Sooner Center Ben Habern hangs up the helmet

With practice starting on Friday, Sooners head coach Bob Stoops announced today that some movement is happening roster wise. First off, bad news at Center: Ben Habern has decided to end his Sooner career early due to on-going neck and back issues.

Habern went through an arm-surgery last season and only had 6 starts. Still, he was a 30-start player and a major leader on the offense. He will be sorely missed. This had to have been a very hard decision for Habern.

Stoops on Habern:

Our coaching staff knows this was a difficult decision for Ben. Ben has been a consummate leader for our team, both on and off the field. We appreciate the toughness that Ben has displayed, and we wish him the very best as he completes his education at OU.

Even though Stoops shot down the rumor at the Big XII Media days, Jaz Reynolds, Trey Franks and Quentin Hayes have all been reinstated back to the roster. As of right now, this is a practice-only reinstatement. As for the fourth Sooner that was suspended, Kameel Jackson, his suspension will be reviewed at the end of the semester.

You can view the new and updated roster here.

Wednesday night, Sooners head football coach Bob Stoops released a statement. A statement most Sooner fans weren’t too happy to have heard. If you googled the statement or went to SoonerSports.com you were presented with a one sentence, non-informative piece of information:

University of Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops announced on Wednesday that Quentin Hayes, Trey Franks, Kameel Jackson and Jaz Reynolds have been suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules.

Oh.

Jaz Reynolds vs. Kansas State

So if you are keeping count at home, that’s 3 WR’s and a DB. But before everyone starts banging their head on desks thinking doom and gloom, let’s get a couple things straight. The WR position is one that Oklahoma has recruited HEAVILY in, especially in 2012.  Kenny Stills and Trey Metoyer already have the outside positions locked up (in my opinion). The only thing the Sooners are looking to replace is a slot receiver. There are quite a few options of players that would fill this void nicely. Oklahoma picked up some stellar talent in the WR position, but the only problem is, is the lack of experience.  As for Quentin Hayes and the DB position, this is something I don’t think needs to be a cause for concern at all.

Also, I’d like to point out that it hasn’t even been a week since Kameel Jackson announced that he was “transferring” to Texas A&M, without informing the Aggies, mind you. By the way, in case you hadn’t heard, they said they would not take him.  So you would have to think that this is something that has been brewing in Norman for the last couple of weeks.

Offensive Coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell have Sterling Shepard, Durron Neal, Derrick Woods and JUCO transfer Courtney Gardner to work with. They lack the experience QB Landry Jones is used to, but in that talent pool, I would expect one to be able to step up. You can believe that Norvell has already been looking for JUCO players to fill the void.

Looking at the big picture, this is not a huge loss for Sooner Nation. I know some of you will disagree, but considering Trey Franks has been suspended before, and has an issue with staying on his feet… Reynolds on the other hand stings a little. He had 41 catches and 715 yards and led the team with an average of 17.4 ypc before his season-ending injury. Once injuries start to plague the Sooners, which it will because it never fails, the lack of experience  may be a cause for concern.

In the same breath, it’s nice to see Coach Stoops crack down on players violating team rules. It has yet to be released on what the actual cause of the suspension is, but I have my suspicions. And for those of you that have mentioned money to me, I have not heard that nor do I believe it.

It’s only May, Stoops still has time to dust off Barry Switzer’s playbook and bring back some wishbone action. I’m joking. Kinda.

Sooner WR, Jaz Reynolds

If Oklahoma didn’t already have enough injuries, Bob Stoops announced on Saturday that three more Sooners will have to sit out during the Insight Bowl against Iowa.

Worst of all, is WR Jaz Reynolds. Reynolds really stepped up his game with the loss of Ryan Broyles. Reynolds has been dubbed ”Jaz hands” because of his amazing one-handed catches and athletic leaps he has made during the course of the season. Stoops said Reynolds has been in the hospital for the last seven days, suffering from a severe kidney injury he received during the Oklahoma State game.

