OU football notebook: Balogun to start at linebacker

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables said after Tuesday’s practice that Mike Balogun will start at middle linebacker over Austin Box, who’s returning from a knee sprain.

Venables said Box would play, but he said how much would depend a lot on how Balogun performs. Box said Tuesday that he feels 100 percent and is ready to go.

Even though a Sooner win over Florida would enhance the image of the Big 12, Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has no plans to support the Sooners.

"I’m not rooting for them,” Muschamp told the Dallas Morning News. "I might watch the game, but I’m not rooting, I guarantee you that.”

Muschamp, however, doesn’t need to feel guilty.

Venables said Tuesday he wasn’t pulling for Texas during Monday night’s Fiesta Bowl, either.

"When you fight over the same resources,” Venables said, "it’s hard to pull for them.”

Sooner right tackle Trent Williams missed media day Monday morning, raising concerns that he was ill. But Williams cleared the air Tuesday. He just overslept.

"Too much Nyquil or something,” he said.

Williams didn’t miss any practice and said Tuesday he feels great.

Sooner defensive end Alan Davis said he feels 100 percent and is ready to go Thursday. Davis suffered a knee sprain at Texas A&M and missed OU’s last three games.

"I feel good,” Davis said. "Knee’s not sore or anything. Just a matter of getting back my conditioning, getting back to game speed.”

OU reserve safety Brett Bowers knows a little something about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

The two played high school football together at Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian High School, before Tebow transferred to Nease in Ponte Vedra Beach, though by then Bowers, two years older than Tebow, had graduated and moved on to OU.

"He started at linebacker and defensive end,” Bowers said. "He played more defense than he did offense.

"A great athlete, a big kid. In eighth grade, he weighed 220 pounds.”

Bowers said he still keeps up with Tebow’s older brother.

Media Day always is a chance for players to give their high-profile teammates a hard time. OU safety Nic Harris was victimized by fellow Sooners as he sat at a podium in Dolphin Stadium.

Safety Lendy Holmes walked up to the podium, held a tape recorder in front of Harris’ mouth, and just stood there.

Davis took the podium with Harris, started stroking Harris’ head and saying, "artificial hair. This is a kit.” Davis stroked his own head and said, "This is natural. That’s a kit. I’m telling you, it’s greasy.”

Since OU arrived in Miami, freshman quarterback Landry Jones has stayed on the field with quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel for a half-hour after every practice to work on his footwork.

Jones has been wearing No. 15 in practice, suggesting he may change numbers next season. This year, senior quarterback Joey Halzle wore No. 15 and Jones wore No. 12.

He might have just been deflecting, but junior tight end Jermaine Gresham said he probably wasn’t going to think about leaving early for the NFL after Thursday’s game.

"Probably not,” Gresham said. "I really don’t care about the NFL. I’m just here to play college football.”

Gresham is considered by many to be one of the top tight ends eligible for the upcoming NFL Draft.

A few weeks ago on a Miami radio station, Florida coach Urban Meyer called Notre Dame his "dream job ... once my kids are done, maybe some day I’ll go coach there.”

Meyer coached at Notre Dame from 1996-00. This week, Meyer was asked in what context he made that statement.

"Move on,” he said. "I’m just trying to answer questions.”

OK. But that place, Notre Dame, is special?

"Sure.”

Why is it special?

"Next question.”

OU quarterback Sam Bradford is a finance major, because, he says, he likes numbers. Does he study his own numbers?

Depends. How many interceptions do you have, Sam? "Six.” How many touchdown passes? "I don’t know.” The answer is 48.

Sunday night, the Sooners ate dinner at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian Steakhouse.

"We racked up a big bill,” said center Jon Cooper. "We ate a lot of meat.”

The Cherokee Nation will be handing out free T-shirts honoring Bradford before Thursday’s game at Dolphin Stadium. Bradford is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and has said he’s hoping to use the platform he’s earned playing college football to work with Cherokee children.

OU walk-on John Nimmo, a sophomore from Ponca City, has been OU’s scout-team quarterback most of this season. He’s been playing the part of Florida’s Tim Tebow in practice.

Nimmo said the worst part of his day is getting hit 10 times by OU linebacker Travis Lewis.

"Tell him I appreciate that,” Lewis said. "I’m just trying to prepare for this game because we’re going to have to hit No. 15 (Tebow) a whole lot.

"I guarantee you, I’m going to bring that hammer. I mean, what happens when an unmovable force meets an unstoppable object?

"I don’t start playing until I get hit, so hopefully he (Tebow) can be the first one to do that, and it will be a collision, I guarantee you that. I haven’t lost a battle yet.”

By Berry Tramel

and Jake Trotter

---

Leave a Comment

Sports Photo Galleriesview all