SB Nation User Blog: ccmachine

Franks Coming Back Others Possibly Leaning Towards Staying

ccmachine — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:19:37 -0000

Oklahoma's defense could be pretty salty again next year as key members of what has possibly been the best defense of the Stoops era are deciding to return for another season. Adrian Taylor announced he'd be returning next season and now Dominique Franks is the next to say he'll be returning to Norman to play ball in 2010.

"I'm not worried about it at all," Franks said. "I'm coming back."

"I'm done with it. I'm just focusing on this last game. That's all I'm worried about," Franks said. "I'm not worried about talking to anybody or being at that next level."

Keenan Clayton, Auston English, Brian Jackson and Ryan Reynolds are all gone due to graduation but only Clayton and Jackson were every down every game players. Reynolds and English missed time because of injury but in their place Austin Box and Frank Alexander performed very well. Both were key contributors to shutting out Oklahoma State on the final weekend of the season and both will be around next season as well.

In addition to Taylor and Franks linebacker Travis Lewis, defensive end Jeremy Beal and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy are among the top underclassmen who could be throwing their names in next spring's NFL draft. It's widely speculated that McCoy is gone and while there's been absolutely not official word from him I'd be surprised to see him in crimson and cream in 2010. Instead we'll be looking at Jamarkus McFarland who while not yet at the level of McCoy did show flashes of greatness this year as a true freshman.

It's been rumored that Jeremy Beal is leaning towards staying as well even though he's not talking. The only thing that he's said is that he's focused on Stanford and will address that once the bowl game is over. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence to be honest but until he gives us something solid to go with all we have is speculation.

"I'm thinking about Stanford and getting better every day at practice," said Beal, who was chosen to the All-Big 12 first team. "I'm not thinking about the NFL."

"We've still got one more game and I'll think about that after the Stanford game," he added.

Travis Lewis hasn't stated whether he's staying or going either but he's at least given us the criteria for his departure. Lewis wants to be a first round draft pick and says he won't leave Oklahoma early unless that is guaranteed.

"It'd have to be pretty high. I have high standards for myself and everybody wants to go in the first round to take care of your family for the rest of your life," Lewis said. "Whether it's this year, next year or the year after. I've got two more years to play. I think eventually I'll be there."

"It's all about me and patience-how patient I am staying here and bettering myself to get to that No. 1, that first round."

There will be plenty of new faces on next year's defense but the key to success is blending the new guys with veteran leadership. Marcus Trice is going to make a push at replacing Brian Jackson, Ronnell Lewis, Tom Wort and Austin Box are going to battle for the middle linebacker position and depending what others do, we may see more. The thing is, the more we see guys like Taylor, Franks, Lewis and Beal the more experience and leadership we'll see on the field to go along with young talent. In a nutshell the learning curve will be smaller and that's exactly what we're looking for.

Crocker And The Gentlemen - Tony Goes Off On Centenary!

ccmachine — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:40:26 -0000

Tony Crocker had 29 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday night against Centenary, in the first half! Scoring 11 of the team's first 13 points Crocker helped Oklahoma jump out to a 13-0 lead over the Gentlemen and for the fourth game in a row the Sooners cruised to a double digit victory.

Crocker was joined by teammate Tiny Gallon in recording a double-double as Oklahoma's big man finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Other than Crocker (11-19) and Gallon (7-11) the Sooners had a poor shooting night. As a team OU shot 34-73 from the floor (46.6%) and 10-30 from three point range (33.3%). Tommy Mason-Griffin (4-9), Willie Warren (4-13) and Cade Davis (0-7) all struggled from the floor making Crocker's performance all the more significant.

"(Tony) Crocker had a great first half. It’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen live. He was just in one of those zones. He is a streaky shooter and earlier this morning in shootaround I watched him make about 15 in a row. The whole time he was saying ‘I don’t think I can miss.’ I guess it carried over to tonight. One of the things I liked was that all of his shots early came within the flow of the offense. He was terrific." - Jeff Capel

With guys like Warren and Gallon who can have big nights and take over games the Sooners need a third option to keep defenses from being able to shutdown all scoring options. You may be able to stop one guy from killing you, if you're good you can focus on two scorers but it's extremely difficult to stop three. Crocker is now officially the x-factor for the Sooners which means that there will be nights where OU will live or die based on how he plays. Last night was a night where the thrived on Crocker's ability to score when his teammates couldn't.

In the pregame post I said that the two things the Sooners would need to do to secure a win was dominate the boards and play their roles within the offense. OU had a 49-33 rebounding advantage which led to 15 second chance points and the team relied on the hot shooter to lead them to a win.

