Crumbling Sooners Lose TE Gresham For Season

Sports Betting News - September 9th, 2009 - Written by John

Finding yourself in the National Championship amidst one of the most competitive, controversial years in college football is something that takes complete cohesiveness on the field. You live together. You breathe together. You finish each other's ... okay you get it. Lose one key playmaker and it could cause a major bump in the road. Lose two and, well, go ahead and book your trip to the Peach Bowl now.

The Oklahoma Sooners knew that there was a chance All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham would be back in a couple weeks if all went well during Tuesday's arthroscopic surgery. It was simply a probe to see how bad the damage was. A simple cleaning would be best-case scenario, allowing him to return in about two weeks. Worst-case scenario, they would need to stitch the ligaments together, rendering him inactive for the entirety of the year.

Say hello to worst-case scenario.

Following the scope, doctors concluded that the cartilage was, in fact, more than just frayed and that it would have to be reconnected -devastating news for the Sooners, who are already reeling from Sam Bradford's injury just before halftime of their season opener against BYU. The Sooners lost that game and Bradford is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. Oklahoma has since dropped 10 spots to 13 in the AP poll and 14 in the Coaches' poll.

"I think this is a little more different because it's Sam and Jermaine. That's a lot," guard Brian Simmons told ESPN.com. "I'm not saying that they're better or more talented than (former running back Adrian Peterson). It's slightly different.

"I will say when he went down, I was devastated. I was just like, 'Oh, man.' But we actually went undefeated without him that season."

Bradford (err, whoever will now be under center) was going to be leaning on Gresham a lot this season with running backs DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown ailing from injuries themselves. Gresham was considered his top pass-catching option and would have been the no. 1-rated tight end in last year's draft after catching a team-high 66 passes for 950 yards.  The 6-foot-6, 258 lb. senior spurned a chance at the NFL and came back for his senior season to reunite one of the most dynamic air attacks in college football. Instead, Bradford will need to look elsewhere to make up for Gresham's 14 touchdowns from a year ago.

Wideout Ryan Broyles would be his next logical target. The sophomore comes back after 46 receptions in 2008 for 687 yards, the most of anyone returning from last season. He tied for the team-lead against BYU with four catches for 26 yards and was the only player with a touchdown.

To fill the vacant spot at tight end, the Sooners will probably use (at least temporarily) Trent Ratterree, a sophomore walk-on who was actually practicing at center two weeks ago. He caught one pass last weekend for 12 yards.

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