Redshirt sophomore backup quarterback Blake Bell has excelled in the Sooners' goal-line package, rushing for 21 touchdowns in a 14-game stretch (13 in the last seven of 2011 and eight in first seven of 2012).
make it academically, and a true freshman guard quit the team. "It was bizarre," Kersey said. "Another
offensive tackle had an issue with his knee and ended up having to quit and take a medical hardship. The coaches kept telling everyone it was going to be okay, and then they go to UTEP [in the season opener] and almost get beat." Oklahoma was winning only 10-7 in the
fourth quarter before eventually beating UTEP 24-7. And after losing to Kansas State, Kersey said no one outside the pro- gram's walls believed the Sooners and head coach Bob Stoops would turn things around so dramatically. "After that game, I think everyone was
very worried about what might happen with this team," he said. "Bob Stoops
PHOTO COURTESY OKLAHOMA
hadn't won in Lubbock, Texas, since 2003. Texas Tech had been playing well. The thought was they could easily go down there and lose, and if they lose that, they're going to lose to Texas. And if they lose to Texas, who knows how many games they're going to lose this year? "They go to Lubbock and just put on a
whoopin', 41-20, and Landry Jones looked completely unlike he had looked all year. After the Tech game, I thought they'd beat Texas, but I don't think anybody expected it to be like that. They just destroyed them. "Now they're ranked [eighth] in the
BCS and look like a team, if they're able to beat Notre Dame and the rest of the ranked teams on their schedule, they look like a team, in theory, that could play their way back into this thing." ✦
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