Big 12 Notebook: As Usual, Red River Rivalry Is More Than a Game

It's not like Texas and Oklahoma ever needed a reason to make their annual Red River Rivalry game in Dallas any more intense.

The tradition of the two programs, the bordering states and the fight for superiority in fertile recruiting ground of Texas use to be enough. Who knew this early season game would take on so much more meaning when both teams joined the Big 12 in 1996?

This game has become about so much more than school pride and bragging rights, as one of these two teams has won the South each of the last 10 years, and it has sometimes set the stage for the national championship picture.

"It's a definite highlight, how could it not be?" OU coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. "It's a definite highlight, a definite challenge and all of that.

"But it's not unlike anyone else. If you are in a good league, you are going to play against teams where you've got your hurdles, your challenges throughout the year. You embrace them and you go play them."

Saturday's game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, like so many of the past 10 years, will have huge Big 12 South implications. Oklahoma and Texas, the only South division champs since 1999, were both picked as the co-Big 12 South champs in the preseason media.

The Longhorns, undefeated (5-0) and ranked third in the country, not only have Big 12 implications riding on this but are trying to keep pace with Florida and Alabama for a shot at the BCS national championship. The 20th-ranked Sooners (3-2), who have been injury plagued all season, are probably out of the national title picture, but they still have their sights on a fourth straight Big 12 championship.

Giving this game an even more interesting twist is the fact UT actually defeated Oklahoma by 10 points in this game last season, but it was the Sooners who advanced to the Big 12 championship game and also into the national title game following a controversial three-way tiebreaker decision that sent 7-1 Oklahoma to the conference championship game and left 7-1 UT and Texas Tech home to watch.

"It's a conference game, and I think if you ask both teams, it's crucial," said UT senior quarterback Colt McCoy, who comes into Saturday's game 2-1 against the Sooners. "For us, we can't look at their record and the things that have gone on in the first five games of the season. We have to understand that it doesn't matter who we're playing, we're going to get their best shot. This game is the most important game for us this season."

On the surface, this will be billed as a matchup of two Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterbacks who happen to be good friends in OU's Sam Bradford and McCoy. Last season, Bradford won the prestigious award and McCoy finished second. This season, McCoy could have the edge right now just by virtue he has been healthy and Bradford just returned last week from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss two complete games.

But underneath it all, this should play out as a classic matchup of two outstanding defenses.

The Longhorns, led by defensive end Sergio Kindle and linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy, rank fourth in the nation in overall defense after allowing teams an average of 233.0 yards per game. Against a much tougher slate, Oklahoma's defense is allowing 256.00 yards per game and has given up just six touchdowns to rank ninth in country in overall defense.

"We have the two best defenses in the country," said UT coach Mack Brown, whose team slipped from No.2 to No.3 this week in the AP poll. "It will be really fun to watch the two defenses play because they play well every week."

But for everyone on both sides, it will be fun just because it's Texas vs. Oklahoma.

"This game is one of the reasons why you come to Texas," said UT guard Charlie Tanner. "I grew up watching the Texas vs. OU game. Going to the Cotton Bowl is one of the most awesome games of college football. You got half the stadium crimson, half the stadium orange and coming out of that tunnel is everything you could want in a college football game."


Todd Reesing for Heisman?

Kansas coach Mark Mangino, as a practice, doesn't campaign for his players to win national awards like the Heisman Trophy.

So that might explain why his trumpeting senior quarterback Todd Reesing for the Heisman Trophy on Monday seemed a little odd and ill-timed.

"We've only played five games, but I believe, this is an opinion, he certainly merits the right to be a part of the Heisman conversation," Mangino said during Monday's Big 12 football media call. "When you look at him statistically you are impressed.

"But I think the true way you judge Todd Reesing is you have to see him play. If you watch him play, the way he just has great leadership, he's in control, how he can take what looks to be a minus-yardage play and turn it into a gain or big gain. The real appreciation is after you watch him play. It's not fair just to look at his statistics."

There is no doubt Reesing is an exciting player. The 5-foot-11 quarterback certainly makes the 17th-ranked Jayhawks fun to watch as he dodges tackles, squares his shoulders and heaves the football down field to either Dezmon Briscoe or Kerry Meier.

