College Football Preview

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COLLEGE PREVIEW Glory days recaptured Fans put faith in mike STOOPS

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COLLEGE PREVIEWGlory days recaptured

Fans put faith in mike STOOPS

Still ahead

Mini posters. . . . . . . . . . 4, 9, 20, 23, 25Big 12 season schedules . . . . . . . . . . . 7Big 12 team capsules. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Top 5 impact players to watch. . . . . . 12

The Heisman buzz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Top 5 coordinators to watch . . . . . . . 18 Big 12 team previews. . . . . . . . . . 21-28What’s on the SEC horizon? . . . . . . . 29

Previewn Cover story: Aftereight years away, it isMike Stoops’ return to hisold defensive coordinatorrole that has OU fansbelieving the dominantdefense that epitomizedthe program’s run from2000-2003 — when itwon two Big 12 champi-onships, played in twonational championshipgames and won the 2000national title — willreturn.

Pages 16-17n Landry Jones hasthrown for more yardsthan any quarterback inOklahoma history. He’sfour wins shy of match-ing the Sooners’ markfor wins by a quarter-back. So where’s thelove?

Page 5n Wide receiver crewlargely untested buttrusted

Page 9

n Blake Bell and theBelldozer still an option

Page 11

n Can OSU stay the titlecourse?

Page 14

n What do WestVirginia, TCU add to themix?

Page 19

ALL RANKINGS ASIDE ...

Don’t look at Oklahoma’s ranking,No. 4 by the coaches and No. 4 bythe writers.

Don’t look at last season’s lopsidedbowl victory. The Sooners played Iowafor crying out loud. In Arizona, yes, butnot Glendale.

Don’t look at the returning quarter-back and figure all is well.Landry Jones’ desire to play afinal year of college footballabsolutely has put a floorunder the Sooners that keepsthem in the Big 12 andnational hunts, but the guydoesn’t have Ryan Broyles tothrow to any more, nor doeshe even have Jaz Reynolds forthe indefinite future.

Unless Trey Metoyer isbetter as a true freshman thanBroyles was as a redshirtfreshman, the Sooner

receiving corps may be able, though freeof superstars.

Also, don’t look at an offensive line thatreturns everybody, because it doesn’t,not any more. Not with Ben Haberncalling it a career because of a very realand debilitating pain in the neck, and notwith the torn ACL of Tyler Evans.

Well, feel free to look at all that, justdon’t look at any of those things forcertainty.

A nation of pundits watched OU beatthe Hawkeyes in Tempe, saw thequarterback choose to come back andwatched Mike Stoops — dismissed incompetitive disgrace at Arizona, return to

run the Sooner defense he last took tothe 2004 BCS national championshipgame — and figured, sure, put ’em inthe top five, it’ll sell.

And it will, because this is OU we’retalking about.

But it doesn’t jibe with the reality onthe ground, a reality that included injuryand transfer and indefinite suspension,positional shakeups and uncertainty atrunning back, where Roy Finch remainsand the jury remains out on just how fastand how far Dominique Whaley cancome back from a broken ankle.

Yet here is the good news.The bad news is not that bad.The Sooners may be overrated, but

they are not under-talented. They mayhave a long road to get there, but theprogram has traversed it before, in 2000when it came out of nowhere to win it all,in 2006 when Paul Thompson went backto quarterback at the 11th hour and ledOU to a Big 12 championship and theyear after that when nobody knew whatto make of a freshman quarterbacknamed Sam Bradford, only to see theprogram take off again.

It is the promise of possibility and theSooners haven’t lost any of that, becauseBob Stoops is still the coach, becausethere are still very good and accom-plished players lining up on both sides ofthe ball and because, yes, even if MikeStoops is no miracle worker, change isoften very good in an immediate way.

There’s reason to believe.Indeed, isn’t this more fun?Jones has been both overvilified and

overpraised, but here he is, in a positionto make his receivers more than theymake him, one half of the first couple ofOU athletics. No, his marriage toWhitney Hand may not mean anythingon third-and-10 from his own 20 at theCotton Bowl, and still his Sooner story isricher for it. If he comes through with abig season, it will be more fun.

Whaley was so good last season, thenovelty of his being a walk-on, while agreat story, soon wore off. Still, he’sbeaten the odds in the past simply bybecoming a go-to tailback. His effective-ness is a question mark, but don’t besurprised if he answers with an exclama-tion point.

And the younger Stoops may find themagic.

Has the defense become simpler? Hesays so, and so have some players. Butnot all the players. Whatever. He seemsto know what he’s after. Also, whateverBrent Venables was after last seasonoccasionally materialized in failure.

Change may be very good.If it is, the Sooners are right back in

the thick of everything.Embrace it.This is not a team with the weight of

the world on its shoulder. That was lastseason when OU was a preseason No. 1,and the year before when the first roundof BCS standings stunningly placed theSooners at the top of the heap.

This is a wild card.Misguided preseason aside, a long

shot. But long shots come home. It happens all the time.

ClayHorningSports Editor

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On the Covern Cover design: Amanda Hoddy / The Norman Transcriptn Photos: Jerry Laizure / The Norman Transcriptn Clockwise from upper left: OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoopscoaching with defensive line coach Jackie Shipp during Stoops’ first tenurewith the Sooners from 1999 to 2003; OU coach Bob Stoops; OU’s SoonerSchooner; Pride of Oklahoma flags; and OU quarterback Landry Jones.

REASON TO HOPEWhat Sooners lack in experience, they have in untried potential

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Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 5

By John ShinnTranscript Sports Writer

Landry Jones has thrown for more yardsthan any quarterback in Oklahoma history.Heck, with just an average season he’ll throwfor more yards than any Big 12 Conferencequarterback.

Those are just statistics. He’s four wins shyof matching the Sooners’ mark for wins by aquarterback and is a legitimate Heisman Tro-phy contender.

So, why was it that all OU fans didn’t rejoicewhen he spurned a likely spot in the first roundin the NFL draft and elected to return for hissenior season? They did when Jason Whiteelected to return in 2004 after a Heisman Tro-phy winning season the year before. Therewas a state of euphoria when Sam Bradfordreturned for another year after winning theHeisman Trophy in 2008.

OU coach Bob Stoops doesn’t get where theblasé attitude toward Jones comes from.

“He’s about to be the all-time leading pass-er in our history and that’s with guys like JasonWhite and Sam Bradford and Josh Heupel andso on and so on. That pretty much says it all,”he said.

Jones, who is 29-8 as the Sooners’ startingquarterback and has thrown a school record93 touchdown passes, is a victim of timing. Hehad to replace Bradford as OU’s starting quar-terback. Filling his shoes was never going tobe easy. It’s never easy to replace a guy whohas a statue outside the stadium.

Doesn’t help that his backup — Blake Bell— was the MVP of the Insight Bowl last sea-son and reinvigorated the Sooners’ rushingattack in the second half of last season. Does-n’t help that OU’s passing attack founderedafter All-American wide receiver Ryan Broyleswent three-quarters of the way through theseason.

“Let’s face it, a year ago you took away someweapons. He maybe overall hasn’t had the

Expectations set high for Jones

Jerry Laizure / The Transcript

Landry Jones, right, rejected a likely spot in the first round in the NFL draft and elected to return for his senior season.The fans have been cool toward Jones and OU coach Bob Stoops says he doesn’t get the blasé attitude toward Jones .

— OU coach Bob Stoops‘ ’Let’s face it, a year ago you took away some weapons. He maybe overall hasn’t had themost stable receiving corps and tight end corps like some of those other guys had. So, Ithink the guy has done very well. ... He’s Landry Jones and we love him.

• Jones, Page 6

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most stable receiving corps and tight endcorps like some of those other guys had,”Stoops said. “So, I think the guy has donevery well. And the expectations are whatthey are. He isn’t any of those other guys.He’s Landry Jones and we love him. I thinkhe’s getting ready to have a great year.”

Jones never says a peep when asked if hefeels slighted. His skin thickened soon afterhe was thrust into the starting job as a red-shirt freshman in 2009.

“You just have to realize what you arecapable of and what you are out there to doand leave everything else kind of off to theside. You have to focus on what you cancontrol,” he said. “Those other outsidedeals or what people are saying to you …You have to control your emotions and howyou react to things.”

Jones hardly said a peep when askedabout being left off the preseason All-Big 12team last month.

West Virginia quarterback Geno Smithhad the top spot. It exemplified the firstthree years of Jones’ career. He’s done the

things All-American quarterbacks do. Get-ting full credit for it has been the hard part.

Jones doesn’t ask for the praise. He’sreally only set one goal for this season.

