OU football: Landry Jones' mission is clear

Sooners quarterback knows he's the man entering the 2010 season. And he says he's already better than he was a year ago.

BY MIKE BALDWIN, Staff Writer, mbaldwin@opubco.com | Modified: August 25, 2010 at 9:38 am | Published: August 24, 2010 Comment on this article

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Road woes

Landry Jones' stats were dramatically different at Owen Field. A breakdown of Jones' redshirt freshman season, listing completion percentage, passing yards per game and touchdown and interception totals.

In Norman

Games, Pct, Yards, TDs, Int.

5, 62.1, 306.4, 18, 4

On the road

Games, Pct, Yards, TDs, Int.

7, 55.4, 238.0, 8, 10

The offensive line is projected to be more reliable. If the Sooners can re-establish a running game, it would take pressure off Jones.

"The other injuries really changed who we were," said quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel. "We became a team that hadn't prepared that way all spring, all summer, all fall camp. Week one, week two, week three when you're changing your identity, it's tough on your entire offensive unit.

"It's extremely tough on a young quarterback who wasn't prepared that way. We probably put more stress on our offensive line and our quarterback when you don't have that balance, you don't have a running game, get down hill and a little bit of play-action pass. Those are things we hope to get back to."

Twice, Jones had to take over for Bradford. A month after the BYU game, Bradford returned against Baylor. The following week, Bradford was knocked out it in the first quarter against Texas. This time, Jones knew what to expect. But there were mixed results.

Jones threw for 3,198 yards and 26 touchdowns. Both figures led all freshmen nationally. He threw a school-record six TDs against Tulsa and a school-bowl-record 418 yards in the Sun Bowl.

One area he expects to improve is performing better away from Owen Field. Last season Jones posted an 18-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio in Norman, 8-10 away from Owen Field. He threw five interceptions at Nebraska.

"I thought he handled it well," said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. "He had some good games. Shoot, his first start he had six touchdowns, an NCAA record (for freshmen). Everybody else talks about the couple of games that weren't as good. But he's a young guy. I thought he did great."

A year ago, Jones expected to be signaling in plays, not actually running them.

"Just a year under your belt makes all the difference," Heupel said. "Plus, being the guy gives him a little bit more of a leadership role heading into the year than what he had a year ago. He's excited about the season and we are as a coaching staff the way he's performed so far."

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