FanHouse Jermaine Gresham

Whether or not Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford returns to the Sooners this season, or if he has indeed played his last college game, seems to be anybody's guess.

It's not like Texas and Oklahoma ever needed a reason to make their annual Red River Rivalry game in Dallas any more intense.

The tradition of the two programs, the bordering states and the fight for superiority in fertile recruiting ground of Texas use to be enough. Who knew this early season game would take on so much more meaning when both teams joined the Big 12 in 1996?

This game has become about so much more than school pride and bragging rights, as one of these two teams has won the South each of the last 10 years, and it has sometimes set the stage for the national championship picture.

The news just seems to keep getting worse for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Coach Bob Stoops confirmed Monday that leading receiver Ryan Broyles (right) will miss the next four to six weeks with a broken left shoulder. Broyles, who has caught 23 passes for 346 yards and seven touchdowns, broke his shoulder during Saturday's 21-20 loss at Miami.

The Sooners are still awaiting word on when Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford can return to action. He has been out since suffering a shoulder sprain during the season-opening loss to BYU. Stoops acknowledged Bradford's progress last week when he began working with the team for the first time, but it was determined he wasn't healthy enough to return to the lineup against the Hurricanes.

College isn't for everyone, particularly, as an example, first-round NFL draft picks like Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham.

Gresham learned on Tuesday that his senior season was over before it started. Surgeons who operated on Gresham's right knee that day said it would need five months to heal. So instead of leaning on crutches on the sidelines for some NFL team this season-opening week and weekend, with a few million in signing-bonus dollars in the bank and another million or so dollars in paychecks rolling in, Gresham will lean on crutches on the Sooners' sidelines for nothing, except that "free" college education student-athletes are afforded.

Whoopee.

The news on Oklahoma All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham Tuesday night wasn't what was hoped for in Norman, but it also wasn't unexpected.

The Sooners senior underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday afternoon and the scope revealed a tear in the cartilage that needed to be stitched back, a procedure that ended his season before it began and likely means the end of his college career.

Gresham, who passed on a chance to skip his senior season and head to the NFL, injured his knee during practice last Tuesday and missed the Sooners' season-opening loss to BYU. Gresham was expected to be the Sooners' top receiving threat and maybe the best tight end in the country after catching 14 touchdowns and 950 yards last season.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops certainly had a different vision for the start of the season than the one he is staring at right now.

In less than a week's span Stoops has lost his two most important offensive players, was upset in the season-opener to BYU and almost certainly will see their lofty No.3 ranking take a tumble when the latest polls are released this week.

Returning to the BCS national championship game all of sudden seems a far-off goal to the Sooners.

There is a chance Oklahoma Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford will return to the Sooners lineup soon.

There is a chance he won't.

But any word on the extent of Bradford's injury, his rehabilitation and his impending return were still up in the air Sunday, one day after the third-ranked Sooners' star quarterback was knocked out of the game with a sprained the AC Joint in his right shoulder during their shocking season-opening 14-13 loss to No. 20 BYU.

Well there's your first major (major!) college football upset, apologies to Boise State. No. 20 BYU upset No. 3 Oklahoma 14-13 on Saturday night as Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford could only watch from the sidelines after getting knocked out of the game with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder. Also sidelined earlier in the week was All American tight end Jermaine Gresham.

Sooners' backup quarterback Landry Jones couldn't get the offense going. Meanwhile, BYU simply went out and won at the end with a methodical late touchdown drive to go up 14-13 with a little over three minutes left. Oklahoma had a final shot but missed a long field goal with about a minute left giving the Cougars their first victory over a top five team since their 1990 upset over No. 1 Miami.

All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham reportedly won't be available for Oklahom'as Saturday night's season opener against No.20 BYU, according to mutliple media outlets in Oklahoma.

But the news could get worse if Gresham requires season-ending surgery, as KWTV speculated could be a possibility on its Web site.

The loss of Gresham could be a huge blow to the Sooners and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford as they look to win their fourth straight Big 12 championship. But according to reports out of Norman, no determination on the extent of the injury sustained during Wednesday night's practice has been determined. OU head coach Bob Stoops or anyone from the school has made a comment on Gresham's injury or the possibility he will not play Saturday in the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The 2010 NFL draft is still 51 weeks away, and yes, a whole lot will change during the 2009 college football season. But millions of us are obsessed with the NFL draft, so with the 2009 draft now behind us, let's take a very early look ahead at potential No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, as well as the other top players in the Class of 2010.