“For me it’s going after that nationalchampionship,” he said. “We’ve had somesuccess around this place. With me at quar-terback, we haven’t yet been able to get tothat big game. We’ve had some stumblesusually in the regular season that keeps usfrom that. I think that’s a steppingstone thatI want to take and I want to be able toaccomplish in my career.”

It’s the one thing Bradford and Whiteweren’t able to attain; it’s the one thingJones has yet to achieve. Win it and LandryJones will finally get the respect he’searned.

If not, the critics will remain.“That comes from playing quarterback

at Oklahoma,” offensive coordinator JoshHeupel said. “If you don’t go out and winthem all and win championships, you’regoing to take some of that. He (Jones) does-n’t shy away from that.”

Jones From Page 5

Jerry Laizure / The Transcript

Senior quarterback Landry Jones is four wins shy of matching the Sooners’ markfor wins by a quarterback and is a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender.

University of OklahomaDate Time Opponent Location Last Meeting Series

Sept. 1 9:30 p.m. at UTEP El Paso Sept. 14, 2002 (68-0, OU) 2-0, OU

Sept. 8 6 p.m. Florida A&M Norman First Meeting 0-0Sept. 15 OpenSept. 22 TBA Kansas State Norman Oct. 29, 2011 (58-17, OU) 71-17-4, OUSept. 29 OpenOct. 6 TBA at Texas Tech Lubbock Oct. 22, 2011 (41-38, Tech) 13-6, OUOct.13 TBA Texas Dallas Oct. 8, 2011 (55-17, OU) 59-42-5, UTOct. 20 TBA Kansas Norman Oct. 15, 2011 (47-17, OU) 69-27-6, OUOct. 27 TBA Notre Dame Norman Oct. 2, 1999 (34-30, ND) 8-1, NDNov. 3 TBA at Iowa State Ames, Iowa Nov. 26, 2011 (26-6, OU) 69-5-2, OUNov. 10 TBA Baylor Norman Nov. 19, 2011 (45-38, BU) 20-1, OUNov. 17 TBA at West Virginia Morgantown, W.V. Jan. 2, 2007 (48-28, WV) 2-2, TiedNov. 24 TBA Oklahoma State Norman Dec. 3, 2011 (44-10, OSU) 82-17-7, OUDec. 1 TBA at TCU Fort Worth Sept. 27, 2008 (35-10, OU) 7-4, OU

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BAYLORSep. 2 SMU5:30 p.m.Sep. 15 Sam Houston St.TBASep. 21 at La.-Monroe7 p.m.Sep. 29 at West VirginiaTBAOct. 13 TCUTBAOct. 20 at TexasTBAOct. 27 at Iowa St.TBANov. 3 KansasTBANov. 10 at OklahomaTBANov. 17 Kansas St.TBANov. 24 Texas TechTBADec. 1 Oklahoma St.TBA

IOWA ST.Sep. 1 Tulsa, NoonSep. 8 at Iowa, 3:30 p.m.Sep. 15 W. Illinois, 8 p.m.Sep. 29 Texas Tech, TBAOct. 6 at TCU, TBAOct. 13 Kansas St., TBAOct. 20 at Oklahoma St., TBAOct. 27 Baylor, TBANov. 3 Oklahoma, TBANov. 10 at Texas, TBANov. 17 at Kansas, TBANov. 23 West Virginia, 3:30 p.m.

KANSASSep. 1 S. Dakota St., 7 p.m.Sep. 8 Rice, 3:30 p.m.Sep. 15 TCU, NoonSep. 22 at N. Illinois, TBAOct. 6 at Kansas St., TBAOct. 13 Oklahoma St., TBAOct. 20 at Oklahoma, TBAOct. 27 Texas, TBANov. 3 at Baylor, TBANov. 10 at Texas Tech, TBANov. 17 Iowa St., TBADec. 1 at West Virginia, TBA

KANSAS ST.Sep. 1 Missouri St., 7 p.m.Sep. 8 Miami, NoonSep. 15 North Texas, 7 p.m.Sep. 22 at Oklahoma, TBAOct. 6 Kansas, TBAOct. 13 at Iowa St., TBAOct. 20 at West Virginia, TBAOct. 27 Texas Tech, TBANov. 3 Oklahoma St., TBANov. 10 at TCU, TBANov. 17 at Baylor, TBADec. 1 Texas, TBA

OKLAHOMA ST.Sep. 1 Savannah St., 7 p.m.Sep. 8 at Arizona, 10:30 p.m.Sep. 15 Louisiana-Lafayette, NoonSep. 29 Texas, TBAOct. 13 at Kansas, TBAOct. 20 Iowa St., TBAOct. 27 TCU, TBANov. 3 at Kansas St., TBANov. 10 West Virginia, TBANov. 17 Texas Tech, TBANov. 24 at Oklahoma, TBADec. 1 at Baylor, TBA

Big 12 team schedules

TCUSep. 8 Grambling St., TBASep. 15 at Kansas, NoonSep. 22 Virginia, TBASep. 29 at SMU, TBAOct. 6 Iowa St., TBAOct. 13 at Baylor, TBAOct. 20 Texas Tech, TBAOct. 27 at Oklahoma St., TBANov. 3 at West Virginia, TBANov. 10 Kansas St., TBANov. 24 at Texas, TBADec. 1 Oklahoma, TBA

TEXASSep. 1 Wyoming, 8 p.m.Sep. 8 New Mexico, 8 p.m.Sep. 15 at Mississippi, 9:15 p.m.Sep. 29 at Oklahoma St., TBAOct. 6 West Virginia, TBAOct. 13 at Oklahoma, TBAOct. 20 Baylor, TBAOct. 27 at Kansas, TBANov. 3 at Texas Tech, TBANov. 10 Iowa St., TBANov. 24 TCU, TBADec. 1 at Kansas St., TBA

TEXAS TECHSep. 1 Northwestern St., TBASep. 8 at Texas St., 7 p.m.Sep. 15 New Mexico, 7 p.m.Sep. 29 at Iowa St., TBAOct. 6 Oklahoma, TBAOct. 13 West Virginia, TBAOct. 20 at TCU, TBAOct. 27 at Kansas St., TBANov. 3 Texas, TBANov. 10 Kansas, TBANov. 17 at Oklahoma St., TBANov. 24 at Baylor, TBA

WEST VIRGINIASep. 1 Marshall, NoonSep. 15 James Madison, 4:30 p.m.Sep. 22 Maryland, TBASep. 29 Baylor, TBAOct. 6 at Texas, TBAOct. 13 at Texas Tech, TBAOct. 20 Kansas St., TBANov. 3 TCU, TBANov. 10 at Oklahoma St., TBANov. 17 Oklahoma, TBANov. 23 at Iowa St., 3:30 p.m.Dec. 1 Kansas, TBA

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By John ShinnTranscript Sports Writer

A panic set in last season.Oklahoma’s passing gamehit a wall without RyanBroyles. When newsarrived in May that startersJaz Reynolds and TreyFranks might not play thisseason, alarm bells andwarning lights started goingoff.

The Sooners were aboutto enter the 2012 seasonwith only one receiver —junior Kenny Stills — who’dcaught a pass in an FBSgame. They were going tocount on a new crop offreshmen and a couple oftransfers to keep theoffense running.

If OU’s nervous abouthow it will workout, it hasmaintained a poker facethat could bluff a seasonedpro.

“You can see a lot ofgrowth and development inthis group, and a lot of tal-ent,” receivers coach JayNorvell said. “But you knowwhat they say about poten-tial. These guys have to doit and they have to provethat they can do it, so that’swhat we’re trying to do.We’re trying to gain thatcontinuity so we can makesure they can do it.”

One concern Norvell did-n’t have was freshman TreyMetoyer. He wooed team-mates and coaches from hisfirst practice in the springand picked up where he leftoff in the preseason.

“I want to be the best.That’s my job and that’swhat I practice for everyday,” Metoyer said. “I feellike nobody can stop me butme. I feel like as long as I’malive and on this team I’mgonna try to be the best.”

The addition of PennState transfer Justin Brownwas like finding a couple of$100 bills in an old pair ofjeans. Suddenly, the Soon-ers had a proven widereceiver with big-gameexperience.

“He’s added a ton,” OUcoach Bob Stoops said.

Brown’s added enoughthat Metoyer might be theonly freshman who startsthis season. It doesn’tmean OU won’t heavily relyon first-year receivers.

Metoyer, who was a five-start recruit in 2011 but hadto attend Hargrave MilitarySchool in Virginia for asemester to get eligible toenroll in January, is part of agroup of four highly toutedfreshmen the Sooners havebrought in.

Sterling Shepard, DurronNeal and Derrick Woodswere all four-star recruitswho were supposed toreplenish the receivercorps. There’s also juniorcollege transfer LcColtanBester in the mix.

