Larry Brown Sports

Being the quarterback means having a lot of responsibility.  You have to be the most prepared offensive player on the field at all times.  You need to know what kind of defense you’re going up against and have an idea of the looks they might give you.  Also, you need to act as a team leader and a captain.  Apparently the Oklahoma Sooners don’t think the aforementioned responsibilities are enough, so they decided to give Landry Jones something else to think about on Tuesday.  Check out this picture from Landry’s Twitter account that Kegs ‘N Eggs shared with us:

Ah, the old take his tires off and put his truck on cinder blocks prank — classic.  The culprit was quite possibly linebacker Tom Wort, who tweeted the following on Tuesday morning: “Hahahaha @LandryJones12 oooOOoooooOoo I’m a quarterback and my truck got messed with oooOooOo!”  In terms of how annoying this prank is, we’ll file it way ahead of hiding Chris Johnson’s car but still nowhere near the Kenyon Martin popcorn incident.

It was only a week ago that we scolded ESPN writer Albert Lin for using the death of Aaron Douglas to break down Alabama’s depth chart. Sadly, it wasn’t the first time an ESPN employee reacted so coldly to such a tragic death. On both occasions we felt it was necessary to write about the incidents because we wanted to get the message across that times of death are not the proper instances to break down depth charts. Unfortunately Bleacher Report contributor Monte Faison has not learned that lesson.

On Thursday, less than 24 hours after it was learned Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box had died, Faison wrote an article for Bleacher Report about how the death would impact the team. The headline to the article was “Austin Box: What Does the Loss Mean for Oklahoma Sooners?”

Here’s what he wrote:

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Sam Bradford may only be 23 years old, but that doesn’t make you too young to have a bronze statue fashioned in your likeness in Oklahoma. The former Heisman Trophy winner had his statue unveiled Saturday night at the Sooner Spectacular gala, and it will go on display outside Memorial Stadium in Norman alongside Billy Vessels, Steve Owens, Billy Sims and Jason White’s statues in OU’s Heisman Park. Here’s a great shot of the statue (which looks more like a dude wearing a #14 jersey than anything else) courtesy of the Tulsa World:

Sam Bradford seemed pretty uncomfortable at the ceremony — he’s already a quiet guy — but how are you supposed to react when you get a bronze statue at the age of 23? He spoke from the heart in his reception, talking about how he was an Oklahoma fan growing up and how this is a dream come true. You can watch a video of his speech on Facebook courtesy of Mike Houck, and you can read about the evening at the Tulsa World.

I will say this: between what already happened at Alabama and Florida this spring, and what will happen at Auburn, this is a tradition I could certainly live without.

Here are a few more pictures:

Helmet knock to College Football Talk

Photo Credits: Tulsa World, Mike Houck

The inevitable happened: Oklahoma beat Texas Tech in Norman creating a three-way tie for the Big 12 South lead. Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral field, Texas Tech beat Texas in Lubbock, and Oklahoma beat Texas Tech in Norman. Those were each team’s sole loss, yet only one team can represent the Big 12 South in the Big 12 title game against Missouri, and after that point, only one can advance to the BCS National Title game should the Big 12 South winner lose to Missouri. So how do you decipher things? Who should get the nod between the three teams? Texas Tech coach Mike Leach knows his pick between Oklahoma and Texas: “I would put Oklahoma ahead,” Leach said. “They beat us and they deserve it.”

Oklahoma can eliminate themselves from contention should they lose to Oklahoma State in their final regular season game — something entirely within the realm of possibility. Should that happen, Texas Tech would need to beat Baylor in order to capture the Big 12 South since they own the tiebreaker with Texas. Should things end in a three-way tie, I would disagree with Leach and give the nod to Texas. The reason I give Texas the leg up on the other two teams is because they beat Oklahoma on a neutral field, not at home the way Texas Tech and Oklahoma got their wins. Additionally, Texas fought back and made it very close with Texas Tech on the road in their lone loss. By virtue of their neutral field win, I would say Texas should represent the Big 12 South should things remain tied. A Texas vs. Alabama/Florida winner for the national title? I could definitely go for that.

Once again we have encountered the line that falls between athletes’ personal and public lives. Earlier this year, Wake Forest kicked running back Luke Caparelli off the team for some comments he wrote on his Facebook profile. Even Shaq had his police badges stripped for a distasteful rap where he slammed Kobe Bryant. Now it’s Oklahoma freshman wide receiver Josh Jarboe who has suffered the consequences of his off-field antics, getting kicked off the team for a distasteful rap video he created.

This is not the first incident for Jarboe — he was arrested in the spring for bringing a stolen gun to his high school. Jarboe’s charges were reduced to misdemeanors since he was a first-time offender, which allowed his scholarship to stand. Though Bob Stoops initially indicated Jarboe would remain on the team despite the video, he changed his mind. I defend Bob Stoops in this instance. Between the two incidents, Jarboe has displayed questionable character — might as well nip the issue in the butt before it gets worse. Don’t forget, this is the same coach who kicked his starting quarterback and offensive lineman off his team for misconduct, so he is equal opportunity. As for Jarboe and all athletes, you have the freedom of speech, but you don’t have the freedom of consequence. Probably wasn’t worth it, was it, Jarboe?

And in case you couldn’t listen to the video, here are some of the lyrics he spits:

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If you’ve watched college football the past few seasons, you have to be asking yourself that exact question right now. Is Bob Stoops no longer a big game coach? And what happened to Oklahoma? After getting smashed by West Virginia last night, Oklahoma is now 1-4 in their last five bowl games under Stoops. Don’t get me wrong — the guy is still a marquee coach who I’d love to have leading my program — but why the losses to end the seasons?

The Sooners got beat by Boise State last year, throttled by West Virginia this year, crushed by USC in the Orange Bowl, and beat by LSU in the Sugar Bowl the previous year. The argument can be made that they’ve overachieved in the regular season — a tribute to Stoops’ ability as a coach — and wound up in a mismatch come January. Only problem is that such reasoning doesn’t suffice when you’re matching up against Boise State and West Virginia who are traditionally inferior programs. So why, why I ask, did Oklahoma go for an onside kick in the 3rd quarter? They had the momentum after cutting the halftime deficit from 14 to 5 points but subsequently shortened the field for West Virginia who punched it in and regained momentum.

It seems to me that there were questionable play calls that fall on Stoops’ shoulder which cost Oklahoma the game. So I ask you, is Bob Stoops no longer a big-game coach? Or is it mere coincidence (or poor timing) that they’ve lost their marquee bowl games recently?

This week we talked about Oklahoma getting punished by the NCAA to the tune of forfeiting all wins from the ’05 season, and losing scholarships for the next two recruiting classes. Don’t expect the man who said all he did was take cash — not like there’s anything wrong with an amateur doing that — to have any remorse for the Sooner program. In other words, don’t expect any sympathy from JD Quinn.

Gotta love the compassion. Gotta love the extensive answers. That must have been a joy of an interview.