 "Photo: Bryant Haertlein/The Daily Texan")
After injuring his shoulder for the second time this season against Texas on Oct. 17, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford has finally made the decision everyone was expecting – to have shoulder surgery and enter the NFL draft. After delaying a press conference last week, Bradford announced Sunday that Dr. James Andrews would perform season-ending shoulder surgery Wednesday that will keep him out of action for four to six months. If the rehabilitation goes according to plan, Bradford will have played his last game in crimson.
“Under these circumstances, and after talking to several people, this is the right thing for me to do at this point,” he said in a statement.
The Heisman winning quarterback was projected as the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft but decided to return for his junior season after losing to Florida in the national championship.
Although still a probable first-round pick, Bradford must silence some critics at the NFL Combine in April if he hopes to remain a top-five selection.
Will the real Texas offense please stand up?
After beginning the season with a 59-20 thumping of Louisiana-Monroe, the Longhorns’ offense took some sort of sabbatical over the past five weeks, leaving the defense to carry the heavy load of staying undefeated. But a boisterous Colt McCoy silenced the critics early as he completed his first 11 passes in a 41-7 rout of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. The Longhorns, fueled by McCoy and Jordan Shipley, scored touchdowns on the first three drives of the game on their way to a 35-7 halftime lead. Then the first-half team everyone knows so well sputtered in the second half, only managing six points on two field goals. A full 60 minutes of picking apart defenses would have been nice for Texas fans, but they have to be happy with the way this second-half team took the game over in the first 30 minutes – something it hasn’t done all season.
Texas Tech in the Potts
A common theme is beginning to develop in the Big 12, and that is to win big over a tough opponent on the road and then lay an egg with a considerably easier foe at home. The Red Raiders are the latest example of this trend. After stunning Nebraska on their own field, 31-10, Texas Tech headed home for the annual matchup with rival Texas A&M – a team that lost to Kansas State the week before, 62-14 and had lost three games straight. A night game in Lubbock looked to be a disaster for the Aggies, but A&M earned its first victory against a ranked opponent in the Mike Sherman era with a 52-30 romp.
“I told the guys during this week that this game was more about them as a man than it was about them as a football club and how they needed to respond to play this ball game,” Sherman said. “I’m proud of them as a man and as a football club.”
Taylor Potts, who threw two interceptions, was back in the lineup because Steven Sheffield sat out with a foot injury. Potts threw two interceptions before he was benched to make way for Seth Doege. Red Raider fans expressed their disgust by chanting, “No more Potts” toward the end of the game.
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