At last, Sooner offense springs to life

By Jake Trotter

Published: April 6, 2008

NORMAN — In Oklahoma's second open scrimmage, the offense tried a tight end reverse, a wide receiver reverse pass and a flea-flicker.

Not one of those plays actually worked, but still the offense opened up more of the playbook Saturday in a much stronger performance than the first scrimmage last weekend.

"We were trying to make a play, get the guys excited,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "We have a little bit more in and we're further along.”

The offense, coming off a scoreless outing in the first scrimmage, scored two touchdowns while publicly debuting a no-huddle scheme.

Freshman running back Justin Johnson capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge, then later, tight end Jermaine Gresham caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Bradford.

"Today was probably about as game-like as we've had with the no-huddle, as far as the referees and the clock and everything going,” Bradford said. "I thought our tempo was good, and I thought, for the most part, we were on the same page. I like what we did today with it.”

While the offense didn't run the ball as effectively as last weekend, the passing game thrived.

Bradford completed 13-of-20 passes for 158 yards and the touchdown pass to Gresham.

Backup Joey Halzle continued his impressive spring by connecting on 14-of-22 passes for 177 yards.

Neither quarterback tossed an interception.

Wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias and Gresham each had five catches, and Quentin Chaney bounced back after a disappointing scrimmage last weekend with three catches for 60 yards.

"I think we looked better than the first scrimmage,” Bradford said. "We started slow, but the last drives we moved the ball really well. I'm happy with the way things went today.”

Wide receiver Manuel Johnson, linebacker Ryan Reynolds and cornerback Jonathan Nelson all returned to the lineup after missing the first scrimmage last weekend. Nelson had the lone interception while filling in for starter Brian Jackson, who sat out with a hip pointer.

This past week, coach Bob Stoops postponed two practices to help several players recover from nagging injuries.

Stoops said the team's overall performance was "just OK” after holding only one practice all week.

"It showed. We weren't too sharp and there were way too many penalties,” Stoops said. "For me, it's never very good when one side doesn't do as well as you want.

"But that means the other side is doing pretty well.”

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