Brooks’ 3 TDs push Oklahoma past Oregon 47-32 in Alamo Bowl

Associated PressDec 30, 2021, 12:21 PM EST

Icon Sportswire / Contributor

SAN ANTONIO — Bob Stoops and Oklahoma were winners together again, just like old times.

Kennedy Brooks ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns, Caleb Williams passed for three more scores and the 14th-ranked Sooners rode a dominant first half to a 47-32 win over No. 15 Oregon in the Alamo Bowl on Wednesday night.

The victory marked a brief and happy reunion for the coach and school he led to a national championship and 10 Big 12 titles from 1999-2016. Stoops was called off a golf course to come out of retirement to coach the bowl game after the abrupt departure of Lincoln Riley for Southern California.

“I’ve been out of it, came back,” Stoops said. “It was fun. More than anything, I appreciate the young people, the guys in the program, embraced me, were all in, and worked hard.”

Stoops earned career win No. 191 and boosted his bowl record to 10-9. Getting the latest victory was maybe the easiest part in all this.

Just as important were the tasks of steadying the program overall after Riley’s bolt west turned the program upside down. And he had to build a stable bridge to the new era under incoming coach Brent Venables, his former Oklahoma assistant who has spent the past nine seasons at Clemson.

“They’re getting a guy with passion, a guy that loves the game,” Stoops said. “A winner.”

And the coach who once earned the nickname Big Game Bob also turned into Big Hug Bob when he got to embrace son and Sooners receiver Drake Stoops after a second-quarter touchdown catch. Drake walked on at Oklahoma in 2018 after Bob had retired.

Oklahoma (11-2) raced out to a 30-3 lead as Brooks and Williams sliced up the Oregon defense. Brooks had 127 yards on just 10 carries in the first half with scoring runs of 16 and 29 yards, and another 40-yard run that set up Williams’ first touchdown pass to Drake Stoops.

Williams’ 55-yard TD pass to Marvin Mims Jr. hit the receiver perfectly in stride behind two Ducks defenders who were two steps late. Brooks then punched in the final score of the half.

The Sooners were so dominant at that point they looked like some of Stoops’ old teams of bulldozing running backs, defense and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks.

But Oregon (10-4) didn’t quit and made a game of it in the second half. The Ducks scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, two coming on long throws by quarterback Anthony Brown, to get within 44-25 by the start of the fourth. Brown finished with 306 yards passing and Travis Dye rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown for Oregon.

Oregon was led by assistant coach Bryan McClendon, elevated to interim head coach for the bowl game after Mario Cristobal left for Miami. Oregon has hired Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, who will take over the Ducks after the College Football Playoff.

“It hurts,” McClendon said. “As well as we played in the second half, it’s not a consolation prize.”

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma: Riley’s sudden departure and several players bolting early for the NFL or transferring had the program’s fan base in a bit of a panic. Venables was at the game and was around the team during bowl practices. He should have a keen handle on where the Sooners are headed next season.

Venables’ biggest job is building a potential future with Williams, who hasn’t said definitively whether he plans to stay with the Sooners next year.

Williams did not settle the issue after the game. He called the last few weeks a “rollercoaster” and said he will be taking a vacation with his family.

“Oklahoma chose the right guy to come in here,” Williams said of Venables.

Oregon: The Ducks put up a fight in the second half but it was too late. Lanning, who will be a first-time head coach when he takes over after the CFP, will at least know he inherits a team that won’t quit. Lanning is leaving a national-title contender and has said Oregon should be one as well. The Ducks have played in the Pac-12 title game the last three seasons.

NO HELMET, NO SCORE

Oklahoma’s Mario Williams was all smiles as he waltzed into the end zone by himself with his helmet off and hair flying in the second quarter. The only problem was, that’s against the rules. Williams was ruled down on the Oregon 33 as soon as Ducks safety Avan Dickerson had grabbed his facemask and pulled the helmet off. The Oklahoma drive instead ended with a 40-yard field gold from Patrick Brkic for a 9-3 Sooners lead.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma opens the 2022 season under Venables against Texas-El Paso on Sept. 3.

Oregon plays its first game with Lanning as head coach Sept. 3 against Georgia.

Georgia extends contract for AD Josh Brooks, plans two new football practice fields

Associated PressMay 26, 2023, 9:14 PM EDT

Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

ATHENS, Ga. – On the heels of a second straight national football championship, Georgia has rewarded athletic director Josh Brooks a contract extension that ties him to the Bulldogs through at least 2029.

