Jenni Carlson » Sooners

EJ Manuel: Running quarterback? Maybe not

Jenni Carlson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:52:58 +0000

Florida State University's EJ Manuel out runs Florida's Ahmad Black for a first down in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game which Florida State won 31-7 on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010, in Tallahassee, Fla.(AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

Frank Alexander has seen as much of Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel in the past week as any player.

The Oklahoma defensive end’s take after watching hours and hours of film in preparation for Saturday’s showdown in Tallahassee?

“He’s an athletic guy,” Alexander said, “but I think he prides himself on pocket passing.”

Passing?

Wait. Isn’t Manuel supposed to be this great dual-threat quarterback? A completely different player and wholly different challenge than Seminole quarterback Christian Ponder was a year ago?

Alexander admits that Manuel is different than Ponder.

“He’s more stable back there,” Alexander said of Manuel. “He doesn’t get rattled as fast. If he sees a blitz, he’ll step up in the pocket and still try to make a throw.

“With Ponder last year, he’d get rattled … he’d take it and run. He’d pull the ball down and run. I think EJ Manuel wants to be a great pocket passer.”

Sooner defensive coordinator Brent Venables backs that up.

“Christian would pull it down a lot more than Manuel,” he said. “They have design QB runs. They have the option and everything else.”

But just taking off?

“He doesn’t get antsy like Ponder would get antsy,” Venables said.

Those assessments of Manuel may fly in the face of just about everything you’ve been lead to believe about the Seminole quarterback, but the numbers back them up. In Florida State’s first two games, Manuel has completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 581 yards and six touchdowns.

His rushing numbers?

He’s only carried the ball 10 times for 30 yards.

Not exactly Michael Vick stuff.

“From the film I’ve watched on him, whenever he had the opportunity to run, he didn’t run,” Alexander said of Manuel. “He’d scramble a little bit and look for an open man to throw the ball.

“I feel like he can run all day. He’s a big guy, a real athletic guy. I feel like he can get out there and run. But I think he wants to let the world know that he can be a passer, too.”

Advantage, Sooners.

Against offenses that have a true dual-threat quarterback, OU has had its struggles over the years. Just look at last year’s games. Against option-running quarterbacks from Utah State and Air Force, OU had two of its closest calls of the season, winning those games by a combined 10 points. Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez also gave OU fits in the Big 12 championship game, when the Sooners squeaked by the Huskers by only three points.

Now, I’m not saying that the fact that Manuel is more pocket passer than dual-threat guy means the Sooners are going to roll to an easy victory in Tallahassee. But Manuel being more of a passer gives the OU defense an advantage.

Sure, Manuel may burn the Sooners on a run or two, but every quarterback does that from time to time.

OU is preparing for him much like it’s prepare for Brandon Weeden at Oklahoma State or Ryan Tannehill at Texas A&M.

“With not having a threat of him running, you can be a lot heavier on your rushes,” Alexander said. “When you have a running quarterback, you’re always taught as a defensive lineman not to run behind the quarterback. With him staying in the pocket, that’ll make our rushes a lot more efficient.

“I feel like we don’t have the big threat of him running.”

I’ll say it again — advantage, Sooners.

Football: What’s luck got to do with it? Ask the Sooners

Jenni Carlson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:41:36 +0000

Players wouldn’t want to admit it. Ditto for coaches. But the truth is undeniable — there’s luck involved in sports.

It’s not the most important ingredient to success, of course. Talented players and quality coaching and team chemistry and probably half a dozen other things are more vital than luck. Make no mistake, though, luck is part of the equation.

Just ask Oklahoma.

The Sooners are short on luck this season. Jermaine Gresham turns his knee a strange way. Sam Bradford lands on his shoulder wrong. On and on the list has gone this season.

The carnage grew by three this week. News came Monday that offensive lineman Brody Eldridge and defensive lineman Auston English will miss the rest of the season with injuries. A shoulder injury did in Eldridge while an ankle injury fell English. Then Tuesday, we learned that offensive lineman Jarvis Jones had a cracked heel and is done for the year.

Injuries are usually a complete fluke. Hit the ground a little more on his back, and maybe Bradford never busts up his shoulder. Turn his knee just a bit differently, and maybe Gresham never misses a game.