But is he Heisman Trophy worthy? The numbers and the competition to this point just don't seem to support such an assertion.

Reesing ranks third in the Big 12 in total offense with 1,680 yards in five games, he's second in the league in passing per game (315.8), passing efficiency (157.6) and passing yards (1,579). He has completed 133 of 192 passes while throwing for 13 touchdowns and three interceptions while guiding the Jayhawks to a 5-0 record so far.

All of this fancy work has come against a slate of Northern Colorado, UTEP, Duke, Southern Miss and Iowa State. Let's talk Heisman after these next six weeks when Reesing will have matchup against the likes of Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Texas and Missouri.

Praise for Suh

Coming into the season, there probably wasn't a more hyped defensive lineman in the country than Nebraska senior tackle Ndamukong Suh.

All indication were after the way he ended last season that he could be the best to ever come through Nebraska. Six games into his final season in Lincoln, Suh is appearing to be worth the hype and then some.

At 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds, he has been doing it all for the Cornhuskers: rushing the passer, stopping the run, dropping back into passing lands and yes intercepting passes.

Suh was the defensive catalyst in the Cornhuskers come-from-behind 27-12 win at Missouri last Thursday night. He not only had six tackles, a forced fumble, a sack and a pass deflection, but his fourth quarter interception changed the game. Nebraska was trailing 12-7 when he got his hands on a Blaine Gabbert pass near the line scrimmage. That pick led to the go ahead touchdown for the Cornhuskers.

"That's pretty special when a guy like that can make those kind of plays and create turnovers," said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.

He will get no argument for Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, who watched his team try to do everything it could within the rules to neutralize Suh. Nothing seemed to work as Suh put up numbers worthy of him being named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.

In the type of production normally seen from linebackers and safeties, Suh leads Nebraska in tackles (32). The preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year is the top tackling defensive lineman in the conference where is tied with Oklahoma defensive back Quinton Carter for 22nd with 6.4 tackles per game.

"I think he's a great player," Pinkel said. "You can double team a player every single (down). We played him year ago and I thought he was a good player then. We played him earlier in the season a year ago, by the end he was first team All-Big 12.

"The things he does, the numbers he puts up at that position, at that size, he's a very dominant player. As he's done with everyone else he's played, he caused us a lot of problems."

Oklahoma' Red Zone Problems

The Sooners knew they would miss All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham when he went down with a season-ending knee injury before the season began.

But they didn't know it would be this much. Gresham had been one of Bradford's primary targets in the red zone the past couple seasons, but without his presence the Sooners touchdown success has plummeted.

Last week alone, Oklahoma made seven trips into the red zone and had to settle for four field goals and just two touchdowns as receivers had major drop problems in the win over Baylor.

The success rate is even more troubling when you consider that in two one-point defeats to BYU and Miami, the Sooners made eight combined trips inside of the red zone and came away with just three touchdowns. That could be the major difference in them being 5-0 instead of 3-2.

While Stoops admits the offense misses Gresham, he says the problems in the red zone have been far more complex than just one missing player.

"Sometimes it's blocking, it's just executing the run game a little bit better, sometimes it's being able to work offensive coverage and sometimes we've had some drops, as well," he said. "It doesn't take much when you are down there for that to happen."



Quick Hits

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin elected to have surgery to repair his torn ACL, effectively ending his sophomore season. Griffin, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2008, should be back in time to begin the season in 2010...Stoops said receiver Ryan Broyles could return to the lineup as early as this week after being projected to be out four-to-six weeks with a shoulder injury ... Texas A&M receiver Jeff Fuller has began practicing with the team after suffering a cracked right fibula in the Aggies second game of the season on Sept. 19 ... Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said Kendall Hunter, the Big 12 leading rusher in 2008, has began practicing with the team after missing the last couple games with ankle injury. It's not certain if Hunter will be back the lineup for Saturday's home game against Missouri...In addition to Suh, Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing for seven touchdowns against Kansas State in his first start. Texas receiver/punt returner Jordan Shipley was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week after he returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter Saturday in the win over Colorado.