The 2007 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the 113th season of Sooner football. The team was led by two-time Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award winner, Bob Stoops, in his ninth season as head coach. They played their homes games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They were a charter member of the Big 12 Conference.
Conference play began with an upset loss to the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder, Colorado, on September 29, and ended with a victory over the Missouri Tigers in the Big 12 Championship Game on December 1. The Sooners finished the regular season with an 11–2 record (6–2 in Big 12) while winning their fifth Big 12 title and their 41st conference title overall. They received an automatic berth to the Fiesta Bowl, where they lost to the West Virginia Mountaineers, 28–48.
Following the season, Malcolm Kelly and Curtis Lofton were drafted in the 2nd round of the 2008 NFL draft, Reggie Smith was selected in the 3rd, and Allen Patrick was chosen in the 7th.
Preseason
On July 19, a preseason poll voted on by members of the media that cover the Big 12 was released. The Sooners were chosen to finish second in the Big 12 South behind Texas. They finished nine votes behind the Longhorns but 44 points above Texas A&M, the third team. This poll was released in anticipation of the Big 12 media day which began on July 23, 2007. Most publications had the Sooners ranked between five and ten in the preseason. Phil Steele's self-titled publication, which is considered by many to be the most accurate college football preseason prediction magazine, had the Sooners ranked number three in terms of how they would finish the year and how strong the team is going into the year. On August 2, 2007, Coach Bob Stoops announced at a rally that the names of players would be put back on the team's jerseys. They had been removed in a re-design before the 2006 season.
The 2006 season was the last for quarterback Paul Thompson. With his departure came the race for the next quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners. The three players in contention for the coveted spot included true freshman Keith Nichol, redshirt freshman Sam Bradford and junior Joey Halzle (the only one of the three with actual game experience). They competed throughout the summer and well into fall practice. On August 21, 2007, it was announced that Bradford would start the first game of the season.
NCAA violations In 2006, the team and the fanbase were stunned when the returning starting quarterback, Rhett Bomar, was kicked off the team one day before the start of fall practice. Quarterback-turned-wide receiver Paul Thompson was converted back to quarterback and led the Sooners to an 11–3 season capturing the Big 12 Championship and competing in a BCS bowl game. However, the fallout of the Bomar scandal began to affect the team in 2007. On July 11, 2007, the NCAA announced a finding of "failure to monitor" the employment of student athletes and handed out penalties, most of which were extensions of punishments already set in place by the university.
Probation until May 2010 The loss of two scholarships through the 2009–10 season A reduction by one of the number of coaches who can recruit off campus A public reprimand and censure A disassociation with the dealership manager for five years All wins from the 2005 season were vacated, changing the team's record from 8–4 to 0–4 for that year
The university announced that it would appeal the Infraction Committee's finding and the vacation of the wins from the 2005 season. University president David Boren released a statement that the university "[does] not believe that erasing the 2005 season from the record books is fair to the over 100 student-athletes and coaches who played by the rules and worked their hearts out for a successful season." The Sooners won the appeal to get back their wins from the 2005 season.
Recruits National Signing Day was on February 7, 2007, and Oklahoma was set to sign many talented high school athletes from around the country. It ended up being a smaller class than usual due to the loss of only a few seniors. In addition to the seniors leaving, running back Adrian Peterson left early for the NFL draft and three other players were set to be on medical redshirt for the upcoming season. There was some separation in Oklahoma's recruiting ranking by the two major recruiting websites. Scout.com ranked the Oklahoma recruiting class as the 30th best in the nation, while Rivals.com ranked Oklahoma as the 14th best. In the pre-season, incoming quarterback Keith Nichol was named one of the top-10 impact freshman for 2007. Below is a list of the recruits that signed their letter of intent.
Award watch lists and finalists On July 13, 2007, the Charlotte Touchdown Club released their watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Sooner defensive back Reggie Smith was among the 50 players listed. In the previous season, Smith had 40 tackles and three interceptions as a defensive back, and was also the main return specialist for the team, returning an interception and a punt for touchdowns.
On August 28, 2007, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission released their watch list for the Lou Groza Award, awarded to the most outstanding place kicker. On the list was Oklahoma's Garrett Hartley. Hartley was a finalist for the award in 2006 after making nineteen of twenty field goals and going 49 of 50 on extra points. Tight end Brody Eldridge made the Mackey Award watchlist, safety Nic Harris was on the Jim Thorpe Award watchlist, and Malcolm Kelly and Allen Patrick were both on the Maxwell Award watchlist.
In the middle of the season, several more Sooners were added to various watchlists. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Bradford was added to the watchlist for the Maxwell Award, awarded to the nation's best player. Oklahoma has had two prior winners of this prestigious award, including Tommy McDonald and Jason White. Auston English was added to the watchlist for the Ted Hendricks Award, given to the nation's best defensive end. The Sooners had not yet had a winner of this award in its five-year history. Punter Michael Cohen was also receiving recognition, as he was added to the watchlist for the Ray Guy Award. Again, no Sooner had ever won this award, though Jeff Ferguson was a finalist in 2001.
Schedule
Roster
The 2007 Oklahoma Sooners football team consisted of 110 total players. There were eight returning offensive starters and seven returning defensive starters from the 2006 team. Overall, 50 lettermen were returning from the 2006 team (25 on offense, 20 on defense and 5 on special teams). The 2007 team captains were Joe Jon Finley, Allen Patrick, Lewis Baker, Marcus Walker and Jacob Gutierrez. Finley and Patrick represented the offense, Baker and Walker represented the defense and Gutierrez represented the special teams.
