OU tradition continues
2-yard touchdown run clinches victory
Brown latest true freshman to come to Sooners' rescue
Comments 
0
By George Schroeder
Published: November 12, 2006
NORMAN —
Chris Brown wasn't sure he was in.
"I was laying on the (goal-)line, and I just heard everybody start screaming," Brown said. "I just figured I was in."
He was. The 2-yard touchdown with 2:21 left clinched Oklahoma's 34-24 win Saturday night over
Texas Tech.
And it's a good thing for OU that Brown was in — the game, that is. The true freshman's 84 rushing yards and two touchdowns keyed the
Sooners' rally for victory.
"He answered and stood up to the test in a big, big way tonight," OU coach
Bob Stoops said. "He was huge tonight."
Saturday night, he became the latest in a growing line of true freshmen who have come out of redshirt late in a season to help the Sooners. In 1999, tailback
Quentin Griffin became OU's primary ballcarrier after injuries; in 2004, cornerback
Marcus Walker helped shore up a porous secondary and kicker
Garrett Hartley solidified a shaky placekicking situation.
Brown, who actually first played Oct. 21 against
Colorado, had no problem burning his redshirt season after
Adrian Peterson was injured.
"When A.D. went down, everybody moved up a level (on the depth chart)," Brown said. "(
Allen Patrick) stepped into the job. I figured, ‘I can be behind A.P. and ‘Gute,' and if anything else happens, I'll have to help out.' It wasn't, ‘I'm gonna get in and do this,' it was being ready to help out if they needed me."
That initial action was light — four carries for 13 yards at the end of a rout. Brown was pressed into more important service Saturday when Patrick was unavailable because of an ankle injury. Although
Jacob Gutierrez drew the start, Brown prepared all week to play.
And in power running situations — and late in the game, almost exclusively — Brown got the call.
"It was real exciting," Brown said. "We was in a close game and they chose me to be out there … to finish it off. That really touched me and made me want to perform to the top of my ability."
Much of his yardage on 16 carries came in short chunks. But Brown's 40-yard run with 12:51 left gave OU a 27-24 lead, bringing the Sooners back from what had once been a 14-point deficit.
The run came on a stretch play to the left side. Brown got key blocks from left tackle
Chris Messner and a tight end.
"After that, I was just trying to get in (to the end zone)," Brown said.
He spun away from one last defender and was gone. Ten minutes later, he clinched the win with a 2-yard bull through the middle.
