The unexpected happened today in Dallas. What was supposed to be a grudge match between quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford was anything but after Bradford was knocked out of the game in the first quarter. And what was supposed to be an offensive slug fest actually turned out to be a defensive struggle.

Some may say it wasn’t pretty, but Texas earned a hard-fought 16-13 victory over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday. Bradford only attempted six passes in the game, completing two for 77 yards before suffering another injury following a first-quarter sack. On the other side, McCoy was just 12 of 39 passing for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

This game turned on the first possession of the second half. After Oklahoma took a 6-3 lead into halftime, the Longhorns came out in the third quarter utilizing a hurry-up offense that allowed McCoy to finally get into a rhythm passing. While the drive only produced a field goal, it instilled confidence in McCoy after the Sooners had frustrated him in the first half. This was the second straight year in which OU’s defense got the best of McCoy.

Freshman receiver Marquis Goodwin also played a huge role in the Longhorns’ victory. Oklahoma completely took emerging Heisman candidate Jordan Shipley out of the game by blanketing him in coverage, but Goodwin hauled in three passes and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from McCoy midway through the third quarter to give Texas its first lead. With Shipley held in check, Goodwin came up huge.

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Oklahoma head coach said Friday that freshman Landry Jones will start at quarterback for the Sooners this Saturday against Miami. Sam Bradford, who suffered a shoulder injury against BYU in the opening week of the season, was making progress throughout the week but Stoops didn’t feel as though Bradford was ready yet.

From Tulsa World:

“Sam has made daily progress, but we don’t feel like he’s quite where he needs to be yet,” Stoops said in a press release. “Our team has a lot of confidence in Landry’s ability and we’re looking forward to going into the game with him at quarterback. Our approach will be the same that it has been in the last two games.”

“No one’s gonna play if they’re not healthy and ready to go,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said on Tuesday. “. . . A guy coming off an injury, if there are throws he can’t make, you either take those throws out or you say, ‘Look, if you can’t make the throws, the guy doesn’t play.’”

In a Wednesday report by CBS Sportsline columnist Dennis Dodd, Bradford’s father, Kent Bradford, said he didn’t see the harm in his son waiting another two weeks before returning to the starting lineup. That would put Bradford in the center of the storm for the Oct. 17 showdown with No. 2-ranked Texas.

This is absolutely the right move. If there’s any doubt about whether or not Bradford is ready to play, then he’s not ready to play and I applaud Stoops for not rushing him back onto the field.

Jones has more than enough weapons around him to succeed and Oklahoma’s defense has been fantastic this year. As long as the young QB doesn’t try to force the action by trying to make things happen in the passing game, he should be fine.

The Oklahoman reports that Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford split snaps with the first team in practice this week with redshirt freshman Landry Jones and might be ready to play Saturday against Miami.

Stoops still isn’t ready to announce whether Bradford will play Saturday at Miami, but said Bradford hasn’t had any setbacks in his recovery and wasn’t particularly sore Tuesday morning after throwing during Monday’s practice.

“That’s positive in that everything to this point that he has done he has handled in a positive way and he has made daily progress,” Stoops said. “That part is encouraging. But it’s just too early to determine his status for Saturday. I’m not able to give the answer yet, until we see what Sam’s capable of throughout the week. Is he able to make all the throws? Is he able to do it without too much soreness? How does he react the next day?

If Bradford plays on Saturday, it would signal a remarkable turnaround from where he was at a few weeks ago. Some were suggesting that his season was over and now he has a chance to play this week.

Hopefully Oklahoma isn’t rushing Bradford back onto the field too soon. I doubt Stoops would put the success of the team over the health of his player (or at least, I hope he wouldn’t), but if Bradford continues to progress throughout the week then there might be no reason for him to sit out.

Even though VA Tech shredded them on the ground last week, Miami has an aggressive front seven – one that could cause problems for Bradford if he’s rusty upon his return. It’ll be interesting to see how he progresses throughout the week and whether or not he’ll play against the Canes on Saturday.

When probed about the pending return of his Heisman-winner quarterback, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said he wouldn’t discuss the subject.

From Tulsa World.com:

During his press luncheon on Tuesday, Stoops was asked about Bradford’s progress coming back from a separated shoulder, and Stoops quickly replied, “I’m not even going to go there,” fearing that discussing Bradford’s rehab schedule would only fuel speculation.

Instead, it was Stoops’ comments that fueled speculation on talk radio and message boards Wednesday — speculation that either Bradford is progressing faster than anticipated and may play against Tulsa, or that Bradford’s injury is worse than first feared and he may be out longer than the original prognosis of 2-4 weeks.

After practice Wednesday, Stoops told reporters that Bradford won’t play against TU, but declined to discuss specifics of Bradford’s rehab or return schedule.

Hopefully Bradford won’t be rushed back onto the field. As much as Oklahoma needs him (as well as college football fans looking forward to another tight race in the Big 12), Bradford has bright future ahead of him and can’t risk further injury.

He should return when he’s at or near complete health.

John Rohde of the Oklahoman writes that Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford should sit out the rest of the season after injuring his throwing shoulder in OU’s loss to BYU last Saturday.

By sitting out this year, Bradford would be free to rehab at his own pace with far less risk of re-injury.
It would give Bradford a few months to clear his head and thoroughly examine his future plans.

A redshirt junior, Bradford could enter the 2010 NFL draft, or return as a senior if he felt he had something to prove because of the injury.

Bordering on the absurd, Bradford eventually would be eligible to petition for a sixth season at OU, a la Jason White. (If Bradford plays again later this season, he would have no sixth-year option.)

If Bradford has recovered enough to play in 2-4 weeks, by all means, come on back
If Bradford’s recovery falls behind schedule, I say sit this one out.

Rohde brings up good points and the smart thing probably is for Bradford to sit out the rest of the season. As Rohde’s points out, he could come back for his senior season fully healthy and then enter the NFL draft the following year.

Then again, telling a competitor like Sam Bradford to sit out the season following a year in which he won the Heisman and led the Sooners to the national title game is like telling a kid not to write on the wall after getting his new box of Crayolas. He’s just going to tune you out.

This has nothing to do with Bradford making the smart decision and everything to do with wanting to play football. He wants to be out there with his teammates and it’s going to be extremely difficult to get him to sit out when he knows his team needs him more than ever. I just hope for his sake that he doesn’t injury himself more when he does come back, because the young man has a bright future ahead of him in the NFL.

Oklahoma’s 2009 season got off to a disastrous start on Saturday as the Sooners were defeated 14-13 by BYU and quarterback Sam Bradford had to leave the game early after spraining his throwing shoulder. The defending Heisman winner could miss up to a month with the injury.

The injury was announced as a sprained AC joint. He was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam on Sunday to determine the severity of the sprain. The junior was in his white football pants and a gray T-shirt as he watched his teammates play the second half.

Bradford put his left hand on his right shoulder, sending athletic trainers rushing to him. He was first checked on a sideline table, then taken into the locker room. The Sooners kicked a field goal on the next play to take a 10-7 halftime lead.

One of the concerns for the Sooners entering the season was that they would have to play with four new starters on the offensive line. Granted, injuries happen in football. But it’s interesting that the offensive line was the biggest worry for OU coming into the new season and now Bradford is out for an extended period of time because he was hurt after a blitzer came in almost unblocked.

This is the worse case scenario for Oklahoma. While the Sooners are still a good team, Bradford is the key to how far they’ll go this season and OU already has one loss. That said, if a team is going to lose a game in college football, it’s better to have it be early in the year. Maybe the Sooners can bounce back, but they need Bradford to come back soon.