cheezyq
8/7/2009, 05:04 PM
I loved some of the comments in this article. It gives me chills to hear some of these comments from our players. I think that they finally "get it", which will hopefully mean some good things this year.
http://www.ncaafootball.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=34&url_article_id=16332&change_well_id=2
Frustrated by title game loss, Sooners start anew
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By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - When he discovered that word had leaked out about his struggle to complete a conditioning drill in his freshman year, all Sam Bradford could do was grimace. With his strength coach telling him he was too slow and should get out of the way, Bradford insisted on finishing.
Even as tight end Jermaine Gresham described the scene, he was telling a tale of the perseverance and dedication that helped his quarterback win the Heisman Trophy a year ago.
"That was not one of my finer moments," Bradford recalled. "I think I was just trying to show my teammates that I wasn't going to give up on them, I wasn't going to give up on myself. It would have been easy for me, when he told me to leave, just to walk out and not finish.
"To me, that was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to finish and I wanted to finish with my teammates."
Now, Bradford and his teammates have some other unfinished business at hand: making amends for the 24-14 loss to Florida in last season's BCS championship game.
"I think any time you lose the national championship game, it's going to stick with you. Obviously, I think about it a lot," said Bradford, who threw for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns in the highest scoring offense in college football history. "I think anyone on the team who told you they didn't think about it a lot would be lying to you."
Chris Brown, the Sooners' leading rusher last season with 1,220 yards, said he hasn't seen a replay of the BCS loss and doesn't have any interest in seeing one.
"That's something I've been thinking about since the day I walked off the field and this whole summer. This being my last year, I'm laying everything on the line for my team and I think a lot more of the seniors are doing the same thing," Brown said Friday at Oklahoma's annual media day.
The Sooners have won an unprecedented three straight Big 12 titles and have three straight BCS bowl defeats to show for it, with back-to-back Fiesta Bowl losses to Boise State and West Virginia preceding the Gators' triumph in Miami.
"It just makes you want it so much more. You wouldn't believe," Brown said. "Before my sophomore year and before we even made it to the national championship, it really wasn't on my mind until we made it. But after we lost it, it really ... hurt."
Dating back to the Sugar Bowl loss to LSU following the 2003 season, Oklahoma has lost its last five BCS bowl game appearances - finishing remarkable seasons in the worst possible way.
"The fact is we haven't won yet," said defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, a second-team All-America pick last season. "That's what we want to do this year is finish."
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson blamed the Florida loss on a lack of execution by the offense that set an NCAA record by scoring 716 points. He documented an uncharacteristic start with a sack and a holding penalty killing the Sooners' first two drives and two empty first-half possessions inside the 10-yard line.
"We just went back saying as great as Florida was - the anointed ones - as great as they were, look at how many times it was us," Wilson said. "No disrespect to them."
Bradford said the championship game was a lesson that "in big games, if you want to win, you have to execute every time, not every other time."
Bradford will be depending on a largely new supporting cast as the Sooners, who were ranked No. 3 in the coaches' poll that came out Friday, seek redemption. Four starting linemen, and three receivers who combined for 21 touchdown catches, are gone, although Bradford will still have two 1,000-yard backs and a second-team All-America pick at tight end at his disposal.
As for his game, the Heisman winner trusts his skills more than ever and is focused on becoming a better leader for the inexperienced players who will be in his huddle.
"After playing two years, I feel like I'm fairly comfortable with our offense now. This last year, I was still trying to figure out some things as far as protections and some of the more complicated things that we didn't get to my freshman year," Bradford said. "At this point, I feel comfortable with everything we do."
Even if somewhere in his subconscious, there's that nagging desire to be one game better.
"It's really not talked about a lot, but you know what's on guys' mind. That close from having a big one, it kind of hurts," Brown said. "But it makes it that much more exciting for the next year when you've quality guys coming back to make another run for it."
