SB Nation - Jermie Calhoun

Offensive Line Could Determine Murray’s Return

ccmachine — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:06:37 -0000

DeMarco Murray isn't quite as bold about returning to the Sooners in 2010 as he was about a month ago when he said, "I like it here. I don't want to end my career at OU with an 8-4 record or whatever, so I'm just trying to get better. And I just enjoy being here. I'm part of a great team here. I love the coaching staff. I love the camaraderie with my teammates." Now, Murray is singing a bit of a different tune.

"I feel like I've got to take the opportunity to at least think about it, not put a stamp on it and say I'm going to come back next year,"

So what happened over the last several weeks that made Murray change his tune? One of the things that's happened is that he's calmed down and is no longer speaking from emotion and has had opportunity to think about the opportunity before him. Another is that he's discussed his options with coaches and they advise that he's at least got to explore his options. Finally he's put some thought into next year.

"Whenever I said that, I was just in the moment and felt I need to come back. But after talking to coaches and things like that, they agree with me that I need to look at both sides and figure out what I'm going to do."

With the graduation of Chris Brown Murray has the opportunity to get the bulk of the carries, instead of sharing them, and prove that he's shaken the injury bug once and for all. However, after having his stats drop from 1,002 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns in 2008 to 678 yards and 7 touchdowns in `09 he's also thinking of the offensive line next season.

"That's probably the number one factor, maybe one or two, just looking at how well they will be able to come back from this year," he said. "We've got some talent here in the O-line, but we knew there was work to be done after those five (linemen) left last year. We've got to look at it after the bowl game, see who's going to stick around and who's not."

It's clear that All-American Trent Williams isn't returning nor is Brian Simmons, because they can't, but there shouldn't be anyone else from the o-line bolting. However, the point has been made that the backs are putting a lot of the ownership of the rushing attack on the offensive line, which they should.

Murray doesn't have to declare his intentions until January 15^th but my feeling (I hope I'm wrong) is that he's gone. Unless of course the second coming of Phil Loadholt and Duke Robinson are coming from the junior college ranks. If he were to go on to the NFL it would leave Jermie Calhoun and Jonathan Miller as the feature backs for next season. Thoughts?

Since OU Doesn’t Throw To Him Can Brody Eldridge Just Stay On The Line?

ccmachine — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:34:59 -0000

Brody Eldridge started at center for Oklahoma when they played BYU to open the season. In that game he recorded more knockdown blocks than any other OU lineman while delivering a performance that resulted in Oklahoma coaches calling him a star. Saturday against the Longhorns Eldridge once again returned to the offensive line by filling in for injured left guard Brian Simmons. Against the Longhorns the coaches said that he didn't miss a single assignment. Basically Oklahoma's two best performances on the offensive line have come from a converted fullback/tight end.

In between the season opener and last week's game against Texas Brody Eldridge started four games at tight end. As Oklahoma's starting tight end he's caught two passes for 19 yards. That's the same number of catches as Jermie Calhoun and James Hanna. I don't know, where do you think he's more useful?

Oklahoma's offensive line has been pathetic this season. They've given up seven quarterback sacks; they can't create holes for running backs to go up the middle. Inside the 10 yardline they get overpowered and instead of tough and physical they would probably be better described as finesse. Brody Eldridge seems to be able to bring the attitude and deliver the type of performance that's been missing from Oklahoma's offensive linemen. So why not just keep him there? Especially if he's only going to catch two passes!

Yes, I do understand that there is more to playing the tight end position than just catching the ball. As with all offensive positions blocking is essential. DeMarco Murray even commented about how much difference it makes having Eldridge out on the edge when he's running but in a spread attack like Oklahoma is prone to run you literally could run anyone out there and they could give the type of production that that Oklahoma's tight ends have. The same can't be said of Eldridge's contributions to the offensive line. If someone else could do it better then they would be by now.

Tulsa Game Position Grades

ccmachine — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:28:19 -0000

More photos » by ALONZO ADAMS - AP

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I have to admit, I expected a much tighter game against Tulsa last Saturday. I didn't think it would be the kind of game to be won by a field goal or anything but I did expect the Golden Hurricane to at least score. To say that the Sooners played good is an understatement and to say that Tulsa was a Top 25 caliber opponent is an overstatement. However, TU should have been a stronger test for the Sooners and their inability to impress had a lot more to do with OU than it did with us touting an opponent too highly. Good Grades are in abundance this week!

Quarterback A

Let's hear it for the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week! Landry Jones completed 25 of 37 passes for 336 yards and a school record 6 touchdowns. He did throw two interceptions on two really bad passes and he still seems to occasionally lock in on a receiver without reading through his progressions so there is room for improvement but we must applaud the effort.