(as of September 6, 2007)Quarterbacks 5 John Nimmo – Freshman 6 Keith Nichol – Freshman 14 Sam Bradford – Freshman 15 Joey Halzle – Junior
Running backs 7 DeMarco Murray – Freshman 17 Mossis Madu – Freshman 21 Jacob Gutierrez – Senior 23 Allen Patrick – Senior 29 Chris Brown – Sophomore 36 Earl Parker – Freshman 41 Derek Gove – Freshman
Offensive line 50 Jon Cooper – Junior 54 Jason Hannan – Freshman 63 Noah Hughey – Sophomore 64 Kody Cooke – Freshman 65 Brandon Nofire – Sophomore 66 Donald Stephenson – Freshman 70 Cory Brandon – Freshman 71 Trent Williams – Sophomore 72 Duke Robinson – Junior 73 Brandon Walker – Junior 74 Brian Simmons – Sophomore 75 Chase Beeler – Sophomore 76 Branndon Braxton – Junior 77 Sherrone Moore – Senior 78 Alex Williams – Freshman 79 Phil Loadholt – Junior
Tight ends 18 Jermaine Gresham – Sophomore 19 Joe Jon Finley – Senior 47 Trent Ratterree – Freshman 83 Brody Eldridge – Sophomore 86 Ryan Allgood – Freshman 88 Eric Mensik – Freshman 89 Kolby Smith – Junior
Fullbacks 34 Matt Clapp – Junior 38 Aaron Hayes – Freshman 40 Buck Buchanan – Freshman 45 Dane Zaslaw – Senior 49 Ian Pleasant – Senior 47 David Jones - Senior Wide receivers 1 Manuel Johnson – Junior 4 Malcolm Kelly – Junior 8 Brandon Caleb – Sophomore 9 Juaquin Iglesias – Junior 11 Chase Wasson – Senior 12 Corey Wilson – Freshman 22 Russell English – Sophomore 27 Garrett Bothun – Senior 39 Collin Cox – Sophomore 80 Adron Tennell – Sophomore 81 Carter Whitson – Sophomore 82 Tyler Stradford – Freshman 84 Quentin Chaney – Junior 85 Ryan Broyles – Freshman
Defensive line 33 Auston English – Sophomore 54 Tommy Taggart – Junior 62 Tola Jimoh – Sophomore 84 Frank Alexander – Freshman 86 Adrian Taylor – Freshman 87 David Anderson – Freshman 89 Cordero Moore – Sophomore 90 Steven Coleman – Senior 91 Alonzo Dotson – Senior 93 Gerald McCoy – Freshman 94 Pryce Macon – Freshman 95 Alan Davis – Junior 96 DeMarcus Granger – Sophomore 97 Cory Bennett – Junior 98 John Williams – Senior 99 Jonte Bumpus – Freshman
Linebackers 8 Ryan Reynolds – Sophomore 10 Mike Reed – Junior 16 Lewis Baker – Senior 28 Travis Lewis – Freshman 30 Lamont Robinson – Sophomore 40 Curtis Lofton – Junior 42 Austin Box – Freshman 44 Jeremy Beal – Freshman 46 T.C. Bread – Freshman 48 Brandon Crow – Freshman 51 Demarrio Pleasant – Senior 53 Brandon Morris – Freshman 57 Brock Hesse – Sophomore Defensive backs 2 Brian Jackson – Sophomore 3 Reggie Smith – Junior 4 Jonathan Nelson – Freshman 5 Nic Harris – Junior 6 Desmond Jackson – Freshman 11 Lendy Holmes – Junior 12 Sean Edwards – Freshman 13 Michael Hayes – Freshman 14 Arthur Thomas – Freshman 15 Dominique Franks – Freshman 18 Cortney Carter – Junior 20 Quinton Carter – Sophomore 22 Keenan Clayton – Sophomore 24 Marcus Walker – Senior 25 D.J. Wolfe – Senior 26 Brett Bowers – Junior 27 Sam Proctor – Freshman 32 Jamell Fleming – Freshman 41 Darrien Williams – Senior
Punters 13 Mike Knall – Junior 31 Michael Cohen – Senior
Kickers 10 Garrett Hartley – Senior 17 Jimmy Stevens – Freshman 37 Matthew Moreland – Freshman 43 Spencer Covey – Freshman
Deep Snapper 52 Derek Shaw – Sophomore 55 Kyle Johnson – Junior 56 Jarred Kopepasah – Freshman
Coaching staff
Compared to the previous year, the 2007 season saw no changes in the coaching staff. However, like the season before, Bob Stoops's name was mentioned as a possibility for some coaching vacancies, but he made it known he was committed to Oklahoma. Name Position Yearsat OU Bob Stoops Head coach 9 Brent Venables Associate head coachDefensive coordinator Linebackers 9 Bobby Jack Wright Assistant head coachCo-defensive coordinator Defensive backs 9 Kevin Wilson Offensive coordinatorTight ends/fullbacks 6 Cale Gundy Recruiting coordinatorRunning backs 9 Kevin Sumlin Co-offensive coordinatorReceivers 6 Josh Heupel Quarterbacks 4 James Patton Offensive line 2 Jackie Shipp Defensive line 9 Chris Wilson Defensive ends 3
Game summaries
North Texas
The Sooners opened the season at home against the North Texas Mean Green coached by Todd Dodge. Going into the game, Oklahoma was 8–1 in home openers under Bob Stoops. The last time Oklahoma played North Texas was in 2003, when the Sooners held the Mean Green to 154 yards of total offense in a 37–3 win. At the time, North Texas was affiliated with the Sun Belt Conference in the NCAA Division I FBS. The Sooners were favored to win by a wide margin with most estimates between 38 and 41 points. The official attendance for the game was 84,472, the 50th consecutive sellout and the largest crowd ever to see an opener at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.