Sooners hope to play a role after being sidelined
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
8/21/2006
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NORMAN -- With all the stars that have risen -- and fallen -- for the Oklahoma Sooners in the past month, it has been easy to overlook two of the team's character actors.
By the time, their names roll across the big screen, most Sooner fans have already left the theater.
But somewhere, between the training room and the two-deep, are running back Jacob Gutierrez and cornerback Marcus Walker, and they're hoping to land at least a supporting role.
Each is coming back from devastating injury. Each is the consummate team player. Each may get to play a major part sometime this season.
"My goal is to come back and play," said Walker. "That's my main goal, to be a player. That's always been my goal, and that'll never change."
Likewise, Gutierrez says his main goal is "just to help out and contribute as much as I can," whether it be chasing down kickoff returners, giving starter Adrian Peterson a rest or just providing leadership.
Their past contributions are unmistakable:
In 2004, Walker came out of redshirt in the ninth game of his freshman season. Too many deep balls had been caught behind Eric Bassey, so Walker was sent in to stop the bleeding against Texas A&M. He played well through
the rest of the season.
"I just wanted to do anything I could to help the team," Walker said.
Last season, with Peterson in the medical ward, Gutierrez rushed 30 times for 179 yards against Baylor. Gutierrez' numbers weren't just career-highs, they were careers for the diminutive runner.
"With Adrian here, he's our main, go-to guy, and I'm OK with that," Gutierrez said.
But just as each guy was ready for a curtain call, major injury cut his part.
Just two weeks after his A&M debut, Walker dislocated his right shoulder at Baylor. He popped out the left one against Colorado in the Big 12 championship game, and reinjured it in the Orange Bowl. After offseason surgery, Walker again hurt his left shoulder in training camp, reinjured it at UCLA and hardly played last year.
A week after Gutierrez' breakout game against Baylor (Peterson had regained his health, so Gutierrez was back on special teams), he was blindsided while covering a kickoff at Nebraska, dislocating his elbow. He returned against Oregon for the Holiday Bowl, but sustained torn knee ligaments -- again on the kickoff team, this time with no one touching him. That led to major surgery and months of rehab.
Feeling sorry? They're not.
"It's kind of hard sometimes, knowing that you're hurt and that's limiting you and there's things you can't do," Walker said. "But you have to realize that things happen for a reason. I'm healthy now, so everything will be all right."
Said Gutierrez, "It is a frustrating thing, finally getting on the field last year . . . and then taking a step back. But everything happens for a reason. I pray about it, and I let God take me where he takes me."
Walker is battling Lendy Holmes for the third cornerback spot, although he's had time with the No. 1 unit. Gutierrez, meanwhile, hasn't had much contact in the preseason but is expected to be cleared soon to trade snaps with Allen Patrick as Peterson's backup.
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John E. Hoover 581-8384
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