Running Backs A+

DeMarco Murray averaged 6 yards per carry and Chris Brown 4.6. Neither back scored on the ground but Murray made and amazing touchdown catch in which he spun around twice and flipped into the end zone. Murray had two catches for 38 yards and a score. In mop up time Jonathan Miller, for the second week in a row, looked stronger and faster than Jermie Calhoun. As a team the Sooners rushed for 193 yards.

Receiver/Tight End A

Adron Tennell's dropped touchdown pass was surprisingly not shocking based on his on field productivity so far this season. Trent Ratterree also joined Tennell in dropping a touchdown pass and while this has been a recurring theme for Oklahoma this season it was only a subplot on Saturday while Brandon Caleb having his breakout game was the main story. Caleb hauled in 5 passes for 104 and two touchdowns to become the perfect complement to Ryan Broyles who added 128 and three touchdowns on 11 catches. Landry Jones also found his tight ends on his record day as a Sooner. Jones completed passes to James Hanna and Eric Mensik.

Offensive Line A

No one is ready to anoint this group as championship ready but they've come a long way since opening night. The line gave up no sacks on Saturday afternoon and helped Oklahoma to an average of 6.5 yards per play on offense. This line looks more mentally focused than they've been all season which is good because they are about to face a stretch in which the level of their success will define the rest of Oklahoma's season.

Defensive Line A

Oklahoma's defensive line had Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne running for his life all day long. Jeremy Beal had three sacks and a forced fumble, Adrian Taylor recovered a fumble and Oklahoma ran a plethora of players through the line.

Linebackers A+

Ryan Reynolds let the team in tackles with 13 and was followed by Keenan Clayton who had 11. Travis Lewis added 7 tackles to the linebackers totals giving the starters 31 total tackles. Reynolds also had two sacks and Lewis had one.

Secondary A+

This was a physical game for Oklahoma's secondary and it needed to be. As we stated in our pregame coverage, Oklahoma's secondary making sure tackles and big plays would be the key to shutting down the Tulsa offense. Brian Jackson and Quinton Carter responded with 9 tackles and an interception each. Sam Proctor also added 5 tackles.

Special Teams A

The chief criticism with this unit was the missed field goal but as a whole they had a very solid game. I guess we could also call out the partially blocked punt. However, OU averaged 42 yards per punt and held Tulsa without a return. They also held Tulsa to just 21 yards per kickoff return while taking their lone kickoff return 32 yards.

Are The Sooners Looking To Jaz Up The Offense?

ccmachine — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:54:58 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Unfortunately this has been the theme for Oklahoma's wide receivers in `09 as dropped passes have been in abundance. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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The answer to Oklahoma's struggles at the outside receiver position could have been under everyone's noses all along. The Daily Oklahoman brought up a great point about possibly playing Jaz Reynolds because he hasn't been moved to the scout team and is still working out with the receivers. I have to say that I agree with them! In a worst case scenario Reynolds could drop passes just as good as Adron Tennell has. However, in a better case scenario Reynolds' 6-3 frame and speed could wind up being the compliment to slot receiver Ryan Broyles that is so desperately needed. The thing is, though, is that he's got to be able to catch the ball.

Oklahoma Receiving Stats
	Name	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD
	Ryan Broyles	2	11	181	90.5	16.5	51	4
	Brandon Caleb	2	5	71	35.5	14.2	18	0
	DeMarco Murray	2	4	50	25.0	12.5	27	0
	Chris Brown	2	3	36	18.0	12.0	17	0
	Jermie Calhoun	2	2	22	11.0	11.0	17	0
	Adron Tennell	1	2	20	20.0	10.0	13	0
	Dejuan Miller	2	3	18	9.0	6.0	8	0
	Cameron Kenney	1	1	15	15.0	15.0	15	0
	Trent Ratterree	1	1	12	12.0	12.0	12	0
	Mossis Madu	2	2	8	4.0	4.0	4	0

Coming out of high school Reynolds ran a 4.5 forty and had a 37 inch vertical. The problem is that Oklahoma has a several guys on their roster who have good size and speed but when the lights come on and a defender lines up across from them they suddenly develop hands of stone. That's where Reynolds could have the opportunity to step up and be an impact player as a true freshman.

"You don't want to waste the year, but I think he's close to being in the mix," Wilson said. "With this week and then the open date, I think he either gets in or you look to that redshirt." - Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson on Jaz Reynolds

One of the arguments against such a move would be not wanting to burn a redshirt on a guy with promising potential when you've got juniors and seniors on your two deep. However, there isn't a single one of those guys who hasn't been hit in the breadbasket and dropped the ball. At this point Oklahoma needs a tall speedy receiver who can catch the ball on the field more than they need a freshman with potential to redshirt.