I don't think that anyone would say that this is Crocker's team. Willie Warren is still the most dangerous scoring threat the Sooners have but on a night where his shots weren't falling, (0-6) from three-point range, he relied on someone else to spark the team. That's learning your place and in my opinion shows the kind of leadership the team was missing earlier in the season.

Nailing 7 three-pointers helped Crocker score a career high 33 points and his 13 rebounds provided his second double-double of the season. If all that wasn't enough he also had three blocked shots to help Oklahoma's defensive effort of holding Centenary to 37% shooting from the floor.

Centenary At Oklahoma Men's Basketball Game Thread

ccmachine — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:04:46 -0000

by Michael Dinneen - AP

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Tip: 7:07 pm (CST)

Venue: Llyod Noble

TV: KAUT Ch 43 (OKC), KQCW Ch 19 (Tulsa), ESPN Full Court

Radio: KRXO 107.7 (OKC), KTBZ AM 1430, Sirius 153

Centenary's Projected Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Year	2009-10 Stats / Notes
F	30	Jerrald Bonham	6-8	210	Sr.	8.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 50.0 FG%
G	14	Roman Tubner	6-0	190	Jr.	16.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.1 apg
G	20	David Perez	6-3	195	So.	22.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.6 apg
G	22	Daman Starring	6-4	190	Fr.	9.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg
G	21	Maxx Nakwaasah	6-3	205	So.	9.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 81.8 FG%

Oklahoma's Projected Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Year	2008-09 Stats / Notes
F	24	Tiny Gallon	6-9	290	Fr.	11.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 60.0 FG%
G	5	Tony Crocker	6-6	209	Sr.	11.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 40.7 3FG%
G	11	Tommy Mason-Griffin	5-11	203	Fr.	9.5 ppg, 5.0 apg, 42.9 3FG%
G	13	Willie Warren	6-4	203	Fr.	20.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.4 apg
G	34	Cade Davis	6-5	199	Jr.	7.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.1 spg

Sooners Host Centenary Tonight At LNC - A Look At The Gentlemen

ccmachine — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:58:29 -0000

More photos » by ALONZO ADAMS - AP

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With wins over Nichols State, Arkansas and Arizona the Oklahoma men's basketball team has won three in a row and will be looking to extend their streak to four tonight against the Centenary Gentlemen of the Summit Conference, the same conference Oral Roberts plays in.

Coming off of an 84-83 loss to UMKC on Saturday the Gentlemen have lost two of their last three games. With a 4-3 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the conference Centenary is currently tied for fourth in their conference.

The Gentlemen run a four guard lineup with sophomore David Perez leading the way with 22 points per game. He's an average shooter 44% from the floor and 33% from three point range. Where he's most dangerous is from the charity stripe where he sinks 94% of his shots.

Joining Perez as the only other player scoring in double figures is junior guard Roman Tubner (17 PPG). Still not a strong shooter, 45% from the floor and 21% from three point range, Tubner just gets the job done when it comes to scoring.

Senior forward Jerrald Bonham is Centenary's man on the glass averaging 5.6 boards and 8.7 points per game. He may have a struggle with Tiny Gallon though as he gives up 80 pounds to the Oklahoma freshman. As a team the Gents only shoot 45% from the floor and they are fairly string on the offensive glass grabbing 16 offensive rebounds per game. That's why this match up of Gallon vs. Bonham becomes so crucial because there will be lots of shots coming off the rim tonight.

Oklahoma should have the athletes to run over and around the Gentlemen but a victory is going to depend largely on two things. 1) Understanding their role on the team. This has been much improved over the last two games and needs to continue for the team to work as one cohesive unit. 2) Rebounds! Again, there are going to be a lot of boards to be scooped up tonight and the Sooners must be looking for second chance points and to limit Centenary's trips down the floor to just one shot.

Voting For The Sports Blog Heisman Leaves Out Two Big Names

ccmachine — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:02:12 -0000

Texas offensive line plays paper, rock, scissors in the huddle to see who has to try and block Suh on this next play.

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Last year sports bloggers collectively voted to award the first annual Sports Blogger's Heisman Trophy to (gulp!) Tim Tebow. Now once again we face the challenge of selecting one man from a handful of players to be recognized as the best college football player in the nation. Like the actual Heisman voting, points are awarded for first, second and third place votes. Here's my attempt at explaining my selections.

1. Ndamukong Suh, DT Nebraska - On a day where "Heisman Frontrunners" Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow were supposed to make their final statements of deserving the hardware it was Suh who stole the show and produced the most dominating performance college football fans have seen on national television in a long time. For the season Suh has 82 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, 1 interception, 10 pass breakups, 24 quarterback hurries, 1 forced fumble and 3 blocked kicks.

