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Dave Curtis
Sporting News
Oklahoma senior linebacker Travis Lewis says his winters have grown routine. Four straight Februaries he has sweated through almost identical sets of workouts in the Sooners' weight room.
"Hey, if it ain't broke, why fix it?" Lewis says with a laugh.
Hang on, though. Lewis wants a mulligan on that line. He remembers Oklahoma has gone 11 years without a national championship. Six conference crowns and three losses in the BCS title game aren't soothing. There is motivation for the familiar lifts and runs.
"You win a Big 12 championship, it's a sort of successful year," Lewis says. "We want more than that."
Getting more in 2011 seems as feasible for the Sooners as for any team in America. Lewis, receiver Ryan Broyles and quarterback Landry Jones elected to stay in school instead of declaring for the NFL draft. Their presence, along with a slew of veteran linemen, has made OU a consensus top five team and No. 1 in some polls.
The spring should be short on drama. The Sooners need new starting safeties. Backups will battle to fill Jeremy Beal's defensive end slot and to grab DeMarco Murray's touches at tailback.
Even a significant change on the coaching staff (offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson left to become Indiana's head coach in December) won't bring a shake-up. Quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel and receivers coach Jay Norvell inherit the job, with Heupel taking play-calling duties. The new guys plan to add wrinkles here and there, center Ben Habern says. But keeping the job in-house means keeping the high-tempo scheme that made Jones and the Sooners third in the nation in passing offense last season.
"It's just so productive," Habern says. "It's a great way to get the defense out of sync and out of their base calls."
It's also more evidence of the 2011 theme. Win a national championship, but don't break the system along the way.
Sporting News
Oklahoma senior linebacker Travis Lewis says his winters have grown routine. Four straight Februaries he has sweated through almost identical sets of workouts in the Sooners' weight room.
"Hey, if it ain't broke, why fix it?" Lewis says with a laugh.
Hang on, though. Lewis wants a mulligan on that line. He remembers Oklahoma has gone 11 years without a national championship. Six conference crowns and three losses in the BCS title game aren't soothing. There is motivation for the familiar lifts and runs.
"You win a Big 12 championship, it's a sort of successful year," Lewis says. "We want more than that."
Getting more in 2011 seems as feasible for the Sooners as for any team in America. Lewis, receiver Ryan Broyles and quarterback Landry Jones elected to stay in school instead of declaring for the NFL draft. Their presence, along with a slew of veteran linemen, has made OU a consensus top five team and No. 1 in some polls.
The spring should be short on drama. The Sooners need new starting safeties. Backups will battle to fill Jeremy Beal's defensive end slot and to grab DeMarco Murray's touches at tailback.
Even a significant change on the coaching staff (offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson left to become Indiana's head coach in December) won't bring a shake-up. Quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel and receivers coach Jay Norvell inherit the job, with Heupel taking play-calling duties. The new guys plan to add wrinkles here and there, center Ben Habern says. But keeping the job in-house means keeping the high-tempo scheme that made Jones and the Sooners third in the nation in passing offense last season.
"It's just so productive," Habern says. "It's a great way to get the defense out of sync and out of their base calls."
It's also more evidence of the 2011 theme. Win a national championship, but don't break the system along the way.