Posts tagged Allen Patrick at FanHouse

These guys are among the small handful of preseason favorites for the national championship. Easy call putting them in the Contender category today, no? We make no promises on their ability to deliver, given the whole hot stove human behavior thing whereby Oklahoma has lost big in so many different ways in bowl games lately we know better than to bet on crimson anytime after early December.

But there's always that victory over Texas to fall back on, right? Assuming they beat Texas this year, of course.

Why They'll Win

Talent. It's the lifeblood of all college football programs and Oklahoma's fairly deep with it. The guys the NFL loves are on the lines, but college football fans can appreciate great players with diminished NFL prospects like one Sam Bradford. This guy's just got the knack for making accurate throws, on time, and making the right reads. His freshman season is simply the best statistical freshman season ever.

Oklahoma will continue to do what it always does, play fast on defense, and find ways to get the ball down the field on the ground and in the air. Leading rusher Allen Patrick departs but the exciting DeMarco Murray has arrived and he will be pushed in a big way from frosh back Jermie Calhoun. The offensive line is also widely considered the nation's finest.

One of the biggest questions in the Big 12 this year is who will replace Adrian Peterson as Oklahoma's starting running back? If the spring is any indication, Sooner fans can rest easy, knowing an abundance of talent appears ready to run in Norman. For starters, Allen Patrick and Chris Brown both return after stepping up in Peterson's absence and propelling the Sooners to the Big 12 Championship. In addition, a new star has emerged in Oklahoma's spring scrimmages in redshirt freshman DeMarco Murray.

In Saturday's scrimmage Murray carried the ball 16 times for 132 yards and a touchdown. His 65-yard run was also the longest play of the day for the Sooners. Despite these efforts, Head coach Bob Stoops remains understated.

"DeMarco's a special player," Stoops said.

Murray was also the most impressive back in Oklahoma's first scrimmage of the spring on March 14. In that scrimmage he carried the ball 9 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 37 yards.

The emergence of Murray, gives the Sooners all sorts of options in the backfield. Patrick and Brown both look durable enough to be every down backs. It is doubtful, however, that Patrick will average anywhere near the 30 carries a game that he did in the second half of 2006. Instead, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson should be able to spread the ball around amongst Patrick, Brown, Murray and Mossis Madu another talented redshirt freshman. You can probably expect to Murray and Madu to line up in the slot and perhaps split time as the feature back when the Sooners operate from the shotgun.

However they decide to use the four backs, I think this qualifies as one of those "good problems to have."

Last Year: 11-3 (8-1), # 11 AP, # 11 Coaches

Fans Are: Optimistic. It's been a wild run under coach Bob Stoops. There was the championship in his second season and several more frustrating title game appearances, Jason White's Heisman trophy, Adrian Peterson's near-miss with the Heisman, many wins over Texas and finally last year the end of the Adrian Peterson era and the epic bowl loss to Boise State. It's breath-catching time with a roster depleted of stars but full of quality.

Expectations: Beat Texas, play in the Big 12 Championship Game, play in a BCS bowl game.

Questions:

1. What's going on with the quarterbacks?

This sounds like a rare "open" competition. There is no holdover player with a vast experience edge on his competitors who are often less experienced but more talented. Joey Halzle has some JUCO experience but otherwise has been at Oklahoma as long as redshirt freshman Sam Bradford. The Sooners snuck true frosh Keith Nichol out of the grasps of Michigan State. He has enrolled early and because of that has a legitimate shot at the job.

2. Can freshman quarterback Keith Nichol win the job?

It's doubtful at best, at least out of spring. I read a Stoops quote somewhere recently where he said a frosh starter, particularly at quarterback, has to be special unless injuries have killed the depth chart. He may be more competitive later in the year but the real task this spring is probably to get Nichol to grasp the offensive basics while evaluating the competence of Bradford and Halzle.

3. Can the tailbacks fill in for Adrian Peterson?

Absolutely. We saw that last year as Allen Patrick and Chris Brown led the Sooner offense through an 8-0 league run after the Red River Rivalry loss to Texas. Coach Stoops is also talking up redshirt frosh backs Mossis Madu and DeMarco Murray who are more slippery runners and nice counters to the inside styles of Brown and Patrick.

4. Will the defense still dominate?

Probably. It all starts up front and the Sooners lose three senior ends that have to be accounted for. Zach Latimer and Rufus Alexander also depart, leaving vacancies at linebacker. The defensive interior should be fantastic once again with Steve Coleman, Carl Pendleton, Cory Bennett, DeMarcus Granger and others around to clog things up inside.

The secondary is young but has lots of speedy veterans in Lendy Holmes, D.J. Wolfe, Nic Harris, Darien Williams, Marcus Walker and All America candidate Reggie Smith. The Big 12 has become increasingly pass-happy and the Sooners have the secondary to manage against the league's best passers.