Oklahoma Sooners vs. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks: 5 Players to Watch

November 17, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Trey Metoyer (17) catches a pass on the field before playing the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium . Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Corey Nelson

If Louisiana-Monroe has any weapon, it is quarterback Kolton Browning. The Sooners have proven time and time again that they have a very hard time stopping running quarterbacks. Even when the team is bad (see: Utah State in 2010), running quarterbacks are Bob Stoops’ Achilles heel. And, Kolton Browning can run.

He can throw the ball too, which makes him the kind of quarterback that the Sooners hope Trevor Knight can turn into. In his three years as starting quarterback for the Warhawks, Browning has thrown for 8,084 yards and 60 touchdowns. 2012 was his best season, with 3,049 yards and 29 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions. He also ran for 488 yards and seven touchdowns, leading the Warhawks as a rusher.

Oklahoma has to stop Browning, and that means the linebackers need to step up. Last year, Linebacker U was not what Sooners’ fans were used to, as most of them were kept out of the action for multiple defensive backs. This year, team captain Corey Nelson said that the linebackers need to step back up and take over the field again. That starts this week. If the linebackers, led by Nelson, can’t stop Browning, this could be another long season for the middlemen.