College Confidential

Bradford won't leave OU fans waiting

If the indications I get from those around the Oklahoma football program are valid, then quarterback Sam Bradford will return for at least another season.

I’ve said that before and feel more confident about it this week. But if you want to read between the lines of something coach Bob Stoops said Monday, you get the same impression I do, depending on whether you’re an optimist or a Scrooge. Stoops said he did not believe Bradford would wait until the deadline of Jan.15 to make his intention known, that he would do it at “a point sometime after the (BCS Championship) game.” Now Bob didn’t say whether that would be shortly thereafter, or a matter of days. But you get the drift that Bradford has already made up his mind. And it didn’t look like Stoops was unhappy in his speculation, though I could be dead wrong about that.

But better NFL thinkers than I believe Bradford should come back, including longtime talent guru and former Dallas Cowboys vice president of player personnel (1960-88) Gil Brandt.

“It’s not a hard decision at all,” Brandt said the other day over the phone. “The only decision (Sam) needs to make is to be sure he’s back there (behind center) when they play their first game next year.”

I’ve known Gil a long time. He never says anything without reason, usually good ones. And he cited several in this case--among them pointing out that recent successful NFL quarterbacks like the Manning brothers and most recently Matt Ryan (Falcons) and Joe Flacco (Ravens) all have something in common--they were fourth or fifth-year players before they made the jump.

You think that was an accident? Brandt does not.

“The key thing for successful quarterbacks (in the NFL) is if they can get 40 starts in college,” Brandt said. “It’s like getting a master’s degree at MIT.

“The thing people don’t realize is that playing the position in the NFL is really hard. What you see in college defensively is a fraction of what you see in the NFL. If you don’t have a guy who is really experienced. . .”

Brandt scoffed at the idea that Bradford would be throwing away millions of dollars because of a looming rookie salary cap.

“I’ve been hearing that since 1965,” he snorted.

“You go back to 1985. The entire (draft) class got $18 million worth of signing bonus money. When (Eli) Manning came out four years ago, he got $18 million by himself. You don’t regress salary-wise (by staying) and you reach your point of getting all your incentives a lot quicker.

“Matt Ryan is going to get every incentive he has in his contract. So instead of netting $45 million over the length of his contract, it might be closer to $60 million. So the longer Sam Bradford stays at Oklahoma, the better player he is going to become--and it will happen a lot sooner.”

"Bradford is good,” Brandt said. “He’s a great person, an unbelievable athlete. But more than anything he is a really composed individual who is very dedicated to being an outstanding quarterback.”

And if you’ll recall, Bradford posted a 3.95 grade-point average his last semester as a finance major. What do you think he’s thinking? My educated guess is it ain’t take the money and run.

UTA's Vereen gets weekly award

UT-Arlington senior forward Anthony Vereen has either set or tied his career high in scoring in two of his last three games. He had a career-high 28 points to go with seven rebounds in the Mavericks' 79-76 loss at Baylor on Saturday, earning a split of the Southland Conference basketball player of the week honor with Devin Whiteof Northwestern State. Vereen leads UTA in scoring (17.7) and is second in rebounds (6.3).

- Angel Verdejo

TCU will play without Henson

SAN DIEGO — No. 11 TCU will be without its second-leading tackler when it faces No. 9 Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl Tuesday as senior linebacker Robert Henson did not make the trip to San Diego because of academics.

Redshirt freshman Tekerrein Cuba, a backup at weak safety, also didn’t travel to San Diego because his knee injury suffered during bowl preparations will require surgery. Redshirt freshman Greg McCoy, a backup cornerback, will miss the game with an injury although he did make the trip.

Henson, who earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors, had 73 tackles, nine tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions and a forced fumble this season. But what the Horned Frogs might miss more than anything is his emotion and leadership.

With Henson gone, junior Daryl Washington will start and redshirt freshman Kris Gardner will be the backup. Washington was fourth on the team with 57 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery this season.