The other issue with a potential move like this is whether Reynolds can catch the ball or not. We won't know the answer to that he isn't given the opportunity to try. Like I said earlier, the worst case scenario is that he drops passes the same way that the other guys have. With all due respect to Adron Tennell and Brandon Caleb, there appears to be a reason they've been buried on the depth chart their whole careers at Oklahoma. Now as upperclassmen they've been given two opportunities to step up and have bombed. They don't even have to be the go-to guys either because Oklahoma already has one of those in Ryan Broyles. They just need to be guys who can make a catch and take some heat off the go-to guy.

Jaz Reynolds received 9 scholarship offers coming out of high school. I'm assuming that it wasn't because he has a tendency to drop passes.

Idaho State Game Position Grades

ccmachine — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:38:32 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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Oklahoma bounced back, as expected, against Idaho State with a dominating defensive performance and offensive speed. However, even against an FCS team the grades weren't perfect as the Sooners showed that they've still got some work to do.

Quarterback B+

At times Landry Jones was exceptional (18/32, 286 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) and yet at other times he struggled in reading through his progressions which led to one interception and should have been more. Still, Jones managed the game well and showed that OU can continue to run their offense with him under center.

Running Backs A+

DeMarco Murray was his old self, rushing for 101 yards on 12 carries (8.4 ypc), and Chris Brown provided workman like 5.9 yards per carry going for 65 yards. In garbage time the young backs ran hard as well. Jonathan Miller carried the ball 9 times for 88 yards and, to my surprised, looked stronger and faster than Jermie Calhoun who rushed for 26 yards on 7 carries. All four of the running backs scored at least once with Murray crossing the goal line twice.

Receivers/Tight Ends C+

DeMarco Murray said that having Brody Eldridge out on the edge made a huge difference in the running game. I'd still like to see OU develop a passing game that includes the tight end because dropped passes by Brandon Caleb, Cameron Kenny and Dejuan Miller along with Adron Tennell last week are becoming too common. Ryan Broyles had 155 yards on 7 receptions with 3 touchdowns but unfortunately we have to grade the unit as a whole.

Offensive Line B-

Oklahoma's offensive line held up fairly well against a lesser Idaho State defense but my chief complaint against them is not being able to punch it in from inside the 1. That obviously is an issue with the line and running up the middle clearly shouldn't be an option for this team in those situations anymore. Regardless they line helped lead the team to a rushing average of 6.3 yards per carry.

Defensive Line A

Due to limited defensive snaps (Idaho State punted 12 times) and the rotation of younger players there weren't a lot of stats to be passed around. Gerald McCoy accounted for one of Oklahoma's two sacks and the Sooner defensive line stopped the Bengal offense at the point of attack all night. Frank Alexander recovered a Kyle Blum fumble and returned it for a touchdown.

Linebackers A+

The telling stat for Oklahoma's linebackers is 32/-22. That's how many rushes and rushing yards the Bengals had against the OU defense. Travis Lewis and Austin Box led the team with a combined 9 tackles each. Ronnell Lewis tackled Clint Knickrehm for a safety.

Secondary A

Like the other spots of the defense Oklahoma's secondary saw a lot of new faces on Saturday night and no one disappointed. ISU's only positive yardage came on passing plays but the Sooner secondary was more than stout and laid the wood of Bengal receivers and running backs all night. Dominique Franks and Jamell Flemming led the secondary with a combined 4 tackles each.

Special Teams B+

Maybe it was just me but it seemed that if Idaho State had more team speed they would have been able to exploit some of the seams in Oklahoma's kickoff team. Maybe I'm just nitpicking because the Bengals only averaged 14 yards a return. In the punting game Tress Way averaged 42.8 yards per kick while Idaho State had -2 yards per return. OU did have a missed extra point but I'm choosing to blame that on the weather.

Countdown To Kickoff

ccmachine — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 06:52:26 -0000

Big 12 Freshmen I Look Forward To Seeing In 2009

Beergut — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:33:01 -0000

There are always a few 5-star, can't miss recruits who are the talk of the nation around signing day, but end up redshirting during their freshman season, so we're left to wait a year before seeing if they are worth the hype. The usual players to merit a redshirt are offensive linemen, because time to develop in the weight room and learn the system will do them some good, but every once in a while, a stud skill position player is redshirted.