“You have to have somedepth at the wide receiverposition,” Sooner quarter-back Landry Jones said.“There are games we aregoing to play more thanthree wide receivers. It’s

nice that we’re going tohave that fourth and fifthwide receiver to give breakswhen they are going to getgassed out there.”

If OU has its way, it willbe more like seven or eight.The coaching staff believesthe new receivers are thatgood.

Reynolds and Franks arepracticing with the team,but remain suspended.Stoops hasn’t said whethereither will play this season.The Sooners seem perfect-ly content to go with theyouth movement. The newreceivers give them theoption. All they have to do isplay up to their potential.

Receivers untested but trustedKenny Stills, left,brings someexperience tothe Sooners’receiving corps.The remainingreceivers arelargely untried.Freshman TreyMetoyer, below,has impressedteammates andcoaches alikewith the poten-tial he plans todeliver. “I wantto be the best.That’s my joband that’s what Ipractice forevery day,”Metoyer said.

Jerry Laizure / The Transcript

— receivers coach Jay Norvell‘ ’You can see a lot of growth and development in this group, and a lot of tal-ent. But you know what they say about potential. These guys have to do itand they have to prove that they can do it, so that’s what we’re trying to do.

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OKLAHOMA STATEStadium: Boone Pickens Stadium, 60,218Coach: Mike Gundy, 59-30, eighth season2011 record: 12-1, 8-1 Big 12Key Players: OL Lane Taylor, RB JosephRandle, DB Brodrick Brown, DE CooperBassettReturning starters: 8 offense, 8 defensePreseason ranking: No. 19 AssociatedPress, No. 19 USA Today

TCUStadium: Amon Carter Stadium, 50,000Coach: Gary Patterson, 109-30, 12thseason2011 record: 11-2, 7-1 Mountain WestKey Players: QB Casey Pachall, OLBlaize Foltz, DE Stansly Maponga, WRJosh Boyce, LB Kenny Cain, CB JasonVerrett Returning starters: 6 offense, 5 defensePreseason ranking: No. 20 AssociatedPress, No. 17 USA Today

TEXASStadium: Royal Memorial Stadium,100,119Coach: Mack Brown, 221-108-1, 15thseason at Texas2011 record: 8-5, 4-5 Big 12Key Players: RB Malcolm Brown, DEJackson Jeffcoat, DL Alex Okafor, DB KennyVaccaro, CB Carrington Byndom, LB JordanHicks Returning starters: 9 offense, 7 defensePreseason ranking: No. 15 AssociatedPress, No. 15 USA Today

TEXAS TECHStadium: Jones AT&T Stadium, 60,454Coach: Tommy Tubberville, 123-72, thirdseason at Texas Tech2011 record: 5-7, 2-7 Big 12Key Players: QB Seth Doege, WR EricWard, S Terrance Bullitt Returning starters: 8 offense, 6 defensePreseason ranking: Unranked

WEST VIRGINIAStadium: Mountaineer Field, 60,180Coach: Dana Holgorsen, 10-3, secondseason2011 record: 10-3, 6-1 Big EastKey players: QB Geno Smith, WR TavonAustin, C Joe Madsen, DL Will Clarke Returning starters: 9 offense, 7 defensePreseason ranking: No. 11 AssociatedPress, No. 11 USA Today

Big 12 team capsulesBAYLORStadium: Floyd Casey Stadium, 50,000Coach: Art Briles, 59-53, fifth season atBaylor2011 record: 10-3, 6-3 Big 12 Key players: QB Nick Florence, OL IvoryWade, NB Ahmad Dixon, WR TerrenceWilliams Returning starters: 6 offense, 8 defensePreseason ranking: Unranked

IOWA STATEStadium: Jack Trice Stadium, 55,000Coach: Paul Rhoads, 18-20, fourth season2011 record: 6-7, 3-6 Big 12Key Players: LB Jake Knott, LB A.J. Klein,RB James White Returning starters: 7 offense, 5 defensePreseason ranking: Unranked

KANSASStadium: Memorial Stadium, 50,071Coach: Charlie Weis, 35-27, first seasonat Kansas2011 record: 2-10, 0-9 Big 12Key Players: QB Dayne Crist, LT TannerHawkinson, DE Toben Opurum Returning starters: 7 offense, 6 defensePreseason ranking: Unranked

KANSAS STATEStadium: Snyder Family Stadium, 50,000Coach: Bill Snyder, 159-83-1, 21st season2011 record: 10-3, 7-2 Big 12Key players: QB Collin Klein, LB ArthurBrown, LB Tre Walker, DB Ty ZimmermanReturning starters: 8 offense, 6 defensePreseason ranking: No. 22 AssociatedPress, No. 21 USA Today

OKLAHOMAStadium: Owen Field, 82,112Coach: Bob Stoops, 139-34, 14th season2011 record: 10-3, 6-3 Big 12Key players: QB Landry Jones, DBDemontre Hurst, OL Gabe Ikard, DB TonyJefferson, RB Dominique Whaley, LB TomWortReturning starters: 6 offense, 8 defensePreseason ranking: No. 4 AssociatedPress, No. 4 USA Today

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— offensive coordinator Josh Heupel‘ ’We’re trying to find a way to put our best players on the field 11 at a time but findunique roles that we can use our players’ skill set and find a way to help us scorepoints and win ballgames. That’s why we came up with the Belldozer package ...

By John ShinnTranscript Sports Writer

Oklahoma is coming off atough season. Injuries andinconsistency paved the wayfor some tough losses. Butone thing was found in thatdifficult season.

The Belldozer packagewas introduced midwaythrough the season. TheSooners won’t wait long tobreak it out in 2012. It justworks too well. The resultswere so overwhelming.

The Sooners scored 23touchdowns in their first 40red zone opportunities in2011. Blake Bell and theshort-yardage package hequarterbacks made hisdebut in the eighth gameagainst Kansas State.

OU scored touchdownson 16 of the last 19 red zonechances. They settled forone field goal. Bell threw aninterception and startingquarterback Landry Jonesthrew a pick against IowaState in the Insight Bowlagainst Iowa.

The beauty is in the sim-plicity. Bell is 6-foot-6, 260pounds and a good athlete.He knows how to find holes.OU typically runs it with full-back Trey Millard andAaron Ripkowski in thebackfield with him.

It’s smash-mouth footballat its most basic. Ten bigguys blocking. One big guyrunning the ball. No teamhad an answer for it.

“You get the extra hat,”

OU coach Bob Stoops said.“You get the extra blockeron somebody, and you gota guy 260 pounds that’s 6-6falling forward, it’s usuallypositive.”

Will there be any chancesthis season? Perhaps. Itlargely depends on Bell.

The Sooners have neverbeen keen on the Belldozerpackage becoming any-thing more than a short-yardage fix. They alsobelieve Bell is too talentedto be viewed as simply abruising runner.

“He’s a throwing quarter-back that happens to be bigenough that we’ll use him inthat package,” offensivecoordinator Josh Heupelsaid. “We recruited him thatway and he’s continued toprogress that way, and if youask anyone in our program,they feel pretty comfortablewith him throwing the foot-ball.”

Just don’t expect thoseskills to be utilized muchwhen OU’s facing first-and-goal from the 5-yard line.Until OU runs into a teamthat can stop it, the Belldoz-er is going to remain thesame.

“We’re trying to find away to put our best playerson the field 11 at a time butfind unique roles that we canuse our players’ skill set andfind a way to help us scorepoints and win ballgames,”Heupel said. “That’s why wecame up with the Belldozerpackage a year ago.”

OU plans to keep the Belldozer optionBlake Bell and the short-yardagepackage hequarterbacksdebuted lastyear. TheSooners wantto keep theBelldozerpackage as ashort-yardagefix. Still, theyalso believeBell is tootalented to beviewed asSimply abruisingrunner.

Jerry Laizure / The Transcript

12 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

1. Trey Metoyer, WR,Oklahoma

Rationale: The freshman widereceiver stunned coaches and team-

mates with his blend ofsize (6-foot-1, 200pounds), speed andmaturity last spring.OU’s never had a fresh-man move so quicklyinto a starting role.

Even Adrian Peterson had to easeinto it in 2004. Metoyer seems like aseasoned veteran and he still hasn’tplayed a college game.

2. Wes Lunt, QB, Oklahoma State

Rationale: The Cowboys arecoming off a Big 12 championship

season and they’rehanding the reins to atrue freshman quarter-back. Lunt has enor-mous shoes to fill inreplacing BrandonWeeden. He likely

won’t put up the gaudy numbersWeeden did, but if he can keep OSUon a winning track he could be theleague’s next star quarterback.

