Big 12 Notebook: No Adrian, no problem

Big 12 Notebook: No Adrian, no problem


SAN ANTONIO — Bob Stoops wasn’t exactly shouting, “Good riddance,” when Adrian Peterson left a year early for the NFL draft.

But the Oklahoma coach is also quick to point out that the Sooners were 8-0 over the last two seasons in games that Adrian Peterson missed because of injuries.

Instead of looking to one heir apparent, Stoops is counting on Allen Patrick, Chris Brown and redshirt freshman DeMarco Murray to share the load.

“I don’t feel any of those guys have the physical prowess that Adrian Peterson had,” Stoops said of Adrian Peterson, who finished as OU’s third-leading rusher with 4,045 yards. “The stamina and strength he had is very unusual. He could play 60 snaps or more. In the end, we look to use them 20, 25 times.”

QB support group

Baylor’s not alone in trying to pick one quarterback from a crowded field.

Junior college transfer Joey Halzle, redshirt freshman Sam Bradford and true freshman Keith Nichol are auditioning at OU, while Nebraska coach Bill Callahan will pick from Arizona State transfer Sam Keller, juco transfer Zac Lee, true freshman Patrick Witt from Wylie, Texas, and juniors Joe Ganz and Beau Davis.

“We didn’t have to scale back the offense and start all over again,” Callahan said. “We didn’t have to take the playbook and say, ÔOK, guys, we’re going to start here at square one.Õ We actually took off from where we ended up at in the Cotton Bowl against Auburn. And they really grasped it.”

After winning four Big 12 titles with four different quarterbacks, Stoops said the starter will have to be “earned.”

“We believe that position needs to have the confidence of the team,” Stoops said. “It needs to have the respect of the team in the huddle (and) in the locker room. And you only get that through your time on the field. And they haven’t had that yet.”

Is there a healer in the house?

The injury situation got so bad at Kansas last year that coach Mark Mangino was looking for a little special help.

“What’s that guy that can heal people and stuff? I was going to call him up,” Mangino said. “I see him on TV. He makes the blind to see and the deaf to hear, and he can’t grow hair on his own head.”

It takes a village

Baylor coach Guy Morriss said his staff can only do so much to turn around a football program that’s suffered 11 consecutive losing seasons.

“Ten coaches are not going to do it alone,” he said. “You’ve got to have support from your in-house people, your alumni, your student body. And some of that support just wasn’t there.

“It’s got to start with an attitude, and it’s anybody and everybody that touches the football program. I just ask that people that come in contact with our program work as hard as our coaches work to get this program turned around. That’s all we’ve ever asked. And I think there’s been some times when people didn’t really want to work that hard.”

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