It’s a game of inches where injuries are concerned, and frankly, that all comes down to luck — or the lack of it.

Think about the Sooners’ national championship season of 2000. That team suffered no major injuries, and as we found out after the season, Josh Heupel might have been holding his arm together with duct tape. And yet he never missed a meaningful snap. Ditto for the rest of the Sooner stars. And a title was theirs.

That same season, Arkansas started the year with high hopes. Then the Razorbacks’ quarterback went down, then a running back. When all was said and done, they’d lost 20 players to injury and finished the regular season 6-5.

There’s always luck involved in college football. Just so happens that this season, the Sooners are dealing with the bad variety of it.

Yes, Bradford will

Jenni Carlson — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:04:22 +0000

News is out that Sam Bradford will start against Baylor.

That turns a potentially ho-hum day into an afternoon packed with intrigue. I suspected that Oklahoma would throttle Baylor and turn the second half into a second-stringer’s dream, and even though I think the Sooners are still the heavy favorite, this game has all sort of interesting questions.

What will Bradford look like? How will he play after more than a month off?

How will his arm look? Will there be signs of fatigue?

Will Kevin Wilson’s playcalling change? Does Bradford’s presence make that much of a difference?

For so long, the biggest question surrounding OU football was, “When will Sam Bradford play?” Now that we have the answer to that, we have plenty more questions that need answering.

Saturday can’t come fast enough.

Slingin’ Sam: Will he play or not?

Jenni Carlson — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:01:10 +0000

Perception is an interesting animal.

Earlier this week, Sam Bradford made his first public comments since injuring his shoulder in Oklahoma’s opening game. He talked about his rehab, his recovery and his possible return. Everyone heard the same answers from the Sooner quarterback, but not everyone came to the same conclusion about what he said.

One website headline: Bradford close to return.

Another one: Bradford eyeing return, but surgery still possible.

And another one: Bradford hopes to play vs. Baylor.

And one last one: Surgery remains possibility for Oklahoma QB Bradford’s shoulder.

Technically, every one of those headlines is correct. Bradford is close to returning, or at least he’s closer now than he was a few weeks ago. He is eyeing a return, but surgery is still possible. He does hope to play Saturday. It is interesting, though, how the same nine-minute question-and-answer session can be perceived so differently.

Some saw the good in what Bradford had to say. Some saw the bad. But the truth is, what he had to say was both good and bad and everything in between.

The guy is clearly frustrated and not healing the way he’d hoped, but he is also better now than he has been since he injured his AC joint against BYU. Then, there are also the things that you find reading between the lines, that his shoulder is better and his pain is minimal but that his arm isn’t as strong as it used to be. He is struggling to put the same zip on the ball and to do it for as long as he used to. But wait, that’s a perception, too, isn’t it? The truth is, everyone who heard what Bradford had to say earlier this week made a judgment about it.

When questions abound but answers are as scarce as they have been in Bradford’s case, everyone is left with only one thing — their perception.

Big Blake getting a taste of Clippers Curse

Jenni Carlson — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:30:51 +0000

Wonder if Blake Griffin is starting to believe in this Clippers Curse idea.

The former Oklahoma standout has officially been a member of the Los Angeles Clippers for all of three months, and already he’s had not one but two injuries.

Perhaps you remember that Griffin was sidelined earlier this summer. He strained his right shoulder during a summer league game in July. He was on track to return to action when the Clippers opened training camp earlier this week.

That injury just seemed like a blip on the Clippers Curse radar. After all, the team best known for futility has had far worse incidents. Take Danny Manning, for example. The slam-dunk, No. 1 pick in the 1988 draft went to the Clippers, and 26 games into his pro career, he suffered a knee injury. He was never the same after that.

So, that shoulder could’ve been worse for Griffin.

But then last week, he was participating in an informal workout session at the team’s training facility. He had a knee-on-knee collision with teammate Craig Smith.

Smith was completely and totally unscathed.

Griffin injured his left knee, bruising his patella and leaving his patellar tendon sore.

That meant that when the Clippers opened camp Tuesday, Griffin could only watch from his elliptical machine.

