DeMarco Murray must be hurt
Remember back in August, when OU had two Heisman Trophy contenders? Sam Bradford and DeMarco Murray.
Well, while Sudden Sam has skyrocketed into perhaps the Heisman lead, Murray is not even a thought for all-Big 12 tailback.
And it seems quite apparent that Murray is not the same player he was in 2007, before a broken kneecap ended his season. Murray was a home run hitter last year; not so this year. His speed and elusiveness seems much less than a year ago.
Murray remains OU’s most productive tailback, but not by much. Murray has 431 yards on 85 carries, a 5.1 yards per carry average. Chris Brown has 313 yards on 67 carries, a 4.7 yards per carry average.
But Murray made most of his hay against Chattanooga, a thoroughly outclassed opponent. Against the Mocs, Murray had gains of 49, 19 and 19 yards. Since then, his longest gain has been 14.
Truth is, the last four weeks, Brown has been more likely to break into the secondary.
Murray has not burst away from defenders. He hasn’t juked much of anybody, compared to what we saw in 2007. I don’t know if Murray is still recovering from the injury, or if he’s lost some speed he can’t get back. Either way, it’s clear he’s not the same player he was.
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I have to agree with you about Murray. He seems hesitant to bust up inside with authority and does not move well in the open field. Seems to have lingering effects or psycological effects from his injury.
I don’t think he is giving up, he is just not his old self and it is a shame, I just hope he has not damaged himself further and will never fully recover.
This weekend scares me, Horns front 4, IS FOR REAL, very big, fast, and talented. We are going to miss Granger and McCoy at full speed. Oh well, I still think we get it done, just hope in a large enough fashion to satisfy the East Coast talking heads and their adoration and contract talk for the SEC. Michael Cope