A couple highlights:

Has this been your most difficult year?
Oh, absolutely. With all of the different players being gone at different times, sure. No doubt about it.

Is this your last coaching stop?
Oh, who knows? I’m not that old, I guess. I haven’t reached 50 yet. So, who knows what’s in store, you know?

See the full interview here.

Injuries have kept Murray from playing in several of the Sooners’ biggest games since, including last year’s national title game, and they’ve no doubt played a role in his draft stock as well.
With at least three members of his offense destined to hear their name called on draft day next April, Murray said on Tuesday he likely won’t make it four.

“It’s something my family and I will look into, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be back here next year,” he said.

Non-committal, perhaps, but Murray likely didn’t expect the questions about his future to come so soon. He’s played the entire season without suffering a major injury, sitting out just one game, and making it through a second injury-free season could only help his stock.

As he showed on Saturday, there’s been little doubt about his performance when he’s on the field.

The only worries are making sure he stays there.

Here’s the video:

-JT

Last winter, that job was the Denver Broncos, who were reportedly interested in Stoops to replace Mike Shanahan. But quickly, that fizzled and Denver hired New England Patriots offensive co-coordinator Josh McDaniels.

This year, the job in question is Notre Dame.

From the Chicago Sun Times today:
If athletic director Jack Swarbrick decides (Charlie) Weis’ Notre Dame career is over after his fifth season, a source said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will be in the mix to replace him. The source said Stoops has told confidants he would be interested in talking to the Irish.

Stoops would be a good fit at Notre Dame for a number of reasons. He’s Catholic, and he knows the area, growing up in western Ohio, which is in the middle of Notre Dame’s traditional recruiting base.

But Florida, a plum job, couldn’t lure Stoops away from Norman a few years ago.

Could Notre Dame?

If any college job could, maybe Notre Dame is the one.

-JT

Beat Tech, and suddenly Bedlam Thanksgiving Weekend becomes a game with the Cotton Bowl on the line. But lose to Tech, and OU could be headed to El Paso, Texas, and the Sun Bowl.

The key will be the offense. The defense has been great everywhere. But the offense, while great in Norman, has stunk it up away from home.

13 points against BYU in Dallas.

20 at Miami.

13 against Texas in Dallas.

35 at Kansas.

3 at Nebraska.

OU will probably have to put up more than 20 points to beat Tech on the road. Can they do it?

“Until we can show that we can play with some composure and play smarter it will still be a test,” said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. “It will be a test to show if we have matured through the year or are we the same cast of characters.

“So it will be a big challenge and an opportunity to see where we are at as a team next week against Texas Tech.”

Quick hits
* More about walk-on kicker Patrick O’Hara coming in Monday’s paper. O’Hara has a great story of how he ended up in Norman. Time will tell if O’Hara, who made a FG and a couple of extra points, will be the answer at kicker.

* Too bad this defense will be part of a mediocre season. This defense is one of the school’s all-time greats. The only two TDs OU has allowed the last two weeks have come off turnovers returned inside the Sooner 5.

* OU red zone offense, 6 of 7. The only miss was a Tress Way missed FG.

* Freshman RB Jermie Calhoun looked sharp in mop-up duty with 94 yards rushing on 18 carries. It’s the most work Calhoun has gotten in his young career and he did well with it.

* Adron Tennell played poorly last weekend at Nebraska, but going back to the start of Big 12 play, Tennell quietly has been solid. Against A&M, he had five catches for 76 yards and 2 TDs.

* At home this year, Landry Jones has thrown 18 TDs to just 4 picks.

* Ryan Broyles is so good. He had eight catches for 79 yards and a TD. Pencil in Broyles as on the All-Big 12 first team offense.

* Speaking of which, has DeMarco Murray done enough to make that team? He didn’t hurt his cause, with 223 all-purpose yards.

* Jeremy Beal, Travis Lewis, Brian Jackson and Frank Alexander all had big games for the defense.

* TE Eric Mensik got some work at right tackle. Not a bad move, considering the Sooners have no more tackles to turn to if Trent Williams or Cory Brandon get hurt.

* The Wildcat can be a good set for the Sooners. Murray and Broyles seem to possess suitable skill sets for that kind of offense. Both players are savvy and can make people miss in 1-on-1 situations.