Maybe we should’ve seen this coming. On draft night, after all, news about the biggest day of Griffin’s life was dwarfed in Los Angeles by the death of Michael Jackson. What should’ve been big sports news in Southern California became an afterthought.

Clippers Curse? Alive and well? Strong as ever? It sure seems that way.

There is no doubt that Blake Griffin is a strong, strapping young lad. He can carry a lot on those broad shoulders. Adjusting to the NBA and living up to expectations should be no problem for Big Blake.

This Clippers Curse might be a whole other story.

Hurricane warning in South Florida

Jenni Carlson — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:16:51 +0000

Consider this a warning, Sooner Nation.

A hurricane warning.

Oklahoma is heading to Miami on Saturday, but after the Hurricanes went to Virginia Tech last weekend and got throttled, 31-7, I get the feeling like a lot of folks in crimson and cream heaved a huge sigh of relief.

Yes, Virginia Tech took a team that had been rolling right along and cut it down to size. Sure, the Hokies exposed the Hurricanes’ weaknesses and made it seem like the Sooners’ defensive front will be able to get to Miami quarterback Jacory Harris. But make no mistake — Miami is still a formidable foe, this game still a losable contest for OU.

If anyone in the Sooner Nation is dropping their guard to those facts, then they do so at their own peril.

Remember, Miami didn’t lose to St. Mary’s Sisters of the Blind. Virginia Tech is a stout opponent, and at home in Blacksburg, the Hokies are even tougher. Throw in a steady downpour during the game Saturday, and Virginia Tech’s plodder tendencies benefited and Miami’s speed was negated. It was the perfect storm to produce a Virginia Tech romp.

Might the Sooners go to Miami and win in a rout, too? Sure, it could happen. But Miami is no slouch.

No doubt the Hurricanes’ loss took some shine off this game against the Sooners, a contest that would’ve been a top-10 showdown, but that doesn’t mean Miami is a gimme game. Think that it is, Sooner Nation, and you’ll find yourself in a world of hurt Saturday.

You know what they say about Hurricanes — be prepared.

Heisman Trophy talk

Jenni Carlson — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:03:40 +0000

How can the Heisman Trophy race be so clear, yet so muddled at the same time?

Yours truly is a voter in the HeismanPundit.com/Orlando Sentinel straw poll. Every week, myself and about a dozen other voters submit our top five picks for the Heisman Trophy, and over the past few weeks, a pattern has emerged. The players among the top three are clear cut, but everything else is anyone’s guess.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and Cal running back Jahvid Best are the top guys at this point in the season.

After that, who knows?

Even the order of the top three guys has shuffled around a bit. I’ve kept Tebow, McCoy and Best in the same order on my ballot since we voted after the opening week of the season. (Sam Bradford dropped off after his shoulder injury.) But the poll changed this week when Best traded places with McCoy, moving into second place behind Tebow.

As for other contenders, I think I’ve changed my No. 4 and No. 5 vote-getters every week. I haven’t had the same two in consecutive weeks yet. I’ve had everyone from Mississippi quarterback Jevon Snead to Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant to Houston quarterback Case Keenum to Miami quarterback Jacory Harris.

It’s been a rotating door.

But then, that’s probably how it should be this time of year. Thing is, with the top three finalists returning this year, everyone thought this would be a pretty stable Heisman race. It would be Bradford, McCoy and Tebow, and that would be the end of the story.

Bradford’s injury has changed that. Ditto for Best’s performances, which have been stellar thus far.

So, here’s my ballot, and be sure to check out the entire poll at www.HeismanPundit.com.

1. Tebow

2. McCoy

3. Best

4. Snead

5. Harris

Tulsa will test OU coverage teams

Jenni Carlson — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:42:26 +0000

Remember when covering kickoffs and punts was the biggest concern facing the Oklahoma football team?

Those days seem long since passed, but they were only last season. The Sooners had a terrible time figuring out how to cover kicks and punts. There were long returns. There were touchdown returns. It was a mess.

This season, it’s been difficult to know just how good OU’s coverage is. Idaho State last week offered no gauge, and BYU two weeks ago isn’t exactly a team known for its speed.

So, are the Sooners any better this year covering kicks and punts?

