Tale of Oklahoma's season so far is one of great adversity

B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 17, 2006 at midnight

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BOULDER - If Bob Stoops isn't waiting for the other shoe to drop, he still might be wondering who will deliver the next body blow - and where in his University of Oklahoma football program it might land.

Does it come from inside? Outside? Another major injury? An arrest?

Tranquility has turned its back on the 2006 Sooners, starting with the August dismissals of starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn, then spilling into last weekend with a season-ending injury to All-American tailback Adrian Peterson and the arrest of preseason Butkus Award candidate Rufus Alexander.

Sandwiched by those ills and issues are the instant-replay fiasco at Oregon in mid-September and a distressing loss against rival Texas earlier this month.

All this befalls a team that, in July, had designs on a Bowl Championship Series national title, and Stoops conceded Monday he could not remember coaching in a season where he and his team have been hounded by so much misfortune.

"Probably not, but, hey, that's part of the game," he said. "And in the end, we're strong enough to, hopefully, keep overcoming it. We feel like we are.

"Our players have had good attitudes, and we have as coaches.

We've worked through it all. That's part of the game, and we'll work through this as well."

If true, Oklahoma's two most recent problems - Peterson's broken collarbone suffered during Saturday's 34-9 rout of Iowa State and Alexander's arrest early Sunday on a pair of misdemeanor charges - won't severely affect the Sooners for Saturday's game against improving Colorado.

Alexander, the Sooners' leading tackler (eight a game), is expected to play against the Buffaloes. Stoops declined comment on the arrest, other than saying, "To this point, from what I know, it wouldn't require suspension. We'll deal with it internally."

Peterson's absence, though, will pose a major offensive hurdle. Of the Sooners' 396.5-yard output a game, Peterson has averaged 155.8 rushing yards, with quarterback Paul Thompson providing 224.7 yards in total offense. Plus, Peterson's 204 all-purpose yards a game (11 touchdowns) leads the Big 12 Conference.

Stoops indicated compensating for Peterson's absence will require using one of three tailbacks and possibly having Thompson shoulder more of the offensive load.

"There won't be a lot of change," Stoops said. "Maybe some, but overall, not really.

"We like what we're doing and feel good about the way

we're playing. We feel these guys are more than capable of being really good backs."

The trio in question: juniors Allen Patrick and Jacob Gutierrez and freshman Mossis Madu. Patrick was No. 2 on the depth chart before Peterson's injury.

Asked about possibly putting more on Thompson, Stoops said, "To some degree . . . we will. Paul has been very good and solid and is playing well.

"We do have confidence in him, so that could be something that we do."

But CU coach Dan Hawkins expects Stoops simply to plug in another tailback and keep running.

"They do a nice job of distributing the ball around and do a number of different things," Hawkins said. "They've got a pretty complete system."

Stoops characterized Patrick as "a guy that really has ability to play in the I-formation or shotgun. . . . He has really good hands, and we can do things with him throwing the ball."

Stoops compared Gutierrez with former Oklahoma back Quintin Griffin, saying he is "a good all-around guy, (but) maybe a better shotgun running back." He said Madu is "a combination of the two (Patrick and Gutierrez). He's been impressive as a young guy."

"I don't know if anybody is similar to Adrian," Stoops said. "All of us are more disappointed for him personally than anything."

BUFFS HONORED: Sophomore safety Ryan Walters and senior placekicker Mason Crosby were honored by the Big 12 for their roles in CU's 30-6 win against Texas Tech.

Walters, who was in on four tackles (three solo) and made two interceptions, was chosen co-defensive player of the week with Texas' Tim Crowder. Crosby, who kicked field goals of 56, 53 and 26 yards, was special-teams player of the week.

ETC.: Athlete Anthony Wright (6-foot, 185 pounds, Compton,

Calif.) and offensive lineman Mike Iltis (6-3, 285, Riverview, Fla.) have committed to CU, according to Rivals.com. The pair puts the Buffs' 2007 commitment total at 15 . . . Senior defensive end Abraham Wright was named to the CollegeFootball News.com midseason All-American team. Wright's nine sacks rank second in NCAA Division I-A . . . Saturday's game will kick off at 5:10 p.m. MDT and will mark the Buffs' first televised contest (Fox Sports Net) since Sept. 30 at Missouri . . . CU's game at Kansas on Oct. 28 will kick off at noon MDT (no TV) . . . The Buffs are averaging 252 rushing yards in their past two games. That's after averaging 134 in the first five games.

brooksb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5466

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