Another significant loss is to RB Brandon Williams. He is out due to a neck injury. Williams has been in the RB rotation after losing Dom Whaley to a season ending injury. Also out is FB Aaron Ripkowski with a back injury.

Stoops is trying to stay positive and preparing players to step up:

We’ve had some significant injuries over the last half of the season, but this is an opportunity for other players. We’re excited about our trip to Tempe and the opportunity we’ve got to reach 10 wins.

With as many major injuries the Sooners have had plague the team this season, I’m ready for it to be over.  About 3 weeks and counting now.

Sophomore WR Kenny Stills

After a much needed week of rest, the Sooners are back in action this coming Saturday against Baylor. This begins the Sooners final 3 game stretch and their last shot at BCS title game contention.

This also marks the first game without WR Ryan Broyles. The Sooners have set Dejuan Miller to replace Broyles and join up with Kenny Still and Jaz Reynolds in the starting line-up. And Kenny Stills says he is ready for the challenge of replacing his mentor, Broyles.

I always put together clips of Ryan and the stuff he’s done. I just hope to duplicate those things and try to make plays like him. I feel like he’s been preparing me for this since I got here. I have to take advantage of the opportunity.

The biggest challenge for the Sooners on Saturday is going to be containing that Bears offense, which is one of the best in the country. QB Robert Griffin III and his main target, Kendall Wright are an offensive force not to be taken lightly.

Oklahoma will be facing another running QB; Griffin has 478 yards rushing and leads the Big XII in completion percentage with 74.2. Kendall Wright has 1073 yards with 81 receptions and 9 touchdowns, but has been down the last couple games, without scoring once.

Baylor started off the season very strong, but things have taken the typical Baylor turn and things have started to decline for the Bears. The mid-season meltdown is in full effect. They went into overtime last week with Kansas, a team they should have easily beaten with their offensive talent, and came back from a 21-point deficit to beat them 31-30. Silver-lining for the Bears is that they have won the last 5 home games, averaging 49 points per game.

Offensively, these teams are very evenly matched and would expect to be an offensive slugfest. This is when the Sooner defense needs to step it up.

Even though Baylor is 6-3, Griffin has been putting up outstanding numbers. Oklahoma’s defense will need to put pressure on from the start. It can’t be one of those 1st half Sooner slumps they have been putting on the last couple games. Sleepwalking in the first half and then turning it on for the second. If they allow Baylor to score early and often in the first half, it will be a battle to catch up in the second.

Baylor has never beaten Oklahoma, but this is the team with the talent to do it. If Oklahoma wants to stay in the Chase for 8, they need to execute and execute early.

The game is scheduled for a 7:00 CST kick-off and is going to be televised on ABC regionally.

The Sooners have announced the rosters for this Saturday’s Annual Spring Game. Which Team do you want to see the most?

Red Team

Quarterbacks

Drew Allen, Cayden Cochran, Ben Sherrad, Kendal Thompson

Running Backs

Brennan Clay, Roy Finch, Brandon Williams

Fullbacks

David Driskell, David Welchert

Receivers

Ryan Caro, Sheldon McClain, Dejuan Miller, Jaz Reynolds, Kenny Stills

Tight Ends

Austin Haywood

Offensive Tackles

Jake Reed, Donald Stephenson, Tyrus Thompson

Guards/Centers

Tyler Evans, Ben Habern, Drew Serruto, Adam Shead

Defensive Tackles

Eric Humphrey, Torrea Peterson, Casey Walker

Defensive Ends

David King, Chuka Ndulue, R.J. Washington

Linebackers

Jaydan Bird, Austin Box, Aaron Franklin,Donald Franklin, Erik Lee, Travis Lewis,Corey Nelson

Defensive Backs

Jesse Bell, Beau Davis, Quentin Hayes, James Haynes, Demontre Hurst, Tony Jefferson, Gabe Lynn, Zach Montana, Sam Proctor, Dillon Schooley, Elijah Sigler , Julian Winters

Kickers/Punters

Patrick O’Hara, Jimmy Stevens

Deep Snapper

Kelton Miller

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