Every comment by Brown, Bradford, and even Kevin Wilson shows that they "get it". It's about laying everything on the line for the team, showing leadership and executing EVERY play, and not making mistakes, even if you command the world's 2nd greatest offense (;) :D).
http://www.ncaafootball.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=34&url_article_id=16332&change_well_id=2
Frustrated by title game loss, Sooners start anew
advertisement
By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - When he discovered that word had leaked out about his struggle to complete a conditioning drill in his freshman year, all Sam Bradford could do was grimace. With his strength coach telling him he was too slow and should get out of the way, Bradford insisted on finishing.
Even as tight end Jermaine Gresham described the scene, he was telling a tale of the perseverance and dedication that helped his quarterback win the Heisman Trophy a year ago.
"That was not one of my finer moments," Bradford recalled. "I think I was just trying to show my teammates that I wasn't going to give up on them, I wasn't going to give up on myself. It would have been easy for me, when he told me to leave, just to walk out and not finish.
"To me, that was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to finish and I wanted to finish with my teammates."
Now, Bradford and his teammates have some other unfinished business at hand: making amends for the 24-14 loss to Florida in last season's BCS championship game.
"I think any time you lose the national championship game, it's going to stick with you. Obviously, I think about it a lot," said Bradford, who threw for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns in the highest scoring offense in college football history. "I think anyone on the team who told you they didn't think about it a lot would be lying to you."
Chris Brown, the Sooners' leading rusher last season with 1,220 yards, said he hasn't seen a replay of the BCS loss and doesn't have any interest in seeing one.
"That's something I've been thinking about since the day I walked off the field and this whole summer. This being my last year, I'm laying everything on the line for my team and I think a lot more of the seniors are doing the same thing," Brown said Friday at Oklahoma's annual media day.
The Sooners have won an unprecedented three straight Big 12 titles and have three straight BCS bowl defeats to show for it, with back-to-back Fiesta Bowl losses to Boise State and West Virginia preceding the Gators' triumph in Miami.
"It just makes you want it so much more. You wouldn't believe," Brown said. "Before my sophomore year and before we even made it to the national championship, it really wasn't on my mind until we made it. But after we lost it, it really ... hurt."
Dating back to the Sugar Bowl loss to LSU following the 2003 season, Oklahoma has lost its last five BCS bowl game appearances - finishing remarkable seasons in the worst possible way.
"The fact is we haven't won yet," said defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, a second-team All-America pick last season. "That's what we want to do this year is finish."
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson blamed the Florida loss on a lack of execution by the offense that set an NCAA record by scoring 716 points. He documented an uncharacteristic start with a sack and a holding penalty killing the Sooners' first two drives and two empty first-half possessions inside the 10-yard line.
"We just went back saying as great as Florida was - the anointed ones - as great as they were, look at how many times it was us," Wilson said. "No disrespect to them."
Bradford said the championship game was a lesson that "in big games, if you want to win, you have to execute every time, not every other time."
Bradford will be depending on a largely new supporting cast as the Sooners, who were ranked No. 3 in the coaches' poll that came out Friday, seek redemption. Four starting linemen, and three receivers who combined for 21 touchdown catches, are gone, although Bradford will still have two 1,000-yard backs and a second-team All-America pick at tight end at his disposal.
As for his game, the Heisman winner trusts his skills more than ever and is focused on becoming a better leader for the inexperienced players who will be in his huddle.
"After playing two years, I feel like I'm fairly comfortable with our offense now. This last year, I was still trying to figure out some things as far as protections and some of the more complicated things that we didn't get to my freshman year," Bradford said. "At this point, I feel comfortable with everything we do."
Even if somewhere in his subconscious, there's that nagging desire to be one game better.
"It's really not talked about a lot, but you know what's on guys' mind. That close from having a big one, it kind of hurts," Brown said. "But it makes it that much more exciting for the next year when you've quality guys coming back to make another run for it."
Every comment by Brown, Bradford, and even Kevin Wilson shows that they "get it". It's about laying everything on the line for the team, showing leadership and executing EVERY play, and not making mistakes, even if you command the world's 2nd greatest offense (;) :D).