite unpleasant for the Sooners secondary as they relived Griffin’s 479 passing yards in the upset victory.

“Watching it as a secondary we were pretty disgusted,” Hurst said. “Plays we could have prevented, just our eyes in the wrong spot. Watching it, it was pretty ugly but we have to man up to it, own up to it.”

Sounds like the Heisman campaign of Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III has plenty of support in Norman.

Oklahoma safety Sam Proctor marveled at the talent of Griffin after the Sooners’ 45-38 loss to Baylor last weekend.

“He was by far one of the greatest athletes I’ve played against,” Proctor said. “He’s a great talent. The fact he could improvise with his legs gave his receivers more time and that added a little more stress in the cover game.

The Sooners defensive line did a good job winning their one-on-one battles with the Bears offensive line but expecting a defensive lineman to bring down the ultra-talented Griffin is a scary proposition.

“It wasn’t one, two, three, four, five [seconds then throw],” Proctor said. “He was more buying time, a few times we were back there for six or seven seconds in open field which is always a little more difficult.”

Griffin threw for a season-high 479 yards while averaging 14.1 yards per attempt. “RGIII” could be college football’s most explosive player with his combination of speed and superb passing skills.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said he was surprised that Baylor went for the win after he called timeout in the final minute of Saturday’s game.

Stoops called timeout with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter, when Baylor seemed to be content letting the game go to overtime after running the ball up the middle on first down.

After the timeout, Baylor coach Art Briles chose to get aggressive, calling a pass, and quarterback Robert Griffin III scrambled 22 yards before running out of bounds. Three plays later, Griffin’s 34-yard touchdown pass gave the Bears the 45-38 win.

“I was surprised. I thought he’d run it one more time and then throw it,” Stoops said of Briles during his weekly press conference. “But not totally surprised, to be honest with you. I thought, in the end, we were in good coverage. He pulls it down and, like I said, our flat defender didn’t stay in the flat and come up. He didn’t even have anyone to cover. He could’ve came right up and been in position. But again, we lack some discipline, void our zone and give them a big run.”

Stoops said he was hoping to get the ball back and give Michael Hunnicutt a shot at a long game-winning field goal.

“Michael had made a 54-yarder at Kansas State with a similar type wind,” Stoops said. “We had just stopped them two straight series. They didn’t have any timeouts. I felt if we could get a stop, we could get field position and have a chance for a field goal. Landry (Jones) had been hot, we had made some strikes and I felt even if they were to pick up a first down, there wouldn’t be enough time if we just stop them short of a first down any of times, time’s going to run out on them and they’re too far away for a field goal.

“You take a gamble and, again, I felt I was playing to win. If we tackle them in any of those occasions, easy to say now, then time does run out. Well, it didn’t. So, that’s just like one of those. … it didn’t work, that’s a bad decision. That’s how it goes.”

Following Monday’s practice, Bob Stoops said that X-rays taken on Jaz Reynolds’ left shoulder came back negative and that the sophomore wide receiver could still play against Iowa State.

“All the X-rays checked out OK,” Stoops said. “He's just sore. It shouldn't be limiting, he should be able to practice here shortly.”

Reynolds injured the shoulder at Baylor after taking a big hit in the fourth quarter catching a pass across the middle. He actually returned to the game, but wore a sling on the way back to Norman.

Without Ryan Broyles, Reynolds was OU’s most effective receiver, catching seven passes for 114 yards. He now has 692 yards receiving on the season.

If Reynolds can’t go, senior Dejuan Miller likely would get the start in his place.

Stoops, meanwhile, confirmed Monday that defensive end Ronnell Lewis likely will miss Bedlam with an MCL knee sprain.

“They anticipate it being a couple-three weeks,” Stoops said. “I don't expect him to play in the next two games.”

Lewis was hurt in the second quarter in Waco, and watched the rest of the game in street clothes.

The season began with so much promise. The unofficial slogan: "The Chase for 8," in hopes of adding to Oklahoma's seven national titles, the last coming in 2000.

Oklahoma had the talent. It had the experience, a BCS bowl win already under its belt.

"We have high expectations, and I don’t shy away from them,” Stoops said before the season. "My feeling is, it is about time. We need to win one."

There was no guarantee, but a 34-yard fling from Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III ended any hope Oklahoma had of achieving the biggest and loftiest goal on its mind: the national title.

The Bears rushed the field, and the Sooners were left to reassess a season gone wrong.

"To have just your one goal of being a national champion isn’t always very realistic, and percentages of that for everybody are pretty difficult," Stoops said Monday. "It’s always pretty tough. At the end, that’s always a goal for us."

That can be crossed off the list now, but the biggest goal lies ahead: keeping focus and motivation without a shot at the title to fight for. The new motivation, Stoops says, is an eighth Big 12 title since 2000.

The Sooners were marred by injuries to major contributors all season. First there was a broken toe for linebacker and captain Travis Lewis in preseason camp that had him at less than 100 percent early in the year. Receiver and captain Ryan Broyles set the FBS record for career receptions in midseason, but weeks later, his college career was over with a torn ACL. In between that, leading rusher Dominique Whaley's amazing story from walk-on to leading rusher hit a sad chapter when he fractured his ankle.

