NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -Quarterback G.J. Kinne transferred to Tulsa from Texas and counts Colt McCoy among his friends.
Sounds like an injection of the Red River Rivalry for this week’s in-state showdown between Kinne’s Golden Hurricane and Oklahoma.
Not so fast.
“I liked OU growing up and I liked Texas, too. I just happened to pick Texas,” Kinne said this week as he prepared for the third start of his college career. “Oklahoma recruited me pretty heavy and I liked Oklahoma a lot. It just came down to I liked Texas better. There’s not really any hatred or anything like that. I’m just ready to go out there and play.”
In fact, Kinne admires what coach Bob Stoops has done. Kinne’s dad, Gary Joe Kinne Jr., played linebacker at Baylor and later returned to the school to coach the position. Along the way, he taught G.J. to respect a strong defense.
lege will be against the 12th-ranked Sooners (1-1).
“We want to win them all, but this one’s definitely special,” Kinne said.
Since current coach Todd Graham helped resurrect the program as Steve Kragthorpe’s defensive coordinator, Tulsa (2-0) has been building toward the day when it would topple a true college football powerhouse. The smallest school in the Football Bowl Subdivision gets a chance or two each year, and last year took an 8-0 record into Arkansas before the Razorbacks dashed any BCS dreams.
This year’s first shot comes a little earlier.
“Our program is one that we want to be about winning championships,” Graham said. “One of the things that we have as a goal is that we want to be a team that’s recognized nationally as a championship program. The only way you can do that is to go out there and play teams like Oklahoma and be successful.
“We haven’t done that as a program. That’s the next step for us, and our guys are working very hard to try to get that done.”
Oklahoma has showed signs of vulnerability as it welcomes in the offense that led the nation in total yards each of the past two seasons. Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford is nursing a sprained shoulder and second-team All-America tight end Jermaine Gresham is out for the season after knee surgery.
ienced receiving corps has yet to prove itself.
Of course, those blemishes hardly showed during the Sooners’ 64-0 shutout of completely overmatched Idaho State of the Football Championship Subdivision last week.
“We need to keep improving on what we’ve done the last couple of weeks – just to continue to build, to improve in all our fundamentals and what we’re doing in our execution to give us an opportunity here this week to have a chance to win,” Stoops said.
While Saturday’s game features the two teams that broke the NCAA season record for scoring last year, both squads have made waves with their defenses so far. The Sooners and Golden Hurricane rank 1-2 in tackles for loss, and Tulsa has an impressive 10 sacks through two games.
This week, redshirt freshman Landry Jones – behind that unproven Sooners line – is the target as he makes only his second career start in place of Bradford.
“That’s our whole philosophy is we want to pressure and confuse and manipulate the quarterback. If you can do that, then you’re going to be successful in games,” Graham said. “That’s what an attacking defense is all about.”
Tulsa has only one victory in its last 10 games against Oklahoma, coming in the middle of a weak stretch of Sooners football in 1996. To pull an upset this season would garner the Golden Hurricane the kind of national respect they’ve been seeking while winning 21 games over the past two seasons.
“I think a win here would put us – we’re already on the map, but I think it would put us up there with the elite teams which we think we are and actually we know we are,” Kinne said. “We’ve just got to go out there and make the statement.”
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