Jermie Calhoun of Van HS is one such player. A 5-star RB recruit, Calhoun was a Parade All-American in HS before redshirting with Oklahoma last season. I am interested to see if he cracks the two-deep this season, and what, if anything, he does when given a chance to play.

Another 5-star stud from Texas who signed with OU but ended up redshirting was Keller Fossil Ridge DE R.J. Washington. Washington was also a Parade All-American, and was ranked the #2 defensive end in the nation by Rivals, and the #13 recruit overall. Given that Auston English, Frank Alexander, and Jeremy Beal are returning at DE, it will be interesting to see if Washington cracks the depth chart.

texas didn't have any five-star students in their 2008 recruiting class, but they did have two intriguing prospects. DeSean Hales was a four-star ranked multi-purpose back coming out of Klein Oak High School. texas has moved him to WR during his redshirt season. It will be interesting to see how Hales does at receiver, because I think they'll feature him at the B-receiver position. texas' other intriging prospect is former Austin LBJ wide receiver D.J. Grant. texas' coaches moved Grant to TE during Fiesta Bowl practices, and I'm wondering if he'll see significant action at Y in 2009. Anyone else want to see if Tre Newton is the answer to texas' problems at RB?

Oklahoma State has a stud RS freshman RB in Kye Staley, a 4-star recruit who was considered the top football player in Oklahoma in 2008. Staley was recruited as an "athlete", but will now try to break into a lineup that includes Kendall Hunter and Keith Toston at TB.

Nebraska's only 5-star stud recruit is also the only 5-star recruit to ever come out of the state of Nebraska, OT Baker Steinkuhler. Since arriving in Lincoln, Steinkuhler has switched to the defensive side of the ball, and is now listed at DT. He should be fun to watch this season, if only to hear announcers refer to his father, former Outland Trophy winner Blake Steinkuhler, every time he is on television.

These are only seven redshirt freshmen I am interested in seeing during the 2009 football season; who will you be watching for?

2009 OU Football Preview: Running Backs/Fullbacks

ccmachine — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:22:14 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Jermie Calhoun, #23, was impressive in the spring and looks to make his mark as a Sooner running back in 2009.

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In addition to a Heisman winning quarterback, the nation’s top tight end and at least one game breaker at receiver (tight ends & receivers preview coming next) Oklahoma also returns two 1,000 yard running backs. The significance of this is that the Sooners return 100% of their rushing yards in 2009, along with every significant passing yard, to make up one of the top backfields in the country.

The most intriguing aspect of Oklahoma’s backfield in `09 may be the development of redshirt freshman Jermie Calhoun. He’ll start the season #3 on the depth chart and will most likely remain there all season but the coaching staff will look for as many opportunities as possible to get him on the field.

Running Backs

Chris Brown, Sr. – In 2008 Brown was All Big 12 Honorable Mention by both the Coaches and AP. He became the 20^th player in OU history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season and broke the 100 yard mark in six different games on his way to a total of 1,220 rushing yards. He scored three rushing touchdowns on four different occasions and against Kansas State recorded a career high 142 yards. His 20 touchdowns last season rank 5^th all-time at OU.

DeMarco Murray, Jr. – More of an all-purpose back than Brown, Murray was First Team All-Big 12 by the coaches and second team by the AP in `08. He set the single season record for all-purpose yards last season with 2,171 total yards. In addition to that his 774 kick return yards were second most in school history. He surpassed 100 yards rushing on five different occasions including the Texas A&M game in which he tallied 123 yards on just seven carries. His 1002 rushing yards gave the sooners two 1000 yard running backs. Against Oklahoma State he racked up 196 kick return yards and against Texas Tech had a career high 71 receiving yards.

Jermie Calhoun, RFr. – Was ranked as the nation’s #2 running back and the top player in the state of Texas by Rivals.

Jonathan Miller, Fr. – Ranked as the nation’s #30 running back by Rivals.

Fullbacks

Matt Clapp, Sr. – In 2008 Matt Clapp was a First Team All-Big 12 selection by the coaches. He had touchdown receptions against Cincinnati, Kansas and Texas A&M. His score against A&M was a career-long 28-yard touchdown reception.

Marshall Musil, Fr. – Ranked as the #49 athlete in the nation and the #4 player in Kansas by Rivals.

2009 OU Football Preview: Quarterbacks

ccmachine — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:07:33 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Sam Bradford’s legacy is set in Norman but a national championship would still be a nice addition to his resume.

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It’s not so much a rarity for a school to have a Heisman Trophy candidate line up under center to start the college football season but to have a Heisman winner under center to start the season is a bit of an oddity. Florida and Oklahoma both have the luxury of quarterbacks who will be competing to join Archie Griffin in the two-time Heisman winner club.