3. Lache Seastrunk,RB, Baylor

Rationale: Seastrunk was a starrecruit in 2010. He originally chose

Oregon, but thentransferred to Baylorafter his freshmanseason. He rushed for138 yards and atouchdown in Baylor’sspring game and

could become a workhorse as theBears adjust to life without HeismanTrophy-winning quarterback RobertGriffin III.

4. Brandon Moore,DT, Texas

Rationale: Texas doesn’t signmany junior college transfers, but the

6-foot-6, 330-pounddefensive tackle isexpected to add seri-ous punch to theLonghorns’ defense.His pocket-collapsingability could alter

Texas’ defense from very good todominant.

5. Dayne Crist,QB, Kansas

Rationale: Kansas coach CharlieWeis was lucky when he landed a

quarterback herecruited to NotreDame in 2008 andhas made 17 careerstarts. Crist didn’texactly light it up withthe Fighting Irish (15

touchdowns, 7 interceptions), but hegives the Jayhawks a major upgradefrom last season.

Top 5 impact players

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Big 12 Heisman hopefuls

Landry Jones, QBOklahoma

OU’s quarterback will always be apotential Heisman Trophy winner.November losses prevented Jones frommaking the trip to New York last year.He’ll have the passing numbers to be inthe hunt this year. As long as the Soon-ers are in the national title race, Jones willbe a Heisman contender.

Geno Smith, QBWest Virginia

He put up video game numbers with31 touchdown passes and 4,385 yards.Playing in the Big 12 is going to give theMountaineers the kind of attentionrequired for Heisman consideration. If hecan put up the same numbers in the Big12, Smith will be hard to ignore.

Collin Klein, QBKansas State

Klein will never put up big passingnumbers. He only threw 13 touchdownpasses last season. But he’s a touchdownscoring machine with 27 last season. Heis the Big 12’s version of Tim Tebow. Aslong as the Wildcats stay in contentionfor the conference title, Klein should stayin the spotlight.

Joseph Randle, RBOklahoma State

Randle stayed under the radar lastseason while quarterback Brandon Wee-den and wide receiver Justin Blackmonreceived the spotlight. They’re gone andRandle is in prime position to take cen-ter stage. OSU will start the season witha true freshman quarterback. That shouldgive Randle, who rushed for over 1,200yards last season, plenty of carries andthe opportunity to put up big numbers.

Malcom Brown, RBTexas

Brown rushed for 723 yards as afreshman and was the Longhorns’ bestoffensive player. Since Texas still hasn’tsettled on a quarterback (David Ash andCase McCoy are still splitting reps),Brown could become the workhorse. IfTexas can score points despite the quar-terback issues, Brown is going to get thecredit.

14 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

By Jason ElmquistCNHI News Service

STILLWATER — After years of trying tobecome the best, the Oklahoma State foot-ball team now takes on a different challenge:Defending the title of being the best.

With the Cowboys heading into the 2012season as the reigning Big 12 Conferencechampions, the pressure is on to stay thecourse and attempt to repeat.

That’s easier said than done when youlose two first round draft picks on offenseand for possibly the first time in history aconference opens the season with three con-ference champions.

OSU won the Big 12; West Virginia wonthe Big East and TCU won the MountainWest.

“The mindset hasn’t changed at all. Wewant to take a step further, even,” OSUoffensive lineman Parker Graham said. “Alot of people don’t think we are going to do

much. But you can ask any of our guys andwe want to get back to being the Big 12champions again and also going further thanthe Fiesta Bowl — and go to a NationalChampionship game. That’s all we’re striv-ing for.”

With last year’s Cowboy squad known forit’s high-scoring offense, the defense wasregularly shot down despite leading thenation in takeaways. This year, Gundyexpects the defense to be the catalyst for hisCowboys.

“I enjoyed watching our defense withtheir athleticism and speed. And we wereable to put players in there that are young,”Gundy said. “And we didn’t have as muchdrop-off as we would have had three, fouryears ago. And we have recruited towardsome depth on defense and speed.

“We’re hoping that it’s going to work outwell for us. But we feel better now, or I feelbetter now, than I have about our defensesince I’ve been the head coach.”

Defense in good handsAnd with leaders such as cornerbacks

Brodrick Brown and Justin Gilbert; line-backers Alex Elkins, Shaun Lewis and CalebLavey; and defensive end Cooper Bassett,the defense is in good hands heading intothe season.

“Us upperclassmen know how to win. Wewon last year, we’ve won the last couple ofyears,” Bassett said. “So we have to translateour knowledge of what it takes to all theseyoung guys, who are going to need to stepup and be playmakers for us this year.”

With the departure of starting quarter-back Brandon Weeden and two-time FredBiletnikoff Award winner Justin Blackmon,the Cowboys must rely on somebody elseon the offensive side to be their top skill play-er. Enter running back Joseph Randle.

“Joseph has done very well for us. And

— OSU coach Mike Gundy‘ ’Joseph (Randle) has done very well for us. And he’s been durable. Not only a good run-ner inside but outside. He’s been a good receiver. ... Joseph has kind of established him-self as a dominant back in this league.”

OSUlooks tobuild onsuccess • OSU, Page 15

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 15

OSU From Page 14

he’s been durable,” Gundy said. “Not onlya good runner inside but outside. He’s beena good receiver.

“He pass blocks well. Between him andJeremy (Smith), you know, 1,800 to 1,900yards and over 30 touchdowns. But Josephhas kind of established himself as a domi-nant back in this league.”

Dominant for sureRandle was named to this year’s presea-

son All-Big 12 team after rushing for 1,216yards and 24 touchdowns in 2011 — fin-ishing in the top five of both categoriesamong Big 12 running backs. Randle wasresponsible for 12 points per game last sea-son, second in the league to only KansasState quarterback Collin Klein.

“It’s a quarterback-friendly league andfootball is changing to a quarterback game.The quarterback is the man and you just tryto be helpful to the quarterback,” Randlesaid, “by being able to block, being able tobe a good check-down ... and also beingable to run the ball.”

While Randle will help the pressure puton true freshman quarterback Wes Lunt,another way the rookie QB could be helpedin his maturation process is if OSU can pro-duce another wide receiver to follow in thesteps of Dez Bryant and Justin Blackmon.

“I’m not sure that I’m ready to commit toone of these guys being a first-round pick.They’re so few and far between,” Gundysaid of his receiving corps. “The compari-son I would make is years ago we talkedabout losing Kendall Hunter, and I felt thatJeremy Smith and Joseph Randle as a pairneeded to combine and give us whatKendall did. And those guys have been ableto do that.

“We want three or four of our receiversthis year to give us what a Justin Blackmongave us this last year. And so that will beour goal is for Wes to be able to develop anddelegate the ball to the guys that can makethe plays. But it is very difficult to replacea Justin Blackmon.”

Jason Elmquist is sports editor for TheStillwater NewsPress.

The confidence from winning a Big 12Conference championship doesn’t, histor-ically, provide a boost.

In fact, it’s more like having that trophytied on around your neck and going out fora swim.

Oklahoma is the only team to win con-secutive conference championships, claim-ing three straight from 2006-2008. The 2008team also bucked an incredible trend: it’sthe only team in Big 12 history to defendthe title and improve its record the follow-ing year. The Sooners went 11-3 and 6-2 inthe league in 2007. The 2008 squad went 12-2 and 7-1.

History says Oklahoma State is going totake a dip this season. How significantdepends on luck and other circumstances.Texas owns the record for the biggestplummet. It went from 13-1 and 8-0 in theleague in 2009 to 5-7 and 2-6 in 2010.

Over the league’s 16-year history, the

average fall is 3.06 games off the previousyear’s win total. Remove OU, which haswon seven of the 16 league titles, from theequation and it’s an average dive of 3.875games.

Of course, the league has gone throughchanges. Nebraska, which won the 1997and 1999 league titles, now plays in the BigTen. Texas A&M, which won its only con-ference crown in 1998 is now in the SEC.Colorado picked up a conference title in2001, but is now trying to win them in thePac-12.

Outside of OU and Texas (winner of the1996, 2005 and 2009 crowns), OSU joinsKansas State as the only other schools towin conference titles.

The Cowboys don’t want to follow theWildcats’ path. After winning the 2003 Big12 title game, Kansas State had losing sea-sons four of the next five years.

— John Shinn

Conference championship is a tough act to follow

16 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

By John ShinnTranscript Sports Writer

One day before Oklahoma startedpreseason practice three coachesspoke to a crowd of nearly 1,000 atJourney Church in Norman. The

collection of Sooner fans gave a standingovation to head coach Bob Stoops andoffensive coordinator Josh Heupel.

However, the cheers went up severaldecibels when defensive coordinator MikeStoops was introduced.

