McCoy, Williams Latest Sooners on Award Watch List

Another pre-season award watch list was unveiled and more Sooners found their names among the list. The latest, Senior offensive lineman Trent Williams and junior defensive lineman Gerald McCoy. This time it was for the Outland trophy, which is presented annually to the top lineman in college football.

Along with making the 2008 first team All-Big 12, Williams logged 131 knockdowns. McCoy, named a first team All-American by Sporting News, recorded 30 tackles, 11 for loss, 6.5 sacks, and one interception.

For the full list, click here.

Ryan Broyles Named to Biletnikoff Award Watch List

Oklahoma's dominance among the pre-season award watch lists continues. Today, sophomore Oklahoma wide receiver, Ryan Broyles, was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list. The Biletnikoff Award is awarded annually to the nation's most outstanding college football receiver.

Last year, Broyles finished with 46 receptions for 687 yards and 6 touchdowns.

For the full list, click here.

Sooners Land at #4 on Rivals Top 120 Countdown

The Sooners find themselves checking in at #4 on rivals' top 120 countdown. Rivals broke down and graded the Sooners on several categories including offense, defense, special teams, and coaching.

The grades were as follows:

OFFENSE: A-

DEFENSE: A-

SPECIAL TEAMS: C+

COACHING: A

The overall outlook:

"Oklahoma is seeking a fourth consecutive Big 12 championship - and more. As usual, the Sooners have tremendous big-play ability. The defense should be improved, especially if oft-injured LB Ryan Reynolds can remain healthy. But the rebuilt offensive line and new starting receivers raise some doubts. Can Bradford be as effective in '09 if the line doesn't play as well as it did a year ago? If the line performs at an acceptable level and new starting receivers emerge as productive contributors, the Sooners again will contend for the national championship. If the line struggles, a third-place finish in the Big 12 South isn't out of the question."

I think that's a pretty fair assessment.

For the full list of 120 teams and their rankings, click here.

Sooners Dominate First Batch of Pre-Season Award Watch Lists

Everyone expected the Sooners to be loaded on both sides of the ball coming into this year. A look at the pre-season award watch lists only seems to back this notion up.

Here's a list of the awards and the Sooners' players who made the watch list:


Lombardi Award (Lineman)

Gerald McCoy, Jr.
Trent Williams, Sr.

For the full list, click here.

John Mackey Award (Tight End)

Jermaine Gresham, Sr.

For the full list, click here.

Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback)

Sam Bradford, Jr.

For the full list, click here.

Doak Walker Award (Running Back)

Chris Brown, Sr.
DeMarco Murray, Jr.

For the full list, click here.

Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back)

Dominique Franks, Jr.

For the full list, click here.

Walter Camp Award (Player of the Year)

Sam Bradford, Jr.
Jermaine Gresham, Sr.

For the full list, click here.


That's all for now. Another 7 award watch lists will be unveiled from August 10- August 20 on College Football Live. They will be revealed as follows:

Monday, Aug. 10: Fred Biletnikoff Award (Receiver)
Tuesday, Aug. 11: Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman)
Wednesday, Aug. 12: Lou Groza Award (Kicker)
Thursday, Aug. 13: Chuck Bednarik Award (Defensive Player)
Friday, Aug. 14: Maxwell Award (All-Around Player)
Wednesday, Aug. 19: Bronko Nagurski (Defensive Player)
Thursday, Aug. 20: Dick Butkus (Linebacker)

As always, keep checking back to OU Sooner Nation for more updates on the awards and all things Oklahoma football related. Feel free to follow (on the right) or subscribe (top right) to the blog.

DeMarco Murray strains hamstring; "Not serious" Murray says

Carey Murdock of soonerscoop.com on the Rivals network reports that DeMarco Murray has suffered a strained hamstring during summer voluntary workouts. The injury isn't reported to be too serious, but Bob Stoops and the coaching staff are approaching it with caution.

"Demarco Murray has been bitten by the injury bug once again. Murray, who missed Oklahoma's last two bowl games after season ending injuries in 2007 and 2008, suffered a strained hamstring during voluntary workouts over the summer.

Murray missed last season's national championship game after tearing his hamstring against Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game.

His strained hamstring was not the same hamstring he had surgically repaired last spring, but team physicians are taking things slow with the player many perceived as one of college football's most dangerous weapons just two years ago.

Murray's current injury is classified as more of a bump and bruise by Bob Stoops.

"We have several of those through the summer and the winter when guys are doing a lot of training," said Stoops. "I feel (he'll) be prepared and ready to go from the start."

Stoops also said on Friday that team doctors have released a projected timetable for Murray's return - two weeks prior to OU's season opener against BYU. 

But it's still a disappointing development for Murray, who has answered more questions about his health than his big plays over the last year.

Last season, Murray was slow out of the gate. The questions about his injuries plagued the then-sophomore until he started to break out of his shell late in the season, when he finally started showing flashes of the dynamic player Sooner fans had come to love before dislocating his knee cap against Texas Tech in 2007.

"Last year I tried to come back too fast and prove to the coaches that I'm still here and I'm fine," explained Murray. "That's where I messed up last year. This year I'm not going to try and force myself out there. 

They know what I can do and I'm confident they'll continue to have trust in me. I'll just take my time."

During the Sooners first practice, Stoops said Murray was limited by OU's training staff. They'll continue to limit him until team doctors give the all clear.

On Friday, Murray spent most of his day trying calm any fears about his return.

"This one wasn't as bad and wasn't as serious," said Murray. "It's a little strain. It's nothing too bad. I'll bounce right back and recover fast."
Murray also wants to put those questions about his health to rest as quickly as possible.

"I just look at it now and I've just got to prove myself," he said. "I'm just going to work hard so I can show everybody what I can do."

Murray also believes that his return from hamstring surgery will be much different than his return from offseason surgery last season.

Murray says the difference in recovery has been night and day from last season.
"This (surgery) wasn't as bad and wasn't as serious and it definitely didn't hurt as worse as my (knee cap surgery)," explained Murray. "Going through surgery the first time was kind of scary. I never had surgery in my life. It was my knee cap and last year I was doing all the (hamstring) rehab and it was a great recovery. 

"I recovered real fast and met everybody's expectations. It wasn't bad at all."'

That's tough luck for DeMarco and the Sooners. Here's to hoping he's 100% for the Sooners opening game against BYU on September 5.

And as always, please follow (on right) or subscribe (top right) to the blog.

USA Today Preseason Coaches' Poll released; Oklahoma ranked #3

The USA Today Coaches' Poll was made public today. As expected, the defending champion Florida Gators top the poll while receiving 53 of 59 first place votes. Texas was second, followed by Oklahoma, USC, Alabama, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Penn State, LSU, and Mississippi.

For the full top 25, click here.

The other three schools receiving first place votes were Texas (4), Oklahoma (1), and USC (1).

A panel of 59 coaches in the Bowl Championship Subdivision take part in voting on the USA Today Top 25.

The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll will be released August 22.

Bob Stoops on ESPN First Take

Yesterday afternoon Bob Stoops made an appearance on ESPN's first take. He speaks on various topics including his 2009 expectations, Bradford's development, his visit with Coach Saban, and the big match with Texas.