Oklahoma's Bradford Will Not Start Against Miami

NFL News - October 3rd, 2009 - Written by Scott

The Oklahoma Sooners will head into Miami without Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford as the starting quarterback.  Head coach Bob Stoops made the announcement on Thursday that Landry Jones would start against the Hurricanes.  The delayed announcement by Stoops was not used to keep the Hurricanes guessing which quarterback was going to start, but rather to give Bradford time to see if he would be able to play. Bradford injured his throwing shoulder in the season opener against BYU.  Stoops said that Bradford had been making progress after a week of speculation the he could return on Saturday.

"Sam has made daily progress, but we don't feel like he's quite where he needs to be yet," Stoops said. "Our team has a lot of confidence in Landry's ability and we're looking forward to going into the game with him at quarterback."

For now, Oklahoma (2-1) will go with Landry who has played well in Bradford's absence.  He has thrown for 673 yards and 9 touchdowns, including a school record 6 touchdowns in their game with Tulsa.  The offense has played extremely well since their opener against BYU, where both Bradford and Landry had a tough time moving the ball.  Miami head coach Randy Shannon isn't concerned about which quarterback is going to play though.

"We're preparing for Oklahoma's offense,"  Shannon said. "We can't prepare for Sam Bradford or any other quarterback. We've got to prepare for the offense. The quarterback is what makes that offense go and they're not going to change the plays because of who their quarterback is."

This will be Landry's first real test as a starter.  He will face a very fast and talented defensive unit against Miami. Miami's defense got some bad news this week that starting safety Randy Philips will miss the game against the Sooners after suffering an injury to his upper extremity.  The Sooners do not appear to be shying away from their game plan despite Landry getting the start.

"We need balance and we need to take care the ball and protect the [quarterback] and attack the defense," Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said.  "You don't go into this arena, no matter who your quarterback is, playing with your hand tied behind your back and playing cautious."

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