After eight years away, it is Mike Stoops’return to his old defensive coordinator rolethat has OU fans believing the dominantdefense that epitomized the program’s runfrom 2000 to 2003 — when it won two Big12 championships, played in two nationalchampionship games and won the 2000national title — will return.

“I love that they’re happy I’m back. I don’tlook at it as a big deal,” Mike Stoops said.“I’m tired of hearing it. It’s nice to hear and Iappreciate it, but I’m ready to move pastthat. I want it to feel like it was eight yearsago. I’m here to do a job and I’m excitedabout it.”

The nostalgia fans feel is for a dominantbrand of football the Sooners played duringStoops’ first run as defensive coordinator.From 2000 to 2003, OU was never worsethan 10th, nationally, in total defense,produced nine consensus All-Americandefenders in a four-year span and routinelywon big games with big-time defense.

It was the main reason Mike Stoops

landed the head coaching job atArizona after the 2003 regularseason. It was the reason hisreturn is so embraced bythe current Sooners.

“We know about thegreat players he coachedhere,” cornerback Demon-tre Hurst said. “We’veembraced everything he’sbrought here.”

The Sooners had a lot ofgreat players during MikeStoops’ initial run as defen-sive coordinator and specifi-cally as defensive backscoach. Roy Williams won theThorpe Award, given tocollege football’s best defensiveback, in 2001. Two years laterDerrick Strait picked up theprize. The Sooners have had oneAll-American defensive back —Quinton Carter in 2010 —since Stoops went to Arizona.

Perhaps, that will change.But a lot already has

changed with the Soonersand the Big 12 Confer-ence since 2003.Winning hasn’t been aproblem. OU’sadded five Big 12titles and played intwo national

OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops coaches from the sideslines during theglory days of his tenure from 1999 to 2003. Jerry Laizure / The Transcript

• Stoops, Page 17

Stoops ready to move forward‘ — OU coach Bob Stoops ’I’m encouraged in the way Mike continues to work with our staff, the

direction he gives our players on the field. I believe that will make adifference.

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 17‘Ultimately it’s about winning. ... It comes down to making stops on third down andgetting your butt off the field; that will stop it in a hurry.

— OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops ’Stoops From Page 16

championship games while Stoops wasat Arizona.

Dominant defensive numbers havebeen harder to come by. The Soon-

ers have ranked 53rd or worse intotal defense three of the last fouryears. The lone exception was2009, when it ranked eighthnationally at 272.00 yards pergame. Last season, OU fin-ished 55th in the country,allowing 376.15 yards pergame. It also allowed 41 ormore points in losses toTexas Tech, Baylor andOklahoma State.

That slide happened tocoincide with OU’s switchto the up-tempo, no-huddleoffense. No one can argue

with the point totals theoffense has put up, but its

premium on running playsquickly has forced the defense

to spend more time on the field.More and more Big 12 teams

have adopted the Sooners’ style.Oklahoma State, West Virginia,

Texas Tech and Baylor all try to playat a similar pace.

“Ultimately it’s about winning.Statistics go out the window. We playtwice as many plays as everyoneelse, too,” Mike Stoops said. “Thecommon sense is people are gonnahave more yards or more plays. Itcomes down to making stops onthird down and getting your butt offthe field; that will stop it in a hurry.”

If the Sooners can do that this

season, the standing ovation MikeStoops picked up from that crowd willbe well-earned. Fans want him to suc-ceed. Of all the assistant coaches OUhas had over the years, it’s hard tobelieve any of them have been morepopular than Mike Stoops.

OU head coach Bob Stoops knowsthis. He’s not expecting his youngerbrother to work miracles. After all,coaches don’t make tackles.

“All that I have said is Mike hasn’tmade a play in a long time. He’s way tooold to be out there making plays,” BobStoops said. “Ultimately the players stillhave to be the ones that put themselvesin position to make plays.

“But I’m encouraged in the way Mikecontinues to work with our staff, thedirection he gives our players on thefield. I believe that will make a differ-ence,” the head coach said. “I believethey’ll improve, and they should, beinga year older. And having some pride inthat we broke down a year ago that theyought to take that to heart and hopefullyget back the defensive reputation we’reused to having.

“But again, it’s always tempered bythe players; they ultimately have to doit,” Bob Stoops said.

What happens over the next threemonths will decide whether the glorydays have returned. When OU startsforcing three-and-outs and turnovers ona regular basis, it once again will be ableto call itself a dominant defense.

Mike Stoops’ units routinely did thesethings during his first stint. Now comesthe encore.

From 2000 to 2003 with Mike Stoops coordinating the defense, OU won two Big 12 championships, played in twonational championship games and won the 2000 national title. Jerry Laizure / The Transcript

Top 5 coordinators to watch

18 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

Mike Stoops, Oklahoma defensive coordinator

Bob Stoops bringing his youngerbrother back to the staff was one ofthe biggest coordinator hires incollege football. During his first fiveseasons in Norman, Stoops’defenses were among the best in thecountry giving up an average of just15.6 points per game during hisinitial run as defensive coordinatorfrom 1999-2003. The Big 12offenses have transformed in theeight years since he’s been away. Thefans are excited. If Stoops is able tosolidify a shaky secondary, they’llbecome exhilarated.

Joe Deforest, West Virginia co-defensive coordinator

Deforest was safeties and specialteams coordinator at Oklahoma Statebefore reuniting with DanaHolgorsen at West Virginia. TheMountaineers’ defense needs somehelp and Deforest has experiencegoing against Big 12 offenses. IfWest Virginia can boost that side ofthe ball, it will contend for the Big 12title in its first season.

Art Kaufman, Texas Tech defensive coordinator

Kaufman is the third defensivecoordinator in three years. Headcoach Tommy Tuberville needssomething to change as his seat getshotter and hotter. What Kaufman hasis experience. He came to Texas Techfrom North Carolina and wasTuberville’s defensive coordinator atOle Miss.

Dave Campo,Kansas defensive coordinator

The former Dallas Cowboys headcoach has 23 years of NFLexperience. The question is: can hehandle the up-tempo offenses theJayhawks will regularly face in theBig 12?

What Campo has going for him islowered expectations. The Jayhawkscouldn’t stop anybody last season.Holding teams under 45 points willbe an improvement.

Charlie Weis, Kansashead coach /offensive coordinator

Weis is one of the few Big 12head coaches that will call plays. Hisstint at Notre Dame left questionsabout his ability as a head coach, butthose three Super Bowl rings he wonas the New England Patriotsoffensive coordinator showed he cancommand a pro-style offense.

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 19

— TCU coach Gary Patterson ‘ ’We understand how to win. How does that equivocate and how does it go forward? We don’t know. We’ll have to goprove it just like we have to go prove it every year.

By John ShinnTranscript Sports Writer

One school is a perfect geographic fit,while the other isn’t even in the same timezone. The only commonality between TCUand West Virginia is both bring strong win-ning traditions to the Big 12 Conference.

The Horned Frogs have gone 47-4 overthe last four seasons and reached the Fies-ta Bowl in 2009 and capped an undefeatedseason with a Rose Bowl victory in 2010. The Mountaineers have played in three BCS bowl games since 2005,winning all three. The latest was a 70-33 rout over Clemson in theOrange Bowl last season.It’s fair to say what they’ve done during the last five years means theconference will get tougher with them coming in and Missouri andTexas A&M leaving.

“The two teams that left weren’t rankedand the two teams coming were. What doesthat tell you? Facts are facts,” Oklahomacoach Bob Stoops said. “I’m not castingstones — truth is truth. These guys are greatteams. They’re used to winning champi-onships over and over. TCU is two yearsfrom winning the Rose Bowl. They’re greatteams. It’s gonna be challenging and that’s afact. Anyone that discounts it — you’re notpaying attention. They’re very good pro-grams and they’re gonna make it tougher.”

They will make it sturdier, but West Vir-ginia and TCU win in different ways.

Horned FrogsThe Horned Frogs have built their recent

winning tradition, under head coach GaryPatterson, on defense. From 2008-2010, theyled the nation in total defense every season.Last year, the Horned Frogs slipped to 32. It

was their worst showing since 2004.What will be interesting is how that style

fits in the high-scoring Big 12. Baylor, Okla-homa State and Oklahoma all averagedmore than 500 yards of total offense last sea-son. The up-tempo offenses they employhave become the norm, along with winningoffensive shootouts.

“We understand how to win,” Pattersonsaid. “How does that equivocate and howdoes it go forward? We don’t know. We’llhave to go prove it just like we have to goprove it every year.”

MountaineersIn terms of style, the Mountaineers fit like

a glove. They were one of the highest scor-ing teams in college football last season.Dana Holgorsen, who is entering his secondseason at West Virginia, brought the no-hud-dle, spread offense to Oklahoma State in2010 and was an assistant under Mike Leachat Texas Tech for eight seasons.

