Oklahoma didn’t offer Jacob Gutierrez a scholarship until late in the 2003 recruiting process. Size — Gutierrez is even now just 5-foot-6, 186 pounds — was one issue.
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Something, however, kept drawing Bob Stoops back to the San Antonio star.
“I just kept watching him,” Stoops said. “And he wore 22. And I kept thinking, ‘Dang, that’s Quentin Griffin.’”
Once Gutierrez arrived at OU, he requested a film of clips featuring Griffin’s best runs. Gutierrez said he’s tried to emulate things Griffin did.
Now that Gutierrez seems headed for more playing time, might some of those moves be featured?
“I haven’t looked at it lately, it’s in a drawer,” Gutierrez said of the tape. “But I’ll bust it out sooner or later.”
• Hold, no fold: Stoops dismissed talk of any OU curse this week, despite a run of unfortunate events that includes the loss of quarterback Rhett Bomar, a controversial loss at Oregon and now Adrian Peterson’s injury.
“I like to say you play the hand you’re dealt,” Stoops said. “I like to play cards. And you don’t fold or throw them in when you get one not as pretty as another.”
Such hard times have usually seen the Sooners respond under Stoops.
“I think because we’re capable of it,” Stoops said. “I feel we’re a lot stronger maybe than people give us credit for. Everybody likes to throw out the doom and gloom, to play on all the fans emotions, when in the end, it doesn’t have to be that way.
“Everybody has injuries and unfortunate circumstances. Every year, different teams have them. And you fight through them.”
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