2. Mark Ingram, RB Alabama - Like Suh, I had Ingram further down on my list until his performance last Saturday where he gave the second most impressive performance of the day. Against Florida he averaged 4 yards per carry on his way to 113 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. You can also add 76 receiving yards to his tally and for the season he's been even more impressive with 1,542 rushing yards (6.2 YPC) and 15 rushing touchdowns.

3. Toby Gerhart, RB Stanford - He's been the workhorse for the Cardinal this season with 311 carries for 1,736 yards (5.6 YPC) and 26 rushing touchdowns. Unfortunately he's a bit overshadowed by not being able to participate in a conference championship game but his body of work in the regular season is impressive enough on its own.

Obviously Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy are missing from my list and as many will claim bias in leaving them off we really could debate if they deserve to be on the list or not until the end of time. At the end of the day their seasons weren't as impressive as these three and since the Heisman Trophy is not a lifetime achievement award but rather an award given to the most outstanding football player in a single season this was the result of the process. Thoughts?

Catching Up With Former Sooner Greats

ccmachine — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:21:05 -0000

via www.formersoonergreats.com

Have you ever wondered what happened to guys like Granville Liggins, Thomas Lott, Marcus Dupree, George Cumby, Rickey Dixon and Keith Jackson? A new publication tracks down 85 former All American and All Conference football players.

The magazine also includes archive pictures of the featured players, as well as feature articles about the history of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the history of the OU Mascots, a tribute to Cecil Samara - OU's Greatest Fan, and other interesting information. If you are a Sooner fan, this magazine is a must for you. It also makes the perfect Christmas gift or stocking stuffer for any Sooner fan.

For more information or to order your copy check out, Former Sooner Greats Where Are They Now?

Adrian Taylor Coming Back Next Year, Yea!

ccmachine — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:36:07 -0000

Adrian Taylor Coming Back Next Year, Yea!

"I’ll be back," Taylor told AP after the Sooners agreed to face Stanford in the Sun Bowl on New Year’s Eve. "I know some people have been wondering but I’ll be back."
"Me and my dad talked about it and I’ll be back," Taylor said. "I feel like I need another year."
"I’ve been here a long time," he added. "What’s another 12 months?"

It really is good news but I'm not sure he's the defensive tackle we are most worried about.

Stanford Runs Out Of Luck Before The Sun Bowl

ccmachine — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:14:00 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck will not be in uniform against Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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Early yesterday evening it was announced that Oklahoma and Stanford would face each other in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve. Then it was announced by Cardinal Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh that starting quarterback Andrew Luck wouldn't be playing against the Sooners.

Luck has thrown for 2,575 yards and 13 touchdowns this season but suffered an injury to his hand against Notre Dame and is now recovering from surgery. He'll be replaced by Tavita Pritchard who was once the starting quarterback before Luck arrived. Pritchard has completed 244 of 449 pass attempts at Stanford for 2,747 yards but also has thrown 22 interceptions to 15 touchdowns. Looks like Toby Gerhart is going to get even more touches.

Pritchard led Stanford to their first upset of #2 USC in 2007 so the Oklahoma defense isn't going against someone who has never been under pressure. It doesn't mean that the game plan for Oklahoma's defense didn't just get easier or the bowl game didn't get uglier. There's a reason why Pritchard was beaten out by a redshirt freshman and now having him in the game puts OU at a defensive advantage. Both defenses will be focused on stopping the run and making quarterbacks beat them.

Sooners Pound Wildcats Behind Warren’s 25

ccmachine — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:42:43 -0000

For the first time this season Oklahoma's men's basketball team dominated a game from start to finish in their 79-62 win over Arizona. Steven Pledger's free throw put the Sooners up 20-9 at the 12:03 mark of the first half and the game was never in doubt. Willie Warren led all scorers with 25 points followed by Tiny Gallon (14), Tony Crocker (13) and Tommy Mason-Griffin (10).

Of course as usual there are still some concerns about this team and their performance, like getting beat on the boards (32-28) and a bit of a second half shooting slump, but for the most part this was the most dominant and most complete performance we've seen from this team. My favorite stat was that the Sooners only turned the ball over 7 times while stealing the ball 9 times and forcing 17 Arizona turnovers. OU scored 21 points off turnovers, 10 points on fast breaks and had a 34-20 point advantage in the paint.

For lack of better words OU is starting to get their legs underneath them and have proven in the last two games that the team that absolutely fell on its face in Alaska isn't a true representation of who the Sooners are. Guys are starting to learn or adjust to their roles on the squad and hopefully we're seeing the chemistry of three McDonalds All-Americans begin to develop.

Are You At All Excited About This?

ccmachine — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:24:13 -0000

I'm working on it.