“I think we’re at a point now where youunderstand what the culture is from a throw-ing-the-ball standpoint, understand what’sexpected, understand what it takes to begood. So it took some time to get to thatpoint, but I do think we’re better at that now,”Holgorsen said. “Defensively we’re catchingup just because of the guys we’ve got in placeunderstand what the ball’s like, and they’regoing to coach it that way.”

— West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen ‘ ’I think we’re at a point now where you understand what the culture is from a throwing-the-ball standpoint,understand what’s expected, understand what it takes to be good.

Teams bring winning traditionsNEW KIDS ON THE BIG 12 BLOCK: TCU, WEST VIRGINIA

Tammy Shriver / Times West Virginian

Stedman Bailey, of WVU, scores a touchdown last year against LSU.

20 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

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W.Va: TAVON AUSTIN K.State: COLLIN KLEIN

New Sooner: JUSTIN BROWN

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By Jason Elmquist˙CNHI News Service

DALLAS — How does one replace aHeisman Trophy quarterback?

That’s what Baylor footballcoach Art Briles must figure

out this year with thedeparture of Robert Grif-fin III, who was draftedsecond overall in theNFL Draft.

“How do you adjust tonot having the best player

football in the United Statesof America last year at the col-

legiate level? That’s inspiration, okay?That’s the thing that inspires us,”Briles said. “That’s the thing thatmakes our guys come together andfight for each other and work to provethemselves, because we’re in theproving business.”

While Briles must figure out how toreplace that type of talent, it will be theduty of Griffin’s predecessor, Nick Flo-

rence, to fill the spot left by Griffin.“I think for me, it’s been an honor

and a privilege to be under him. I’velearned a lot,” Florence said. “But ulti-mately, all we want as football playersis a chance to play. So I get my oppor-tunity now — it just happens to bebehind the Heisman Trophy winner.I’m getting a chance to play collegefootball and that’s what I’m excitedabout.”

It has to help a player in that type ofsituation have the full support of hiscoaching staff.

“I have a tremendous amount of con-fidence in the passion, the energy, thedrive, the fearlessness that he’s goingto bring to the table for us, because Iknow him from inside out and I knowhow he feels. I know how he thinks,and I think I know how he performs,”Briles said.

“The thing he’s gotta do is stay with-in himself and not get caught up in lis-tening to anybody else or anything elseand staying focused in the moment,

focused in the situation.”Unfortunately, Florence won’t have

the pleasure of having the same talent-ed targets had in his Heisman-winningcampaign.

Baylor’s top wide receiver, KendallWright joined Griffin as a first-rounddraft pick back in the spring. Wright ledthe rest of the receiving corps by 700yards with 108 catches for 1,663 yardsand 14 touchdowns.

“We had five guys drafted off theoffensive side of the ball last year,which is the most out of any universityover the last 30 years,” Briles said. “Sowe’ve got some holes to fill. We under-stand that.”

The Bears do return, however, thesecond and third options at receiver—Terrance Williams and Tevin Reese.Williams had 59 catches for 957 yardsand 11 touchdowns, while Reesehauled in 51 for 877 and seven touch-downs.

“We’re very deep at receiver, as iseverybody in the Big 12. Everybody in

this league has guys that can makeplays at the receiver position,” Brilessaid. “But we fortunately have stock-piled a little bit to where we have four,five guys that we have a lot of confi-dence in.”

However, Baylor also will be withouttop running back Terrance Ganaway,another first-round draft pick whorushed for 1,547 yards on 250 carrieswith 21 touchdowns. The top returningrusher from last year will be JarredSalubi, who carried the ball 58 times for331 yards and three touchdowns.

“(Ganaway) wasn’t a guy that wasreturning that had a lot of yards. He hadabout 400 total yards at Baylor Univer-sity prior to last year,” Briles said. “Sothat’s the great thing, is we’ve got someguys on campus that we feel very con-fident in to carry that role on.

“That’s going to be a little differentbecause Terrance was a different guy.He’s 246 pounds and could run and wasvery hungry and had a great vision anda great faith and passion last year.”

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 21

Jerry Laizure / The Transcript

Fans thrill to the sight of the Sooner Schooner racing onto the field after eachOklahoma touchdown.

Sooner spirit

Big 12 preview: Baylor

22 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

By Jason ElmquistCNHI New Service

One thing the Big 12 Conferenceisn’t short of this season is quarter-

backs. Be it talented quarter-backs, or quarterback con-

troversies.For Iowa State, it’s the

latter of the two.The Cyclones head

into the 2012 campaignnever better off than the

end of the 2011 year, whenJared Barnett and Steele

Jantz couldn’t truly claim theright to be QB1.

“We most definitely need better playfrom the quarterback position if we’regoing to become a better football team,and namely in the area of accuracy,” IowaState coach Paul Rhoads said. “Our quar-terbacks completed, I think, 51 percent oftheir passes is all last year. We threw toomany to the wrong-colored jersey. If we’regoing to be a better offensive football

team, which is veryimportant in thisleague to be a betterfootball team, it’sgoing to take betterquarterback play.”

Heading into theseason, Jantz willget the nod as thestarter — for now.

While the quar-terback positioncould turn into athree-ring circus,the linebacker posi-tion for the defenseis anything but.Iowa State returnstwo of the best line-backers in the con-ference with A.J. Klein, a Big 12 co-defensive player of the year last season,and Jake Knott. Both linebackersearned a spot on the preseason All-Big12 team — leaving Kansas State’sArthur Brown as the only non-Cyclone

linebacker on thepreseason list.

“They’re proto-types. They’re 6-foot-2, 6-3, 245pounds,” Rhoadssaid. “They can runand they’re intelli-gent and they aretough, and theexpectations arehigh for good rea-son.”

It’s that type of tal-ent in the middle ofthe defense that willbe needed to helpstabilize the team ifthe questions con-tinue to swirl around

the quarterback position.“It’s huge. Me and Jake have been

here together a long time,” Klein said.“... As far as the linebacker position,that’s the quarterback of the defense.We have to be the ones to be the vocal

leaders and push everybody elsearound us.”

As for carrying over the success oflast season, the Cyclones already haveseen that in the form of recruiting.

When one team is hurt by a loss, theother will see positives. And that’s beenthe case for Iowa State since toppingOklahoma State — which hurt theCowboys’ chances at a shot in the BCStitle game.

“I think the most significant compo-nent of that victory for our football pro-gram has been national attention. Youplay that game on a Friday night at apoint late in the season that affected theBCS race, and you got the whole nationtalking about it all weekend long,”Rhoads said.

“Now, that spills over, most impor-tantly for us, into recruiting. And yougo into living rooms and you go intoschools and on the practice fields thisspring and the Iowa State brand is rec-ognized on a national level probablymore so than it’s ever been.”

AP Photo

Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads:“We most definitely need betterplay from the quarterbackposition ...”

Big 12 preview: Iowa State

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 23

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24 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

By Jason ElmquistCNHI New Service

Three coaches in four years, a revolv-ing door at quarterback and the butt

of many jokes around the Big12 Conference football

water cooler.Welcome to the Uni-

versity of Kansas, Char-lie Weis.

He may not have thepressure of coordinating

in the NFL or recruitingfor traditional power Notre

Dame, but he has plenty of eyeson him wondering if it was an act of des-peration — by both coach and college.

“I’m saying the two schools that arein the closest proximity (Kansas Stateand Missouri) are both doing fairlywell. So then my job was, once I tookthe job, is let’s figure out why they’redoing fairly well and see if we can’tclose the gap on them quicker thanthey would like us to,” Weis said.

“And you look at what both those

programs are doing, solid, win-ning programs, I think thatthat’s one of the reasons thatgave me reason for optimism,because there’s no reason whyyou can’t have a third one intothe mix and become more com-petitive.”

While he may not be at thehelm of a program as presti-gious as Notre Dame, Weis saidhe believes the pressures arejust the same at Kansas.

“Really you might say theexpectations are different, buteveryone wants the samething,” Weis said. “It’s just theone thing about Notre Dame, aswe all know, it’s a national school witha national presence. So anytime yousaid something, it was national news.

“... (KU fans) also want their teamto go out there and play competitivefootball and win. And just the fact thatthe expectations are not exactly thesame as far as on a yearly basis, that’sthe only place where you could draw

the line.”So how does Weis intend

to turn a program that hashad only three winning sea-sons since the inception ofthe Big 12 Conference in1996?

“I think that the first thingyou better do is get your teamto be more competitive on aweekly basis,” Weis said.“Because once you get yourteam more competitive on aweekly basis, more wins willnaturally follow.”

He’s hoping one way to getthere is by bringing in someformer players from his time

coaching at Notre Dame — includingquarterback Dayne Crist.