They said it
Coach Bob Stoops: “DeMarco (Murray) is a really special talent in that he is not just a running back. I have said it a lot, he would be a great corner. He’s just a guy that is really athletic. He catches the ball well, runs pretty good routes, is good out of the backfield and also is a strong, powerful runner. He had another big night and it is good to see him get out and make some big plays.”

Stoops on QB Landry Jones: “You have to be sure of yourself. I think the more he played, the more comfortable he got and he started making the throws we know he can make.”

Stoops on the Wildcat: “Just trying to find different ways to get seams and get the ball in DeMarco’s hands more and Chris (Brown) and Ryan (Broyles). Those are three guys you can play hide-and-seek with on who has the ball and hopefully be productive as we go forward.”

Stoops on freshman RB Jermie Calhoun, who finished with a game-high 94 yards rushing: “He looked tough and physical. It was very positive and I was very excited with how he played in the fourth quarter. He took care of the ball, ran strong and ran well.”

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables on his defense: “As a team tonight we really played well and helped each other at the right time. We didn’t give up the big plays and for the most part kept the quarterback from running outside the pocket. We had a lot of pressures coming at him and that kept him off balance. Collectively we have a very solid performance tonight.”

CB Brian Jackson on his TD: “It was good. It was kind of exciting when I picked it up because all I saw was grass. I saw the same thing at Texas but (Colt) McCoy came out of nowhere. I guess Johnson didn’t have as good of an angle as McCoy did.”

Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman on his team’s troubles fielding kicks: “I wish I knew why that was . Last week, Cyrus Gray returned a touchdown and we’re all excited about that and this week he has a tough time hanging on to the football. We fumbled one that we also recovered too, so it wasn’t a good day from that standpoint.”

By the numbers
223: With 223 all-purpose yards, Murray passed Steve Owens, Adrian Peterson and Greg Pruitt to move into fourth place all-time at OU with 4,495.

143: Murray tied a school record for receiving yards by a running back with 143. He is tied with Virgil Doyle who had 143 against Colorado in 1962.

93: OU has outscored its opponents 93-10 in the first quarter this season.

65: OU’s point total, the most points OU has scored this season.

5: Fumbles Texas A&M had on returns. Two were recovered by the Sooners.

3: Number of place-kickers OU used Sat.

-JT

From Willie Warren, on why he came to OU:

“You get a chance to play with a first-round draft pick, which Blake was, and you come to play for, who I think, sometime later on, will be one of the greatest coaches of all-time.”

Call it hyperbole. Call it bias. Whatever. For Capel, when one of the nation’s best players says something that complimentary about him, it gives him leverage for further recruits. That speaks to just how much Capel has accomplished what he wanted to at Oklahoma, i.e., getting players to believe in him.

Just a bit, I’d say.

Warren also said that though he doesn’t suit up against his team as much as he used to, everyone on the squad knows very well what Capel did at Duke, and that he’s still got plenty of game, even at 34.

I alluded to this in the story, but another thing Tiny Gallon mentioned is that when he first met Capel, he had no idea he was a coach, let alone a head coach. It’s not true of all his recruits, but Capel went from a non-factor and a guy Gallon knew nothing about to his college coach in only a few months. Obviously, he’s new. He hasn’t known these players since they were in the 8th grade. Few coaches could pull that off, and I think it’s the biggest reason why Capel is establishing himself as one of, if not already the best, recruiter in the conference.

Lastly, Gallon and Mason-Griffin mentioned this specifically, but one of the big reasons why they came was because Capel told them he knew they would make mistakes as freshmen, but he wanted them to learn from it by playing through those mistakes, rather than being yanked to the bench by the collar and being chained to a film projector until the next game. That doesn’t mean he’ll let mistakes go unnoticed, but his players response to those mistakes circles back around to the relationships he fosters with them.

“You can get on someone when they know you care about them. And you can help impact them when they know you care about them as a person,” Capel said. “If I had known when I was in school that I was going to coach, I would have majored in something different than history. Probably psychology. Actual coaching is only about 10 percent of the job, to be honest. Especially at this level, there’s so much other stuff involved.”

-JT