OU's line has size, strength

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Oct 23, 2008 by Jeffrey Rake

By Jeffrey Rake

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

MANHATTAN -- Ron Prince searched for an analogy, a way to put Oklahoma's talented offensive line into proper perspective.

Unable to come up with anything, at least not right away, he decided to pull from his days as an assistant coach at Virginia.

"The only analogy I can make is that this is what the Florida State offensive lines looked like when I first went into the ACC," Prince said. "Every single guy is 335 pounds, 6-5 or 6-6, a veteran guy who seemingly slams people to the ground almost every play.

"If you're a young player, you really don't want to watch the tape."

The Sooners' offensive line will like to hear that.

In fact, their goal, as part of a season-long competition put together by offensive line coach James Patton, is to flatten as many defensive players as possible.

"Whoever leads the team in knockdowns gets their picture posted up in the film room," said Brandon Walker, OU's right guard. "Then, everybody else has to look at your face all week. So we all try to get our picture up there."

The award is called the "Big Dog" of the week -- dog stands for "defenders on ground" -- and so far, it's turned into quite a battle. With four seniors and one junior on the starting line, all of whom have NFL aspirations, it's yet another way to bring out the best in each other.

"It's a big deal, just amongst ourselves," Walker said. "Everybody has to want to go do their job. That's one thing we all want to do. We all have goals, and we all want to get to the next level. We can't get to the next level without doing good at this level."

Left tackle Phil Loadholt and left guard Duke Robinson are All- America candidates and potential first-round picks in next April's NFL draft.

The size of the rest of Oklahoma's offensive line is imposing. The Sooners have two-deep averages of 6-5 and 302 pounds, the third- largest line coach Bob Stoops has had since taking over the program in 1999. With 176 starts and 240 games played among them, there's certainly no shortage in experience.

"Top to bottom, from what I've seen on film, this is going to be the best offensive line we're going to face," K-State defensive end Ian Campbell said. "I'll be able to state that better after the game, but from what I've seen on film, that's probably accurate."

It'd be hard to find anybody who would disagree.

The Sooners, led by quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Sam Bradford, are third in the nation in scoring offense, averaging nearly 47 points. They scored 45 points and totaled 674 yards in last week's win against Kansas. Their lowest point total of the season is 35.

Campbell is impressed, but far from scared.

"I don't look at them as some perennial superpower that's unstoppable," Campbell said. "I look at them as an opponent that has great strengths, and few weaknesses."