The Sooners lost more than just a game Saturday night to the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes– they lost their national championship hopes and their most reliable wide receiver for four-to-six weeks.
Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Broyles left the game with a fractured left shoulder, and came out of halftime in his street clothes and with his left arm in a sling.
Broyles has been the Sooners’ most successful receiver this season. He has 23 receptions for 346 yards and seven touchdowns, which is tied for the most touchdown receptions in the nation. Prior to Saturday’s loss, he had at least one touchdown reception in each of OU’s first three games.
Whichever quarterback – either Heisman-winning junior Sam Bradford or freshman Landry Jones – starts this Saturday against Baylor will have to find a new favorite target.
The Sooners’ leading receiver behind Broyles is junior wide receiver Brandon Caleb. Caleb has caught 14 passes for 201 yards and has two touchdowns.
Caleb had mixed performances in the first two games of the season before having a coming out party against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Against Tulsa, he had five yards for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
After Caleb one wide receiver and three running backs round out OU’s top five receivers. Wide receiver junior Cameron Kenney and running backs junior DeMarco Murray and senior Chris Brown have combined for 22 catches for 266 yards and two touchdowns.
Outside of those five receivers, Sooners quarterbacks have received little help from neither the rest of the receiving corps nor the tight end corps.
With senior tight end Jermaine Gresham out for the season with a knee injury, OU’s offense cannot rely on a part of its game that helped make the Sooners the most prolific offensive during the 2008 season. Through four games this season the tight ends have combined for five catches and 43 yards.
Broyles’ injury adds to the laundry list of problems the Sooners have had to address this season, and unless they can find a suitable option for either Bradford or Jones, the offense may be in some serious trouble.
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TylerBranson 2 years, 7 months ago
I agree wholeheartedly!
How many times are you going to run a draw-play on 3rd and long before you realize it won't work? Landry has the ability to succeed; the team had the ability to win that game. It was the coaching and play-calling that lost to Miami on Saturday, not the athletes!
fox3076 2 years, 7 months ago
When is coach Stoops going to wake up and see how predictable Kevin Wilson has become. All night long Miami would put 8-9 in the box and OU would still run the same draw play or the same off tackle play they ran all night long. I was able to watch the game and call most of the plays before they happened. Kevin Wilson shows no imagination in his play calling and makes no effort to stretch the field and throw the ball. His thinking apparently is if in doubt, run the ball.