“I think that when he came here, itreally wasn’t about me selling him onme. Our relationship is wonderful.

“It was whether or not he thoughtthat he could come in here and be com-petitive or not,” the first-year KU coachsaid.

Hopefully bringing in a former quar-terback from Notre Dame will helpWeis convey his style of offense to thenew program.

“My experience within this system,the overall familiarity and comfort lev-el will really help me bring other guysalong and allow them to do less think-ing,” Crist said. “And I will be able to doa lot more of the thinking for guys onoffense and help put us in the rightplace.”

Fortunately for Crist, the KU playershave taken a quick liking to him, too.The players voted the incoming quar-terback as a team captain.

“I was also happy when the team vot-ed for captains that it was a close votebetween him and Tanner (Hawkinson),because I thought that if there was noone on the existing team that the play-ers thought highly of,” Weis said, “thatwould have sent an awfully bad mes-sage to me that no one — none of theprevious teammates — were respectedor revered, and I think I was very hap-py the way that all turned out.”

Big 12 preview: Kansas

Charlie Weis:This is his firstyear to helmKansas.

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 25

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26 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

By Jason ElmquistCNHI New Service

DALLAS — Going into last season,the Kansas State football team was

picked to finish eighth in theBig 12 Conference, making

their second-place finishin the league standingsall the more impressive.

But the leap wasn’tenough to have any sim-

ilar expectations this yearas the Wildcats were

picked to finish sixth.“I think you look back at last

season and we moved up maybe sixslots. I just hope that we can do some-thing similar to that,” K-State coach BillSnyder said. “... Do we perform betteras, quote/unquote, underdogs? That Idon’t know. I haven’t seen any statisticsin that regard. Last year obviously weplayed reasonably well in those cir-cumstances.”

One thing going for the Wildcats is

the return ofstarting quar-terback CollinKlein. Thebruising 6-foot-5, 226-poundquarterbackrushed for1,141 yards(most of anyBig 12 quarter-back, includingHeisman Tro-phy winnerRobert GriffinIII) and 27touchdowns —which led theconference —last season.

His passing,however, was-n’t as impres-sive. Klein completed 57.3 percent ofhis passes — second-worst in the con-ference behind Texas’ Davis Ash, who

split time withCase McCoy— with just147.5 yardsper game. His13 passingtouchdownswere only bet-ter than thetwo Texasquarterbacks,while he alsothrew sixinterceptions.

“Believe itor not, it’s notmy modusoperandi toplace expecta-tions onyoung guys inregards totheir perfor-

mance level,” Snyder said. “Collin is awonderful young person. He has madetremendous improvement during his

time in the program. And it’s happenedbecause of the quality of person thatCollin is.”

It’s their defense, however, that willneed some shoring up. K-State gave up27.9 points per game with the numberjumping to 33.7 in Big 12 Conferencecontests.

Going in Kansas State’s favor is thereturn of special teams returner TylerLockett, who has been nursing a ham-string injury. The Booker T. Washing-ton product was named to the presea-son All-Big 12 team for punt returning.Lockett was the Big 12 Offensive Fresh-man of the Year and a consensus All-American return specialist last year.

“Tyler participated in the first 14 daysof practice, didn’t participate in thespring game because of a hamstring,not seriously injured, but we didn’t wantto take any chances in that ballgame,”Snyder said. “So the answer, I guess, isthat he’s recovered fully, and I think ishaving a productive summer as welland should be well prepared to play.”

Big 12 preview: Kansas State

AP Photo

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder: “I thinkyou look back at last season and wemoved up maybe six slots. I just hopethat we can do something similar tothat.”

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 27

By Jason ElmquistCNHI New Service

DALLAS — With many of the teamsaround the Big 12 Conference bring-

ing back a solid starting quar-terback, Texas is a team

that brings back a pair ofQBs — along with theheadache of a quarter-back controversy.

“Last year at this timeI sat here and we had

four. And there was a lot ofconcern about trying to get

four guys prepared for a newoffense,” Texas coach Mack Brownjoked at the Big 12 Football MediaDays in Dallas. “So at the same timeGarrett Gilbert gets hurt in the secondballgame, David Ash steps up as a truefreshman, Case McCoy jumps in, andConnor Wood transfers, so it was allover the place.

“What we have done now, we have

two older guys that have beenthrough a year with BryanHarsin and Major Applewhiteoffense. They both won signif-icant games — Case againstA&M in College Station at theend of the year, David Ash inthe bowl game against Cal. Sowe’re coming in at a much bet-ter place this year than we werelast year.”

The uncertainty behind theline is taking it’s toll on the bigmen in the trenches.

“It has its challenges, but at the sametime, I see how hard those guys workday in and day out and I really, reallywant to see one pull away from the oth-er,” junior offensive lineman MasonWalters said. “I don’t want it to be a flip-of -the-coin decision, I want somethingto happen where it is separate andsomebody comes out on top.”

Uncertainty at the quarterback posi-tion isn’t the only concern surrounding

Brown’s squad. The Texascoach is concerned about alack of leadership on the team.

“We don’t have that seniorleadership. We only have twoseniors that would start todayon defense, and we probablyhave two seniors that will starton offense,” Brown said. “So itwill still be a really young foot-ball team so the leadership isgoing to have to come fromwithin with some of theyounger guys.”

Fortunately for whomever may be atthe quarterback position, he will havea solid threat in the backfield with him.Sophomore Malcolm Brown returnsafter a freshman campaign in which herushed for 742 yards and five touch-downs.

“I think what we’ll do is we’ll try to bebalanced. We’ll play to our confidence.We’ll play to the guys that are performingthe best and making the plays ...” Brown

said. “We feel like to win our league,which is what we want to do, we’ve got tobe balanced and we’ve got to be able tothrow it as well as run it.

“So we do not want to be a runningfootball team. We’d like to be a teamthat can do both. And we feel like we’vemade so much progress in the runninggame that we can line up and run theball just about every week.”

However, Brown has been work-ing on recovering from a foot injurysuffered in the middle of last season— which knocked him out of twogames.

“Overcoming injuries have been big,and just the maturity process of ‘hey,I’m not going to be 100 percent week inand week out.’ This is a game that isvery physical and you are going to getbanged up and going to have to playthrough some things,” Walters said ofBrown. “... He’s understanding that it’smore important that I train so my bodycan handle those injuries.”

Big 12 preview: Texas

Texas coachMack Brown

The Sooners tryto stop Texas’

Malcolm Brownduring their

meeting lastyear. Now asophomore,

Brown returnsafter a freshman

campaign inwhich he rushed

for 742 yardsand five touch-

downs.

Jerry Laizure / TheTranscript

28 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

By Jason ElmquistCNHI New Service

Texas Tech went from the highest of highs tolowest of lows in the span of one week last sea-son. And the memory still lingers.

After upsetting Oklahoma in Norman to setthemselves up with a 5-2 record, the Red Raiderswent winless down the stretch to finish 5-7 — withonly one game, a 31-27 loss at Missouri, finishingwithin three touchdowns of their opponents.

“This is a fun sport. Sometimes you make ittougher than what it is. A lot of times some of theother teams have something to say about howgood you are,” Texas Tech coach TommyTuberville said.

Tuberville attributed the injury bug as a largereason for the struggling season. The RedRaiders lost their starting running back EricStephens in the fifth game of the season in a 45-40 loss to Texas A&M.

“He’s much better. I’d say he’s probably 80 per-cent. Eric is our running back last year that hewas off and having a great season,” Tubervillesaid. “We were hoping to have a thousand-yardseason out of him. And he was looking very good.

... It wasn’t just a knee injury, it was a leg injury.Total replacement. It was one of those that youhate to even think about.”

In the third-to-last game of the season, TexasTech then lost their leading receiver Alex Torresfor the remainder of the year in the loss to Mis-souri.

“Had two big catches and touch-downs versus Oklahoma, and thenhad a couple more good games. Andthen at the Missouri game on theturf they had up there, which wasnot conducive really to being safe, welost him and two other guys to kneeinjuries,” Tuberville said. But he’s recu-perated. He still has a little limp in hisrun. I noticed that the other day.”

A healthy Torres would be beneficial for seniorquarterback Seth Doege, who finished with 4,004yards passing and 28 touchdowns a year ago.

“It was an embarrassing time for us —breaking the postseason streak, not getting toplay in a bowl game and having to sit andwatch them from home,” Doege said. “There’sdefinitely a chip on our shoulder and anurgency to get back.”

Big 12 preview: Texas Tech

AP Photo

Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege said he’s readyto show fans the Red Raiders are back. Texas Techopens its season at home Saturday against North-western State.

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 29

The Associated Press

The Southeastern Conference haslined up a few contenders for Lucky No.7.