We’ll find out this weekend.

Tulsa return man Damaris Johnson is one of the best in college football. Never mind that he plays for Tulsa, a mid-major school. Never mind that he’s all of 5-foot-8, though some might dispute that. The dude is a burner. He makes people miss. He causes special teams’ nightmares.

Last season as a freshman, he set a Tulsa record with 1,382 kickoff return yards. He averaged 25.6 yards per return.

Get this — against UTEP last season, Johnson had 211 kickoff return yards. You read that right, friends, 211. Now, granted, OU is a lot better than UTEP, but the Sooners’ kick coverage was so bad last season that you have to wonder what kind of day Johnson will have against them.

A couple big returns could give the Golden Hurricane the boost that it needs against the favored Sooners. Will it be enough to upset the Sooners? I’m not ready to go that far, but at the very least, we’ll have a much better idea if OU’s coverage has improved this season.

Bradford lucky to return vs. Miami?

Jenni Carlson — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:39:15 +0000

Oklahoma will be lucky to have Sam Bradford back for the Miami game.

That may not be so lucky, though, for the Sooner quarterback.

That’s because it looks like the Hurricanes are for real. Monday night, they went to Florida State and scored a big-time win against their in-state rival. Miami scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, then made a late-game, fourth-down stand to seal the victory.

This isn’t your granddad’s Miami. Heck, it’s not even your dad’s Miami. But this is an improved program.

OU will have its hands full on Oct. 3.

And no position will be in the cross-hairs more than the Sooner offensive line. Miami sacked Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder twice, including one late in the third quarter. It caused a fumble that led to the first of Miami’s three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Ponder was also hurried once and intercepted once. The Hurricanes made it a tough night for him.

Think they won’t do the same to Bradford?

Now, I suppose it’s possible that the Sooner offensive line might make some fairly significant strides in the next couple weeks. It could figure out what ailed it Saturday against BYU. It could be as good as Kevin Wilson professed it would be during the preseason.

By the way, after the way the line played Saturday, maybe Wilson should’ve spent less time talking about how good the line would be and instead spent more time actually making it better.

Because you can bet that the challenge will be significant against Miami. Don’t you think the Hurricanes are licking their chops after the way the Sooners were dominated up front by BYU? I can guarantee you, if they get a good shot at Bradford, they’ll take it.

And if they happen to leave him rolling around on the ground in pain, I doubt there will be any apologies.

The Miami game could mark the return of Sam Bradford, but unless the OU front line figures out a way to protect him better, it could be a short-lived comeback. A big game looms even larger after the opening weekend.

Bradford needs line, time

Jenni Carlson — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:58:03 +0000

Sam Bradford looks a lot like you remember him.

Smooth. Accurate. Composed.

Unless he’s running for his life.

The Oklahoma quarterback was hurried more in the first couple series of the Red-White game Saturday than he was all of last year. Oh, that might be a bit overblown, a smidgen of hyperbole, but not by very much. Bradford clearly didn’t have the time that he had a year ago when he led the Sooners to the national championship game and won the Heisman Trophy.

Offensive line was one of the biggest questions after the Sooners lost four big-time players from last year’s starting unit. Out are Jon Cooper, Phil Loadholt, Duke Robinson and Brandon Walker. In are Ben Habern, Cory Brandon, Brian Simmons and Stephen Good. Trent Williams is the only holdover.

Everyone knew it would take time for this new group to come together.

Clearly, that time has yet to arrive.

Did the Sooner offensive line do some nice things in the Red-White Game? Sure, but Bradford was “sacked” twice in the first possession. (Being “sacked” in the spring game means that a defender got to him and would’ve lit him up in a full-contact situation, but being the spring, full contact is a no-no where quarterbacks are concerned.) Slingin’ Sam was sacked an average of once a game last season.

He wasn’t just sacked. He was rushed, too. Bradford missed a couple throws because he just didn’t have time. Several other times, he went with a hot read or a quick out or a dump off to get simply get rid of the ball.

It was a positive play, a smart play, but it wasn’t the play it might have been.

Bradford looks like he’s every bit as good as he was a year ago, but it might not look like it come the fall unless the offensive line improves.