OU football: Is it Madu’s time?

Mossis Madu has waited his turn. That doesn’t mean he will flourish in his fifth and final OU football season .

“Just because it’s your time doesn’t mean you’re going to play,” said Sooner tailback coach Cale Gundy. “You’ve got to earn your spot.”

I’m pulling for Madu. I pull for guys who stick it out. Guys who keep working and keep fighting. Guys who don’t give in to discouragement. Guys who don’t play much but find the spotlight as seniors.

Oklahoma's Mossis Madu (17) runs past Stanford's Harold Bernard (28) during the first half of the Brut Sun Bowl college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Stanford University Cardinal on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, in El Paso, Tex. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman ORG XMIT: KOD

Linebacker Clint Ingram was that player in 2005. Paul Thompson quarterbacked OU to the 2006 Big 12 title after making just one start previous. Flanker Quentin Chaney shined in 2008 after a nondescript career.

Maybe Madu – stuck behind Allen Patrick, DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown since hitting campus – will be that man in 2010.

Murray, if he stays healthy, will be the featured tailback. But the Sooners always use more than one runner. Jermie Calhoun, Madu and the currently-injured Jonathan Miller are the candidates to be Murray’s sidekick.