Oklahoma RB Murray to miss BCS championship game

Dec 16, 2008 - 4:54 PM NORMAN, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- Sam Bradford will be without one of his most talented sidekicks when Oklahoma competes for the national title.

DeMarco Murray, the top-ranked Sooners' leader in all-purpose yardage, needs surgery on his left hamstring and will miss next month's BCS national championship game, the school announced Tuesday.

Murray suffered a partial tear of his hamstring while returning the opening kickoff of the Big 12 title game against Missouri. He initially was diagnosed with a bruise despite missing the entirety of Oklahoma's 62-21 thrashing of the Tigers two weeks ago.

However, an MRI exam conducted on December 8 revealed the additional damage to Murray's hamstring. The redshirt sophomore will have the surgery on December 22 and will need approximately five months to recover, according to Oklahoma head trainer Scott Anderson.

"Obviously we're very disappointed for DeMarco," Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said. "He has been an important part of our success this year and we will miss his contributions. DeMarco has had an incredible year."

The absence of Murray will place additional pressure on Bradford, Oklahoma's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, in the national championship game against No. 2 Florida (12-1) on January 8.

Bradford led an Oklahoma offense that scored a record 702 points this season and eclipsed the 60-point mark in a record five consecutive games.

But the Sooners (12-1) will be hard-pressed to duplicate that production without Murray, who rushed for 1,002 yards this season and finished with 2,171 all-purpose yards. He scored 18 touchdowns this year, the second-highest total on the team.

With Murray out, Oklahoma will turn to junior Chris Brown and redshirt sophomore Mossis Madu, who filled in admirably during the Big 12 title game.

Brown ran for team highs of 1,110 yards and 20 TDs this season while Madu added 463 yards and six TDs on the ground. Madu was outstanding in the Big 12 championship game, rushing for 114 yards and three scores.

"With Chris Brown and Mossis Madu, we still have two very fine backs," Stoops said. "Our team has a lot of confidence in their abilities."

Oklahoma also announced that Bradford, who has been recovering from torn ligaments in his left thumb, will have the large cast removed from his non-throwing hand Wednesday.

Bradford accepted the Heisman Trophy with the cast on his hand last Saturday night.