Yet, here's Oklahoma, toting two losses but still an opportunity to be Big 12 champions.

"That’s a great year, anytime you’re the champion of your league and that’s what we still have an opportunity to do. That’ll be great motivation right there," Stoops said.

A debatable point for sure, but Stoops reiterated that though it's the biggest, a national title isn't the only goal for his team. To reach that biggest goal, a conference title must come first. A BCS game -- not the big one -- will follow if the Sooners snatch another title, a point Stoops must pound home this week.

Oklahoma hosts Iowa State on Saturday, and a streak of eight consecutive wins over rival Oklahoma State will be on the line a week later. With it, a Big 12 title. We'll find out in coming weeks if that motivation truly is enough to keep the Sooners looking like the team it thought it could be in August.

"It’s a major focus and it’s a great focus. It’s great motivation," Stoops said. "To be honest with you, as the member of the whole drum beat leading up to the whole year was a one true champion, right? Because we’re all playing each other. we look at it as a chance to be the champion. That’s great motivation and it could be one year. That’s how we look at it."

Safety Javon Harris was requested to the interview room following Monday’s practice. Given what transpired Saturday in Waco, many players would have ducked out.

Not only did Harris not do that, he courageously answered every question asked of him.

“It would be (easy to duck out),” Harris said. “But I know people (fans) want to know what happened. Growing up, I learned you have to take adversity. That’s what my dad taught me. You have to be a man and face those things. I know I played a bad game. I know my mistakes on the field were detrimental to the team. And I have to face it.”

Harris missed a couple of tackles and blew a couple of coverages, leading to multiple huge plays for Baylor.

“Just bad eyes, getting my eyes in the wrong places,” Harris said. “You can't do that in the defensive backfield. That's something I've got to work on as a player. Knowing the type of players they have and their skill set, that's something that can't happen. I went into the game trying to do more than what I was supposed to. When it happens, when you get your eyes in bad places, something can happen that fast.

In the first half, with Oklahoma blitzing, Kendall Wright hauled in a quick slant, then made Harris whiff before racing 55 yards to set up Baylor's first touchdown. Later in the second quarter, Baylor got Harris to bite on a slant-and-go, resulting in a 69-yard touchdown.

Harris took complete blame for the blown coverages.

“I wouldn't say it was misalignments. It was just breaking down when I shouldn't or not staying on top,” he said. That's one thing that happened with me. When they do what they (show) on film, you've got to know what's coming at you.”
Despite suffering a slight sprain in the fourth quarter, Harris was back at practice Monday. It’s unclear if he or Sam Proctor will get the start at safety against Iowa State. Whatever the case, Harris said he won’t allow the Baylor performance to keep him down.

“It’s hard to take,” he said. “At the same time, you’ve got to move on. Me as a player, I've got to go into practice and work on what I didn't do the week before.”

I spent a lot of time this weekend talking with Ronnell Lewis’ high school football coach Josh Been and Lewis' younger sister Traci.

Some of the questions they have heard multiple times at this point, but when talking about Lewis and his connection to his family, you could sense the sincerity in their tone and words.

“He’s just an amazing brother. I really don’t know if I can find the words to describe how good he is to me and the family,” Traci said. “He’s very supportive. He’s so protective. That’s not always a good thing, but I know how big his heart is.”

That family-first attitude might play a role in Lewis’ decision about whether or not to enter the 2012 NFL draft after this season.

Lewis has five sisters and two brothers and has said in the past how important it is to him to help try to take care of his family. If the sprained MCL heals correctly and Lewis continues to impress scouts, it would be tough to make an argument for Lewis to stay at Oklahoma.

And Lewis has his own family to worry about. Following Saturday’s loss to Baylor, Lewis came back to Dewar to spend time with his son and to have dinner with Traci and Been.

“He’s a very involved parent, as much as he can be,” Been said. “Like I’ve said before, he’s doing things the right way. He’s always trying to do the right thing.”

Whether that’s as a father or as an uncle, Lewis’ love and support is evident to those closest around him.

Traci said it took a while for her 18-month-old son, Trindyn, to warm up to Lewis. Part of that, though, is because of Lewis’ big kid attitude.

“He would pick on him a lot, like an older brother to a younger brother,” Traci said. “He never meant anything bad by it, but he stopped when he realized it wasn’t making Trindyn happy. It’s been smooth-sailing, and I know he would do anything in the world for his nephew.”

Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles had surgery Monday to repair a torn ACL he suffered two weeks ago against Texas A&M.

“Ready to kill this rehab one day at a time!” Broyles tweeted after the surgery.

Broyles is the FBS record holder with 349 career receptions. He was on pace to also set the FBS career receiving yardage mark too before the injury. He ended his college career No. 2 on the FBS career receiving yards chart with 4,586 yards and his 45 career receiving touchdowns rank No. 4 in FBS history.

Broyles received he even more good news after the procedure. Despite the injury, he was named a Biletnikoff Award finalist along with Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon and USC’s Robert Woods.

The Biletnikoff winner will be announced Dec. 28 during the College Football Awards show on ESPN.