“Daryl Washington gives you the speed to run with their backs and everything else they do,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “We don’t lose any ground on that part.”

-- Mercedes Mayer

UNT's Dodge has opening to fill

North Texas defensive tackles/special teams coach Robert Drake said Sunday he has resigned, effective Jan. 1, and has accepted a teaching/coaching position at Keller Central High School about five minutes from his house.

Drake, who some UNT fans came to blindly loathe because of the two struggling units under his charge, said he received a call from Central High principal David Hinson about six weeks ago concerning a December job opening, likely teaching math (Drake's former teaching subject) and probably helping coach golf. Details, Drake said, aren't worked out.

He spoke to Hinson again after UNT finished the season against Arkansas State on Nov. 29, mulled the offer and later told UNT head coach Todd Dodge he was leaving the staff. Drake has three children ages 9, 8 and 5, and said he couldn't handle the familial stress of travel and hours required to coach Bowl Subdivision football anymore.

"It wasn't a negative thing," he said. "I didn't call anybody. It's pretty rare that [high school] jobs come open in the middle of the year. With my family, it really took its toll. It's not what I thought it would be. I wish we'd won five or six and I could have left on a more pleasant note. My niche is in the high school level, and it's the best place for me."

Drake was recruiting for UNT as late as Thursday and offered Keller Fossil Ridge all-state kicker Chris Boswell a scholarship, Fossil Ridge coach Tony Baccarini said. Next season, Drake said he will be back to coaching high school football either as an assistant or head coach.

Dodge, who didn't answer his phone, said earlier after a 1-11 season he wasn't making any subtractions to his staff unless any coaches chose to leave. He could have two hires pending, Drake's replacement and a possible requested new football-only strength coach, which we reported back on Dec. 6.

"We were together 10 years," Drake said of he and Dodge. "That was the hardest part of doing this."

--Troy Phillips

Texas men fall; Texas Tech men beat UNM

Michigan State defeats the Longhorns in Houston on a late 3-pointer.

Former Hurst Bell standout Alan Voskuil scores 28 points to help the Red Raiders beat New Mexico.

UTA women hang with No. 25 GT before losing

NASSAU, Bahamas — Jacqua Williams scored 16 of her career-high 20 points in the second half to lead No. 25 Georgia Tech to a 63-56 win over Texas-Arlington in the championship game of the Bahamas Sunsplash Shootout on Saturday.

Williams went 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, dished out five assists and had four steals. Alex Montgomery added 15 points and five rebounds for Georgia Tech (10-2).

Georgia Tech led only 35-33 with 12:49 left in the game, but Williams sparked a 9-2 run for a 44-35 lead with 9:54 remaining. She scored seven points during the spurt.

The Mavericks (4-6) cut the lead to 58-54 with 1:17 remaining, but the Jackets sealed the win at the line, making 5 of 6 of their foul shots in the final minute.

Candice Champion led Texas-Arlington with 20 points and eight rebounds. Shalyn Martin added 14 points and seven rebounds.

-- The Associated Press

Baylor's Curtis Jerrells on Naismith Trophy Watch List

Baylor guard Curtis Jerrells is one of 50 players, including just five from the Big 12, named to the Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List announced Thursday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Jerrells is only three points away from becoming seventh on Baylor's all-time scoring list. He has started all 89 games of his college career since arriving at Baylor in 2005.

Jerrells join Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, Kansas' Sherron Collins, and A. J. Abrams and Damion James of Texas as one of the five Big 12 players on the Naismith Trophy preseason list. The Naismith Trophy winner will be announced at the Final Four in Detroit next spring.

"The talent level across all conferences continues to impress and that will create an even greater challenge for our voting academy when it comes time to select the winner in April,'' said Gary Stokan, the president of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. "And we look forward to this special season, our 40th anniversary of the most prestigious trophy in all of college basketball.''

In nine games for the Bears this season, Jerrells is averaging 15.9 points and 5.8 assists per contest. He also is on the Big 12 preseason all-conference team.