The athletic association board, wrapping up its annual spring meeting Friday at a resort on Lake Oconee, also announced plans for a new track and field facility that will free up space for two more football practice fields.

Brooks’ new contract will increase his salary to $1.025 million a year, with annual raises of $100,000.

The 42-year-old Brooks, who took over the athletic department in 2021 after Greg McGarity retired, called the Georgia job “a dream for me” and said he hopes to spend the rest of his career in Athens.

“I am extremely grateful,” Brooks said. “I got into this business 20-plus years ago as a student equipment manager. My first job at Louisiana-Monroe was making $20,000 a year in football operations.”

The Georgia board approved a fiscal 2024 budget of $175.2 million, a nearly 8% increase from the most recent budget of $162.2 million and the sign of a prosperous program that is flush with money after its success on the gridiron.

The school received approval to move forward with its preliminary plans for a new track and field facility, which will be built across the street from the complex hosting the soccer and and softball teams.

The current track stadium is located adjacent to the Butts-Mehre athletic facility, which hosts the practice fields and training facilities for the football program.

Georgia lost a chunk of its outdoor fields when it built a new indoor practice facility. After the new track and field stadium is completed, the current space will be converted to two full-length, grass football practice fields at the request of coach Kirby Smart.

“He wants to find efficient ways to practice, and there is a lot of truth to the issues we’ve had with our current practice fields,” Brooks said. “There is a lot of strain on our turf facilities staff to keep that field in great shape when half the day it is getting shade, so that has been a challenge as well. For our football program, it is better to practice on grass fields than (artificial) turf, so to be able to have two side-by-side grass fields is huge. It makes for a much more efficient practice.”

The new track and field complex, which will continue to be named Spec Towns Track, will also include an indoor facility, the first of its kind in the state of Georgia.

Iowa AD Gary Barta announces retirement after 17 years at Big Ten school

Associated PressMay 26, 2023, 9:11 PM EDT

Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa athletic director Gary Barta will retire on August 1 after 17 years at the university, the school announced Friday.

Barta, 59, is one of the longest-tenured athletic directors in a Power Five conference. He was hired by Iowa in 2006 after being the AD at Wyoming.

An interim director will be announced next week, Iowa said.

In September, Iowa hired former Ball State athletic director Beth Goetz to be deputy director of athletics and chief operating officer, putting her in position to possibly succeed Barta.

“It has been an absolute privilege and honor to serve in this role the past 17 years,” Barta said in a statement. “This decision didn’t come suddenly, nor did it come without significant thought, discussion, and prayer.”

“That said, I’m confident this is the right time for me and for my family.”

Iowa won four NCAA national team titles and 27 Big Ten team titles during Barta’s tenure. The women’s basketball team is coming off an appearance in the national championship game and the wrestling team is coming off a second-place finish at the NCAA championships.

Barta served as the chairman of the College Football Playoff committee in 2020 and 2021.

He faced heavy criticism over more than $11 million in settlements for lawsuits in recent years alleging racial and sexual discrimination within the athletic department.

Lawsuits filed by former field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum and associate athletics director Jane Meyer led to a $6.5 million payout.

Iowa had to pay $400,000 as part of a Title IX lawsuit brought by athletes after it cut four sports in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the agreement, Iowa reinstated the women’s swimming and diving program and add another women’s sport.

Iowa added women’s wrestling, the first among Power Five schools to compete this year.

A lawsuit brought by former football players alleging racial discrimination within the program was settled for $4.2 million last March, which prompted state auditor Rob Sand to call for Barta’s ouster.

“Gary Barta’s departure is a long time coming given the four different lawsuits for discrimination that cost Iowa more than $11 million,” Sand posted on Twitter.

The university did not allow taxpayer money to be used for the settlement with the former players.

Barta led Iowa through $380 million of facility upgrades, including renovation of Kinnick Stadium, the construction of a new football facility, a basketball practice facility and a training center for the wrestling teams.

Under Barta, Iowa has had just one head football coach (Kirk Ferentz), women’s basketball coach (Lisa Bluder) and wrestling coach (Tom Brands). All were in place when he arrived.

Barta has also come under scrutiny for allowing Ferentz to employee his son, Brian Ferentz, as offensive coordinator. To comply with the university’s nepotism policy, Brian Ferentz reports to Barta.