Murray's performance brings out coach in Gundy

NORMAN — Oklahoma running backs coach Cale Gundy saw DeMarco Murray slip past the tackle of Texas' Rashard Bobino on Saturday afternoon. He saw Murray hurdle teammate Joe Jon Finley. He saw Murray blaze past Longhorn Marcus Griffin to finish his electrifying 65-yard touchdown run.

But that's not all he saw.

"The ball was kind of loose when he did it,” Gundy said. "There's always a lot of things to coach on, even when you make great plays.”

Gundy congratulated his freshman tailback for his performance, but he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to coach. And it appears the message stuck.

"I've seen a lot of times I had been carrying the ball (loosely),” Murray said. "I had actually been doing a pretty good job up until that game, trying to keep it high and tight. I don't know what happened in that game. Maybe I got a little too hyped, a little too ahead of myself.”

With 128 yards Saturday, Murray passed Allen Patrick as the team's top rusher with 444 yards. Murray already led the team in scoring, now with 10 touchdowns.

Gundy stood firm when asked Monday if Murray's Cotton Bowl performance has him rethinking his running back rotation, answering with a simple "no.”

Patrick has no lingering effects from the cramping problems that kept him out of the second half of Saturday's game. But it's an issue that bothered him in the Miami game on Sept. 8, which like Texas, was played in hot, muggy conditions.

Patrick remains the No. 1 option in the OU backfield.

Of course, the plan all season has been to find other ways of getting the ball to Murray, and that hasn't changed. Murray will continue to line up as a receiver, running reverses and catching passes.

"He's a special player,” Gundy said. "He's a guy that is very skilled, can do a lot of things.”

Murray says Saturday's touchdown run will stick with him.

"It was a very emotional touchdown, very exciting — your first touchdown playing in that game,” he said. "I'll remember it forever.”

And he'll remember the coaching he got from it just as long.

"Everybody else thought I did good,” Murray said with a smile before quickly turning the conversation to the grade Gundy gave his overall performance Saturday.

"I was only 2 percent (above) a winning grade, so there's a lot of things I've got to improve on. Hopefully, I'll do it this weekend.”