For the first time this year, the Sooners will hit the road Friday when OU plays at Tulsa.
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But even though the game isn't at Owen Field, it's possible that Sooner fans will outnumber the Golden Hurricane faithful at Tulsa's H.A. Chapman Stadium (35,542), likely negating some of Tulsa's home-field advantage.
Still, OU is treating Tulsa like a road game.
"We're not going to have 85,000 there like we do here,” tight end Joe Jon Finleysaid. "We're going to prepare for a tough road game.”
•Best QB they'll face?: The Sooners will play against Texas' Colt McCoy and Missouri's Chase Daniel in back-to-back games later this season. But OU coaches and players have said this week that Tulsa's Paul Smith might be just as good as those two.
"He's a great quarterback,” linebacker Ryan Reynolds said. "Tulsa has a great offense because of him.”
Others went even further.
Said cornerback Dominique Franks, "Paul Smith will probably be the best quarterback we face all year.”
•Friday night lights: Against Tulsa, the Sooners will play on a rare Friday, the same night high schools take the field.
OU agreed to play on Friday so that Tulsa could be on national television (ESPN2), but not before OU athletic director Joe Castiglione checked with the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association to see if high school administrators would object.
They didn't.
"If they had a strong feeling that this would really devastate (them), we wouldn't have done it,” Stoops said. "We're not going to make this a habit.”
Bartlesville, where Paul Smith's father, Ron, is the head coach, was among the schools that moved their game. Bartlesville and Sand Springs decided to play tonight instead, in small part so Ron could watch his son play against the Sooners.
By Jake Trotter
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Tulsa is good enough to spoil an unblemished season. I have been a OU fan for years.....mmmm seams like that did happen once upon a time. Better take them seriously guys.
It seems there is not much other than doubt when it comes to the Sooners. When will you all learn, Stoops did alot more when the cupboard was even more bare. Saturday morning when you wake up and realize what an idiot you are(and you know who you are), that you went out and a limb(like every other week,and degraded OU).As the ESPN anouncers are recognizing as we speak, how good this Sooners team actually is. Thats okay though, I want to hear you eat your words on Saturday morning, after Paul Smith gets decapitated by Austin English and Curtis Loftin.
What dont you guys just vote Smith the Heisman and get it over with. Do you really think if Smith were at Missouri that Chase Daniel would be on the bench?
Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith stretches to score a touchdown during a 2006 win over Southern Mississippi in Tulsa. Some OU coaches and players have said Smith is just as good as Missouri's Chase Daniel and Texas' Colt McCoy, two other strong quarterbacks the Sooners will face this season. Associated Press
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