Defending national champion Alabamaand last season’s 13-game juggernautLSU remain the headliners of a leaguethat has won the last six BCS titles. Andthat’s despite the Crimson Tide and theTigers losing a combined six first-roundNFL draft picks.

Other SEC — and national — powersare trying to catch up.

Arkansas, which ended last seasonranked fifth, and Georgia return starquarterbacks. Steve Spurrier fieldsanother formidable-looking SouthCarolina team. Plus, the Razorbacks andGamecocks get star running backs backfrom injuries.

Even those suffering from SEC fatiguemight not want to miss that prime-timeNov. 3 three-match in Baton Rouge. TheTide and the Tigers split last season with‘Bama grabbing Round 2, 21-0 in the BCStitle game in New Orleans.

The rivalry carried over onto Twitterwith sniping between Tide quarterbackAJ McCarron and LSU Heisman finalistTyrann Mathieu — in June.

“I can tell you that no game is won in aTwitter page,” LSU coach Les Milesnoted.

What’s new this year is Big 12 Confer-ence defectors Texas A&M and Missouristep into the SEC. They’ll both try toshow they belong.

“Only way you’re going to get respectis winning games, OK?” Missouri coachGary Pinkel said. “That’s the only way it’sgoing to happen. I got no problem withthat. You’ve got to prove yourself.”

Here is an overall look at the confer-ence.

EAST• GEORGIA — Key players: QB

Aaron Murray, WR Tavarres King, DBBacarri Rambo, LB Jarvis Jones. Return-ing starters: 6 offense, 9 defense.

Notes: RB Isaiah Crowell is gone.Cornerback Sanders Commings and

cornerback Branden Smith — andperhaps Rambo — face suspensions. ...Malcolm Mitchell, last season’s No. 2receiver, opens at cornerback and willlikely play both positions. ... Lightweightnonconference schedule includes Buffalo,Florida Atlantic and Georgia Southern.

• SOUTH CAROLINA — Keyplayers: QB Connor Shaw, RB MarcusLattimore, DE Jadeveon Clowney, DEDevin Taylor. Returning starters: 7offense, 6 defense.

Notes: A second straight Top 10 finishseems possible. ... If Lattimore returns topre-knee injury form, it could more thanmake up for the loss of WR AlshonJeffery. ... Pass rush remains formidable

even minus NFL first-round pick DEMelvin Ingram.

• FLORIDA — Key players: RB MikeGillislee, WR Andre Debose, LB JonBostic, DL Sharrif Floyd. Returningstarters: 7 offense, 10 defense.

Notes: Gators try to rebound frommediocre season. ... Brent Pease replacesoffensive coordinator Charlie Weis, andhas the personnel to mount a morephysical running attack. ... Defensivelinemen Ronald Powell and DominiqueEasley are trying to return from kneeinjuries.

• MISSOURI — Key players: QBJames Franklin, LT Elvis Fisher, WR

Dorial Green-Beckham,CB E.J. Gaines.Returning starters:6 offense, 7defense.

Notes: TheSEC’s third groupof Tigers entersthe league hoping toprove skeptics wrong. ...Franklin is expected to be fully recoveredfrom spring shoulder surgery after flirtingwith 3,000-yard passing, 1,000-yardrushing season. ... It’s unclear if RBHenry Josey (knee) will play.

Alabama, LSU, SEC trying to remain on top

Tammy Shriver / Times West Virginian

Tavon Austin gets upfield for a gain against LSU. WVU lost to LSU 47-21 last season in front of 62,056 fans in Morgantown,W.Va.

• SEC, Page 30

• TENNESSEE — Key players: QBTyler Bray, WR Da’Rick Rogers, LB A.J.Johnson, LB Herman Lathers. Returningstarters: 10 offense, 7 defense.

Notes: Derek Dooley’s rebuildingproject continues after one SEC win lastseason. ... Volunteers have dangerousreceivers but must replace RB TaurenPoole. ... Tennessee reloaded with severalJUCO transfers, including onetimeAlabama defensive lineman DarringtonSentimore and WR Cordarrelle Patterson.

• VANDERBILT — Key players: QBJordan Rodgers, RB Zac Stacy, DT RobLohr, DB Trey Wilson. Returningstarters: 9 offense, 8 defense.

Notes: The Commodores have adoptedcoach James Franklin’s feisty attitude, butface uphill climb from 2-6 SEC mark thatstill marked solid progress. ... Rodgers,Aaron’s younger brother, seems to haveregained Franklin’s confidence after bowlgame benching.

• KENTUCKY — Key players: QBMorgan Newton, OL Larry Warford, WRLa’Rod King, S Martavius Neloms.Returning starters: 6 offense, 5 defense.

Notes: Coach Joker Phillips might beon the hot seat after 4-12 SEC mark infirst two seasons. ... QB Morgan Newtonwas held out of contact in spring afterhaving surgery on his right shoulder. ...Defense must replace SEC’s two leadersin tackles per game, LB Danny Trevathanand S/LB Winston Guy.

WEST• LSU — Key players: QB Zach

Mettenberger, DE Sam Montgomery, DTBennie Logan. Returning starters: 7offense, 5 defense.

Notes: Mettenberger, a former Georgiaplayer, has drawn strong reviews fromcoach Les Miles and teammates andmight represent a sizable upgrade at QB.... Offense has runners galore, led bySpencer Ware and Michael Ford, andoffensive line has five players who havelogged 102 collective starts. ... Secondaryloses Morris Claiborne, but returns starEric Reid. ... Ends Montgomery andBarkevious Mingo combined for 17sacks. ... Tigers spent 11 weeks at No. 1last season.

• ALABAMA — Key players: QB AJMcCarron, C Barrett Jones, LB NicoJohnson, S Robert Lester. Returningstarters: 6 offense, 4 defense.

Notes: Quest for third national title infour years faces daunting scheduling,including opener with Michigan inArlington, Texas, and visits to LSU andArkansas. ... New offensive coordinatorDoug Nussmeier is unlikely to changepound-before-pass philosophy. ... Defensethat topped all four major categoriesnationally must replace seven starterswith 188 combined starts.

• ARKANSAS — Key players: QBTyler Wilson, RB Knile Davis, WR CobiHamilton, LB Alonzo Highsmith. Return-ing starters: 8 offense, 6 defense.

Notes: Coach John L. Smith trying tokeep Bobby Petrino’s offseason ousterfrom slowing program’s momentum. ...All-SEC RB Knile Davis returns afterankle injury sidelined him in 2011. ...Razorbacks hosting LSU in Fayettevillefor the first time since 1992. ... Sixmembers of Smith’s staff in new roles.

• AUBURN — Key players: QB KiehlFrazier, WR Emory Blake, DE CoreyLemonier, LB Daren Bates. Returningstarters: 7 offense, 9 defense.

Notes: Frazier is the odds-on favorite toclaim starting job over Clint Moseley. ...Tigers have new coordinators in ScotLoeffler (offense) and Brian VanGorder(defense). ... Two-time 1,000-yard rusherMike Dyer is gone, and so is GusMalzahn’s no-huddle offense.

• TEXAS A&M — Key players: LTLuke Joeckel, RB Christine Michael, WRRyan Swope, LB Sean Porter. Returningstarters: 7 offense, 6 defense.

QB Jameill Showers is apparent leaderin race to replace RyanTannehill, the No. 8NFL draft pick....Coach KevinSumlin, whoseHouston offensestwice led thenation in total,passing and scoring,brings a fast-paced attackto College Station. ... Top pass rushersSean Porter and Damontre Moore returnfrom team that led nation in sacks per

game.

• MISSISSIPPI ST — Key players:QB Tyler Russell, LG Gabe Jackson, CBJohnthan Banks, LB Cameron Lawrence.Returning starters: 5 offense, 7 defense.

Notes: Bulldogs have won back-to-backbowl games for first time since 1999-2000— not to mention three straight EggBowls with rival Mississippi. ... CoachDan Mullen predicts “a huge year” fromRussell. ... Mississippi State 0-12 underMullen against SEC West teams otherthan Ole Miss.

• MISSISSIPPI — Key players: WRDonte Moncrief, RB Jeff Scott, DBCharles Sawyer, LB Mike Marry.Returning starters: 7 offense, 7 defense.

NOTES: Randall Mackey has movedfrom QB to WR with emergence of BarryBrunetti, JUCO transfer Bo Wallace. ...WR Nickolas Brassell has left the teambecause of academics, and four othershad to work this summer to assureeligibility.

30 2012 College Preview Aug. 31, 2012

SEC From Page 29

AP Photo

Alabama coach Nick Saban’s CrimsonTide enters the season as the defend-ing national champions.

Aug. 31, 2012 2012 College Preview 31

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