_ Dwain Price

 

UTA's Driscoll named academic all-conference

Middle Blocker Christy Driscoll was named an Academic All-Southland Confernce second team selection. The former Keller standout was just one of four players named with a 4.0 grade point average, and became the first UTA freshman since 1994 to record more than 100 blocks. Driscoll tied for the conference lead in blocks per set (1.11).

- Angel Verdejo

OU fans wringing hands

In case you haven't noticed, the Red Sky is falling. The sudden turn of post-Big 12 championship events understandibly have the shorts of Oklahoma fans in a collective wad.

The news of the unfortunate loss of running back DeMarco Murray to yet another knee operation and a 5-month hit to offseason work is both a blow and truly not a good thing for a young man faced with yet another long rehabilitation process. And believe me, those are tough things to go through. I wouldn't be surprised to see Murray take next season off rather than struggle through the first half as he did this year.

Next came the belated news that defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger has had back surgery.

Coupled together, those two events have fanned the fan flames of, "Here we go again." Recalling the loss of five starters (four on defense) for various reasons before last season's Fiesta Bowl debacle against West Virginia.

Losing a back of Murray's calibre in a national championship game is significant. At OU, however, it may not be disastrous. Chris Brown gained more yards during the season. Third option Mossis Madu, leading ground gainer in Murray's absence in the title game against Missouri, as we have noted would be first option at most other major programs. OU can utilize Madu--and Brown to an extent--in the passing game as they did Murray.

Granger is a run stuffer, a punishing over-the-center nose tackle. But Gerald McCoy, Adrian Taylor, Corey Bennett and yes, Cordero Moore is a more-than-respectable rotation. All more mobile than Granger. And Moore, whose quickness is a big part of his athletic repertoire, has made strides since the middle of the season.

We may not know until the team gets to game site whether or not middle linebacker Austin Box is full go off his knee sprain. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables is optimistic and is going on the premise Box will be ready, though he could not play if the game were this weekend. But the staff loved the look of Travis Lewis in the middle and Nic Harris on the edge against Missouri. Again, a loss if Box isn't able to play; but in unless someone else goes down, not a game-changing situation in a contest based on speed and the ability to keep Florida quarterback Tim Tebow from consistently breaking sizeable runs.

Doubt has been raised again as to the academic eligibility of safety Lendy Holmes, who missed the Fiesta Bowl last season because of he wasn't. A source-based report surfaced last night that he was okay. But grades aren't submitted until 5 p.m. Thursday and won't be out until sometime early next week. So the finger-nail chewing will go on until then.

You don't want to lose a safety with Holmes' experience and big-play capability (4 interceptions). You need all your bullets in a game of this calibre. But even if he doesn't make it, backup Quentin Carter has become a big-time player. And Sam Proctor has re-earned staff trust.

In short, this may be the deepest team Bob Stoops has had. All isn't lost. Yet.--Mike Jones.

Harrell shares stage with Bradford and McCoy

He didn't get to share the Heisman Trophy stage with fellow Big 12 quarterbacks from Oklahoma (Sam Bradford) and Texas (Colt McCoy) last weekend in New York. But Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell finally did get to share the same stage with Bradford and McCoy on Wednesday.

That's when all three players were named The Sporting News National Player of the Year for the 2008 season. For Harrell, the honor somewhat took the sting out of not being invited to last weekend's Heisman ceremonies in New York when Bradford won the prestigious award and McCoy finished second.

"It's a tremendous honor to be named the National Player of the Year,'' Harrell said. "I want to thank everyone at The Sporting News for recognizing just how difficult the Big 12 was this season, and especially the Big 12 South.''

Harrell enters the Jan. 2 Cotton Bowl against Mississippi second on the NCAA all-time passing list with 15,429 yards, and second in touchdown passes with 130. Hawaii's Colt Brennan heads that list with 131 career TD passes.

The Sporting News also named Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree to its All-American team for the second consecutive season. This year Crabtree had 93 receptions for 1,135 yards and 18 TDs.

_ Dwain Price