Sports No. 4 Sooners
B1 Monday | August 18, 2014 | tulsaworld.com
AIMING HIGH: FINAL FOUR
Union, Owasso ready to face Class 6A changes. B5
Drillers lose fourth straight on homestand ••RoughRiders sweep Drillers in every game in Tulsa. BY JOSH HALEY
World Correspondent
Coach Bob Stoops claps during spring practice last year at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. Tulsa World file
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Sooners ranked in AP preseason poll
C
ERIC BAILEY WORLD SPORTS WRITER
ollege football coaches are unanimous in saying it is not where you start in the football polls. What matters is where you finish. All programs are targeting the four-team College Football Playoff, which determines participants on Dec. 7. But high expectations for Oklahoma’s 2014 season continued with Sunday’s release of the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll. The Sooners were selected No. 4 in ballots tabulated by 60 media members who cover col-
lege football. Defending champion Florida State was No. 1, followed by Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma and Ohio State. OU wants to be among the top four teams selected by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, which is comprised of 13 people and chaired by Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long. Their say in early December will determine the final four teams to battle for the national title. “It’s where you want to be. You look at the walls all around this place, that’s what’s hap-
pened before and where we want to be this year,” OU quarterback Trevor Knight said during media day. “Preseason rankings are preseason rankings and we have to live up to that every day and come to work and work to be in that Final 4. “The first year of something like that, you want to be a part of it. Our guys have worked really hard and it’s a week-in, week-out thing.” If the AP Top 25 preseason poll is an indicator of things to come, the Sooners could find themselves in the mix on Dec. 7.
15
Consecutive appearances by Oklahoma in the preseason poll, which ranks only behind Ohio State (26). No other Big 12 school is currently on a multi-year streak.
45
33
Appearances in the preseason Top 10, which is the most of any school. Ohio State (39), USC (36) and Nebraska (34) round out the top of the list.
66
Consecutive times that the Sooners have been ranked in the Top 25, which ranks fourth nationally behind Alabama (99), LSU (82) and Oregon (78).
NO. 11
MICHAEL MUDOH TULSA JUNIOR STRONG SAFETY 5-FOOT-10, 205 POUNDS HOMETOWN: HOUSTON
Credentials: In his first year as starter, Mudoh made a name for himself last season while racking up 133 tackles, the fourth-most in the nation and the most in Conference USA. He recorded a career-best 17 stops in the
opener at Bowling Green and had eight double-digit tackle performances. Mudoh also had five pass break-ups and an interception, which occurred in a narrow Week 2 victory against Colorado State and resulted in him being named the conference’s defensive player of the week. He also was named to the All-C-USA second team.
2014 outlook:
Mudoh has developed into a vocal leader, was chosen to represent the defensive side of the ball at American Athletic Conference media day last month and was named
a preseason nominee for the 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. Combine Mudoh with free safety Demarco Nelson, who was ineligible last season, and Tulsa suddenly has one of the best safety combinations in the country. Hurricane coaches have full confidence in both to anchor a defense that seeks to do its part to help deliver turnaround from 2013’s 3-9 record. — By KELLY HINES, World Sports Writer
For more A notebook on Tulsa University football B4
SEE TULSA B6
? 6 15 16 6 NR 5 8 11 22 3 3 5 6 1 NR
4
Appearances in the preseason Top 5, which is the most of any school. Ohio State and Texas have appeared 24 times in that spot, followed by Alabama (23).
COUNTING DOWN THE TOP 25 PLAYERS IN THE STATE, LEADING TO THE AUG. 28 KICKOFF OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON
2014 4 2013 16 2012 4 2011 1 2010 7 2009 3 2008 4 2007 8 2006 10 2005 7 2004 2 2003 1 2002 2 2001 3 2000 19 1999 NR
Average ranking for Oklahoma during 754 all-time appearances in the AP Poll. It is the highest nationally ahead of Nebraska (7.9).
Times the Sooners have been planted outside the top 10 of the preseason poll during Bob Stoops’ 16 seasons at Oklahoma, most recently in 2013 when he began at No. 16. An 11-2 finish rolled OU to a No. 6 finish.
OKLAHOMA 25
OU’s preseason AP rankings and finish under Bob Stoops
5
Times during the past seven years that OU has been selected among the top four teams in the preseason poll.
7.5
Vs. Louisiana Tech 6 p.m. Aug. 30 TV: PPV Radio: KMOD fm97.5
The unfriendly home matchup against the Frisco RoughRiders came to an unpleasant end on Sunday night as RoughRiders...........6 the Tulsa DrillDrillers..................... 1 ers were shut down in a 6-1 loss in front of Up next 4,143 fans at At Arkansas ONEOK Field. With the win, 7:10 p.m. Tuesday Frisco comRadio: KTBZ am pleted a season 1430 sweep of Tulsa at ONEOK Field, For more winning four of the five games by Update B6 at least five runs. Tulsa (61-63, 23-32 second half ) was frustrated by Frisco starter Alec Asher in their first matchup
THE FOOTBALL FOUR: TIME IS RUNNING OUT
In advance of the first College Football Playoff, the Tulsa World sports staff brought you Football Four brackets for Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, the Big 12, the American Athletic Conference and Arkansas. We’ve narrowed it down to the championship brackets. Vote for your top moments, gut punches and players online today.
OUSportsExtra.com • OSUSportsExtra.com tulsaworld.com/tu
Quarterback Alex Smith looks to pass under pressure from the Panthers’ Star Lotulelei. CHUCK BURTON/AP
Panthers run past Chiefs, 28-16
••Cam Newton returns, Jonathan Stewart rushes for two TDs. BY STEVE REED
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cam Newton made a successful return following ankle surgery, Jonathan Stewart ran for two touchdowns and the Carolina Panthers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-16 on Sunday night. Newton completed 4 of 9 NFL passes for 65 Preseason yards and led a pair of touchPanthers................ 28 down drives in Chiefs.................... 26 the preseason game before exiting late in the Up next second quarter with Carolina (1Vs. Minnasota 1) up 14-6. 7 p.m. Saturday Stewart ran for 26 yards on For more four carries and made a strong Tony Romo and case to be the the Cowboys Panthers’ goalmove on to line back — if Miami for their not their primanext preseason ry ball carrier game, plus — with scoring Michael Sam runs of 3 and 2 records his first yards. sack for the Carolina Rams. B2 managed just a yard in on its first three possessions before Stewart provided a spark with a 17-yard run. The Panthers scored touchdowns on their next two possessions. Alex Smith was 14 of 22 for 127 yards for Kansas City (1-1). Rookie Aaron Murray’s first NFL pass resulted in a 43-yard touchdown strike, but he also had an interception.