CaliBornSoonerBred
11/10/2009, 05:39 PM
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20091110_92_0_Oklaho862718
NORMAN — The injury bombshells keep rocking the Oklahoma football program.
On Tuesday, Bob Stoops announced that yet another starting offensive lineman, sophomore Jarvis Jones, is out for the season. Stoops said Jones had a fractured heel.
A day earlier, Stoops said senior Brody Eldridge, the starting left guard who had been an All-Big 12 performer at fullback and also was a key blocker at tight end, was out for the year with a shoulder injury (Stoops on Tuesday amended that to say it was Eldridge's neck).
Defensively, Stoops also said Monday that senior end Auston English was out for the year with a tendon injury in his left foot and was scheduled for Tuesday surgery.
Jones' injury is the fifth season-ending ailment to a starter — the fourth on offense — so far. Tight end Jermaine Gresham, quarterback Sam Bradford, Eldridge and Jones have all been taken out of action.
"That's hard, when you don't have those guys on the field that have been there, that have played it a bunch, who are ready for the situation," Stoops said. "Auston, I just feel horrible for those guys. And Brody Eldridge, gol-lee, he's just been an incredible guy, a leader, the toughness, sacrificing being a tight end to being on the interior line, you just really hurt for those guys. The last thing he wants is to be sitting on the sideline. He wants to be playing. And both of 'em in their senior years, it's disappointing for them also."
Stoops said he didn't expect freshman Josh Aladenoye or junior college transfer Jeff Vinson to be used during the Sooners' last three games. Vinson is listed as the second-team left tackle on the depth chart released Tuesday. Stoops also said he expected tight end Eric Mensik to contribute at tackle.
The preseason began on a sour note when freshman linebacker Tom Wort went down with a torn knee ligament. Coaches said they expected Wort to be a regular contributor. Just days after that, senior linebacker Mike Balogun was declared ineligible. Gresham also went down with a knee injury in the preseason.
Starting wide receivers Ryan Broyles and Brandon Caleb, starting running back DeMarco Murray and starting left guard Brian Simmons also have missed a combined eight games with various injuries. Caleb is still nursing a sore ankle this week but hasn't been cleared to play, and Simmons, with a bad knee, is "still a couple weeks away," Stoops said. Freshman guard Tyler Evans has been hobbled by an ankle injury as well.
The Sooners, who host Texas A&M this week, are 5-4, unranked for the first time since 2005, then they finished 8-4. This year, Stoops said, is "obviously" more frustrating than that season.
"You're constantly moving parts," he said. "You've got more and more players that aren't able to play."
Other highlights from Stoops' press conference:
On if he ever gets so frustrated by the injuries, mental mistakes and close losses that he just wants to laugh it off and try to enjoy the team's last three games:
"In the end, no, I can't laugh it off. We've got to figure out ways to make it better, to improve it. That's what we're trying to do here this week."
On how he keeps the players motivated through such trying times:
"I think it just gets down to an individual's will and an individual's pride, how you want to play. And I think any way you look at it, motivation for other people or anything else, just your self-motivation is what matters most. In the end, how do you want to play? And represent yourself? I think our players, they won't succumb to it. They'll keep fighting hard, and hopefully we can play smarter and make some improvement."
On if he would have played for the extra point kick or gone for the 2-point conversion if the Sooners had scored a late touchdown at Nebraska:
"I was already thinking of going for 2. I just — two reasons. We hadn't kicked field goals real well and sometimes you get in those overtime games, the way (the) defenses, both of us, were playing, you would think you're gonna force a bunch of field goals, and I didn't, at that point — probably justifiably — I didn't feel great about getting in a field goal contest. I felt we've got a chance to win it on that play instead of kicking field goals back and forth."
NORMAN — The injury bombshells keep rocking the Oklahoma football program.
On Tuesday, Bob Stoops announced that yet another starting offensive lineman, sophomore Jarvis Jones, is out for the season. Stoops said Jones had a fractured heel.
A day earlier, Stoops said senior Brody Eldridge, the starting left guard who had been an All-Big 12 performer at fullback and also was a key blocker at tight end, was out for the year with a shoulder injury (Stoops on Tuesday amended that to say it was Eldridge's neck).
Defensively, Stoops also said Monday that senior end Auston English was out for the year with a tendon injury in his left foot and was scheduled for Tuesday surgery.
Jones' injury is the fifth season-ending ailment to a starter — the fourth on offense — so far. Tight end Jermaine Gresham, quarterback Sam Bradford, Eldridge and Jones have all been taken out of action.
"That's hard, when you don't have those guys on the field that have been there, that have played it a bunch, who are ready for the situation," Stoops said. "Auston, I just feel horrible for those guys. And Brody Eldridge, gol-lee, he's just been an incredible guy, a leader, the toughness, sacrificing being a tight end to being on the interior line, you just really hurt for those guys. The last thing he wants is to be sitting on the sideline. He wants to be playing. And both of 'em in their senior years, it's disappointing for them also."
Stoops said he didn't expect freshman Josh Aladenoye or junior college transfer Jeff Vinson to be used during the Sooners' last three games. Vinson is listed as the second-team left tackle on the depth chart released Tuesday. Stoops also said he expected tight end Eric Mensik to contribute at tackle.
The preseason began on a sour note when freshman linebacker Tom Wort went down with a torn knee ligament. Coaches said they expected Wort to be a regular contributor. Just days after that, senior linebacker Mike Balogun was declared ineligible. Gresham also went down with a knee injury in the preseason.
Starting wide receivers Ryan Broyles and Brandon Caleb, starting running back DeMarco Murray and starting left guard Brian Simmons also have missed a combined eight games with various injuries. Caleb is still nursing a sore ankle this week but hasn't been cleared to play, and Simmons, with a bad knee, is "still a couple weeks away," Stoops said. Freshman guard Tyler Evans has been hobbled by an ankle injury as well.
The Sooners, who host Texas A&M this week, are 5-4, unranked for the first time since 2005, then they finished 8-4. This year, Stoops said, is "obviously" more frustrating than that season.
"You're constantly moving parts," he said. "You've got more and more players that aren't able to play."
Other highlights from Stoops' press conference:
On if he ever gets so frustrated by the injuries, mental mistakes and close losses that he just wants to laugh it off and try to enjoy the team's last three games:
"In the end, no, I can't laugh it off. We've got to figure out ways to make it better, to improve it. That's what we're trying to do here this week."
On how he keeps the players motivated through such trying times:
"I think it just gets down to an individual's will and an individual's pride, how you want to play. And I think any way you look at it, motivation for other people or anything else, just your self-motivation is what matters most. In the end, how do you want to play? And represent yourself? I think our players, they won't succumb to it. They'll keep fighting hard, and hopefully we can play smarter and make some improvement."
On if he would have played for the extra point kick or gone for the 2-point conversion if the Sooners had scored a late touchdown at Nebraska:
"I was already thinking of going for 2. I just — two reasons. We hadn't kicked field goals real well and sometimes you get in those overtime games, the way (the) defenses, both of us, were playing, you would think you're gonna force a bunch of field goals, and I didn't, at that point — probably justifiably — I didn't feel great about getting in a field goal contest. I felt we've got a chance to win it on that play instead of kicking field goals back and forth."