The greatness of Sam Bradford was possibly lost a little bit in 2008 in the midst of all the records shattered by Oklahoma’s high powered offense. He passed for an eye popping 4,720 with a ratio of 50 touchdowns to just 8 interceptions. When you consider the amount of time Bradford spent on the bench due to blowout wins those numbers become even more staggering.

As a junior, Bradford will once again be called on to carry the success of Oklahoma’s offense on his shoulders. Those out there who are expecting gloom and doom for Bradford in 2009 should consider a few things. While the offensive line is revamped it is far from inexperienced (O-Line Preview Still To Come). The stable of running backs in `09 should be even better than in `08 because of the addition of Jermie Calhoun and a healthy DeMarco Murray. While not necessarily starters in `08 Ryan Broyles and Adron Tennell have plenty of game experience and add to the mix JUCO transfer Cameron Kenny and OU has game breakers on the edges. Tight end Jermaine Gresham was unstoppable as a junior and returns for his senior year for more of the same. With Oklahoma’s quick strike offense Sam Bradford has a homerun threat at every possible option. Still, there are those expecting Bradford to suffer a slump as Texas’ Colt McCoy did his sophomore season but there is one thing erroneously left out of that equation. Colt McCoy didn’t have the talent around him that Sam Bradford does!

To be realistic it isn’t quite fair to expect Bradford to duplicate what he did in 2008 this fall. His list of awards and accomplishments was record breaking for a reason and may not be surpassed for a long, long time. Along with the Heisman Trophy Sam Bradford was the Davey O'Brien Award winner, the Sammy Baugh Trophy winner, the Chic Harley Award winner and AP and Sporting News First Team All-American. He was named as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year by the coaches, All-Big 12 first team by the coaches and the AP and All-Big 12 Academic first team and ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA. He became the first quarterback to win two Big 12 titles and led the nation in TD passes (50) and passing efficiency (180.84) as well as setting OU records for touchdowns in a season and a career (86). He set school records for passing yards in one season (4,720), total offense in one season (4,767) and 300-yard passing games in one season (12) and set NCAA record for TD passes during the freshman/sophomore seasons with 86. Bradford threw five TDs in four different games and moved up to # 2 in OU career passing yards (7,841).

Behind Bradford Oklahoma has inexperience making his protection all the more a priority. Redshirt freshman Landry Jones was touted as the #6 quarterback in the nation by both Rivals and Scout. In Oklahoma’s spring game he completed 5 of 12 passes for 73 yards with one score and a touchdown. True freshman Drew Allen was also highly touted coming out of high school (Rivals had him listed as the nation’s #15 pro-style quarterback). He’s most likely looking at a redshirt in 2009.

With Two Running Backs No Longer In The Mix Depth Still Isn’t A Concern For OU

ccmachine — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:26:36 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Jermie Calhoun (#23) pushed Mossis Madu and Justin Johnson out of the way in the spring and will be providing relief for Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray this fall. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Oklahoma is deep and talented at running back. So much so that guys are being reassigned and are transferring out. When the preseason depth chart was released last week it was confirmed that Mossis Madu was being moved from running back to receiver and then while in Dallas for the Sooner Caravan Tour, Bob Stoops confirmed that running back Justin Johnson would be leaving.

"Right now we anticipate him transferring, which is fine," Stoops said. "We'll give him a full release and wish him the best. We wish him the best. Certain guys seek certain things and he feels that's best for him. We want it for him as well."

Johnson was a highly touted running back coming in to Norman. Scout had him as the nation’s second rated running back and he was a U.S. Army All-American coming out of high school. However, Johnson wasn’t able to move past the fourth spot on Oklahoma’s depth chart and apparently wasn’t patient enough to wait around for some of the older guys to move on, choosing to play at Abilene Christian instead of paying his dues at OU.

These moves speak more of the ability of Jermie Calhoun than anything else. By moving Madu to receiver the Oklahoma coaches moved the running back competition from five candidates to four. With Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray occupying the #1 and #2 spots Johnson and Calhoun were competing for the third and Calhoun was winning. How much did Calhoun influence the offense this spring? At least enough to where Madu is now a receiver and Johnson is gone.

Kevin Wilson has three high caliber backs to rotate into the lineup this fall. Coach Stoops also said in Dallas that DeMarco Murray had recovered from his injury and rejoined the team for summer workouts meaning that the thunder and lightening combination of him and Chris Brown will be an option from game one. Calhoun could be in the role that Madu was in last season by spelling the starters and providing a fresh set of legs but I really expect to see him get more plays that Madu did in `08.