OU VS. BACKUP QUARTERBACKS

The Sooners have faced three back-up quarterbacks in eight conference games. Saturday, OU will face the fourth back-up when Chris Chugunov stars in place of the injured WIll Grier. All of those back-up quarterbacks fared pretty well against Oklahoma.

Zach Smith, Baylor: 33-50 passes, 463 yards, 4 TD; 7 carries, -23 yards

Kyle Kempt, Iowa State: 18-24 passes, 343 yards, 3 TD; 3 carries, 0 yards

Joel Lanning, Iowa State: 2-3 passes, 25 yards, 0 TD; 9 carries, 35 yards

Alex Delton, Kansas State: 12-14 passes, 1 INT, 144 yards, 1 TD; 27 carries, 142 yards, 3 TD

comes to town. “Let’s just say, Iowa State, we learned our lesson,” linebacker Emmanuel Beal said. “Let’s just say that. We’re going to prepare like he’s a D-I quarterback. That’s what he is. Obviously he’s been on this stage before. A lot of respect goes out to him.”

In three appearances this season, Chugunov completed 24 of 42 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns. Most of those passes were completed in the second half of last weekend’s game against Texas, where he hit 14 of 26 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought he did a good job a week ago,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “It’s always tough when you’re not sure when you’re going to play and

then be thrown into that situation. But I thought he handled it well. He’ll be much more prepared with the amount of repetitions that he gets this week.”

Even though Chugunov played for a half and WVU still has weapons like Biletnikoff finalst David Sills and running back Justin Crawford, his tendencies are still virtually unknown — the same problem OU encountered when preparing for ISU’s Kyle Kempt, KSU’s Alex Delton and Baylor’s Zach Smith.

The Sooners struggled to contain Smith’s arm, and he threw for 463 yards and four touchdowns.

Iowa State, which handed OU its only loss of the season, had success keeping the Sooners offbalance by using by Kempt and two-way player Joel Lanning at quarterback. Together, the pair threw for 368 yards and three touchdowns while carrying the ball 12 times for 16 yards.

“The Iowa State kid, obviously, we didn’t know much about going in,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “How it’s different or the same from the kid we expected to see. I don’t know again that that changed a lot of what they’re doing. It’s not different schematically. That kid’s just played well for 'em.”

Delton nearly beat OU on his feet, rushing 27 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns to go with 144 yards through the air and another touchdown.

“Any quarterback at this level has talent,” Stoops said. “I think that’s the first thing you realize that they’re all very capable players. They don’t have the experience or the repetitions that usually the ones get, but when they become the ones, they get all those reps and I think they’ve been working all year. They have a lot more experience than people think. But offenses don’t change. Maybe what the emphasis, what he likes, but they’re going to continue to do what they do.”

Holgorsen and Riley were together on Mike Leach’s Texas Tech staff for five years, with Holgorsen’s departure to Houston helping lead to a promotion for Riley.

“He was probably the guy on the Texas Tech staff all those years, along with Mike that I was closest with,” Riley said.

“He’s a tremendous coach. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. A great friend — was very, very helpful to me, certainly, as a young coach, so I owe him a lot. I’ve got a lot of gratitude.”

Riley’s then-girlfriend and now wife, Caitlin, was a nanny for Holgorsen’s children during much of their time in Lubbock.

His daughters, McClayne and Karlyn, were flower girls in Riley’s wedding and his son Logan rang the bell before Caitlin walked down the aisle.

“I love the kid,” Holgorsen said of Riley before the season. “We’re real tight. It’s been fun to watch him.”

Sooners O-line named Joe Moore semifinalist

In September, Oklahoma right tackle Bobby Evans said one of the goals of the offensive line was to win the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation’s best offensive line.

This week, the Sooners moved a step closer to that when they were named a semifinalist for the award.

Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Notre Dame, Stanford and Wisconsin are the other semifinalists.

The list will be trimmed next week when finalists are named Tuesday.

The winner will be announced during an on-campus visit at a tobe-determined date in December.

The award is in its third season. Iowa won it last season, with Alabama winning the inaugural award.

Beal looking forward to playing ex-teammates

Oklahoma linebacker Emmanuel Beal has had Saturday’s game against West Virginia circled on his calendar for awhile.

The game is one for bragging rights for Beal, who played in junior college with four Mountaineers.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it,” Beal said. “They already know.”

Beal played at Lackawanna College with offensive lineman Isaiah Hardy, tight end Trevon Wesco, and brothers Ka’Raun White, a wide receiver, and safety Kyzir White.

Ka’Raun White figures to be the most likely for Beal to meet on the field. White has 970 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns so far.

In last season’s 56-28 win over West Virginia, Beal had a team-high eight tackles including a solo stop of Ka’Raun White.

Trimble on Smallwood’s mind

On his right wrist, Oklahoma receiver Jordan Smallwood wears a blue bracelet to honor his high school coach, Jenks’ Allan Trimble.

Trimble is battling ALS and after his team’s loss to Owasso delivered an emotional speech to his team in what could be his final game.

Trimble also recently spoke with the Sooners, addressing the team which includes three former Trojans before they played Texas Tech.

“It was very touching,” Smallwood said of Trimble’s speech. “It’s just crazy to see the things that he’s going through right now and I got to hear that speech (after the playoff loss) as well. I kind of got teary-eyed because I know nobody wants to go out like but, but it was more than just a game for him.”

The way Trimble has handled his diagnosis and the struggles that have come with it have inspired Smallwood.

“He still has a smile on his face and that’s what keeps everybody going,” Smallwood said.

“I know if he would’ve had some type of disappointment in his eyes or anything, then everybody would feel sorry and wouldn’t know what to do, but the fact that he has a smile on his face, it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got to keep going. We’ve all got to be strong. We can’t be selfish.’”

Safety Steven Parker and defensive lineman Marquise Overton are also Jenks alums.

“He was probably the guy on the Texas Tech staff all those years, along with Mike (Leach) that I was closest with. He’s a tremendous coach. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. A great friend — was very, very helpful to me, certainly, as a young coach, so I owe him a lot. I’ve got a lot of gratitude.”

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, on West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen