Lessons many in press box with expert at his side

By Berry Tramel

Published: April 8, 2007

NORMAN — Football coaches believe writers don't know anything about football. They couldn't be more wrong.

We know the ball is oblong. We know the difference between a buttonhook and a counter trap. We know you need 30 feet for a first down and one good foot for a field goal.

Beyond that, we don't know much. Which explains my partner Saturday at the Red-White Game. Retired high school coach Mike Little, one of the best football minds in Oklahoma, accepted an invitation to sit alongside in the press box and explain what in the heck transpired on Owen Field.

One of the best days of football watching I've experienced. Thought I'd let you in on some of the jewels.

Little on freshman quarterback Kid Nichol: "I watched him warm up. He's got a good release ... He's not bad. Of course, they're not going to recruit him if he's not.

"He doesn't mind taking off to run. That's such a threat. He's got some speed. He's pretty quick.”

Nichol was the only Sooner QB to run the ball Saturday, not counting sacks.

Still, Sam Bradford seems the obvious leader in the quarterback derby, and one meaningless pass might offer the clue. Bradford threw across the field on an out route that Manual Johnson dropped.

"That's what they're going to look for in a quarterback, a guy than can throw the out from that hash,” Little said.

Joey Halzle "doesn't have as quick a release as the others,” Little said. "He has a good arm.”

Little's overall take on the quarterback job comes with a disclaimer: he knows the Bradford family, even coached against Sam's dad, Kent, when Kent was a Putnam City tight end and Little was the coach at Putnam West.

"I think Sam's done enough” to show he's the man, Little said. "What you don't know is their leadership, how the rest of the guys respond around him. They'll have some challenges.”

The scrimmage was vanilla. The offense was basic. Defense, too. Which is standard in the spring.

"Defensively, they're not giving them a lot of different looks,” Little said. "They're basic. Which is what you want. You just want to see if you can go one on one, if the guy can play it straight.”

Little said defensive coordinator Brent Venables could have wreaked havoc on the young quarterbacks. Few defenses, Little said, attack like the Sooners.

"Passing game starts with protection,” Little said. "OU, when they blitz off that corner, just one or two people I've seen pick it up. They haven't brought any of their corners (Saturday). They're pretty basic. They're not running their stunts. They might run some line stunts.”

Little particularly likes the Sooners in two looks: anything with a fullback, and the two-tight end formation that is absolutely balanced. Split, split right, two tights and a tailback.

"It's hard to line up against two tight ends,” Little said. "All defenses are predicated by strength side.” If there is no strong side, defenses are flummoxed.

Little likes throwing to the tight ends. Alas, the Sooners didn't do much of that Saturday. Jermaine Gresham, Joe Jon Finley and Brody Eldridge each caught one pass.

Little was no different than anyone else at the stadium. He was impressed by freshman tailback DeMarco Murray, who carried just four times but had 103 yards, including an 18-yard TD scamper and a 68-yard jaunt.

The departed Adrian Peterson was a once-in-a-lifetime tailback. "He could break tackles,” Little said.

Not so with the current tailbacks. If you can't break tackles, you better run away from them. It appears Murray can do just that.

"Tremendous,” Little said. "That's always been their forte here, their speed. He made two guys miss right there (on the TD). You can't block everybody.”

All in all, a fine day at the stadium. Bob Stoops learned much about his Sooners. Thanks to Mike Little, so did I.