k. "With a big field, its going to be a tough race for everyone. Bu

NORMAN, Okla. -- When it comes to the negative, Oklahoma?coach Bob Stoops prefers to avoid singling out his players.But during his weekly Monday news conference, Stoops couldnt help but reference one player on the heels of the Sooners 33-23 Week 1 loss to the Houston Cougars.Stoops, however, was a few minutes too late. That player had already singled himself out.Thats all on me, quarterback Baker Mayfield said of the offenses second-half problems. [The receivers] got open. Thats all on me as the leader of the team and the captain. Its my job to deliver the ball. They got open for me. They did their part.Now, its my responsibility to just deliver it to them.Oklahomas offense came out humming in the opening minutes of the game, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal through its first four drives. Mayfields decisiveness was a big reason, as he quickly delivered passes to the Sooners top playmakers -- notably Joe Mixon.Just comparing the first and second half, the first half I got the ball out of my hands quick, eliminated the best part of Houstons defense, which we had game-planned, Mayfield said. Then second half, obviously things changed. I didnt get the ball out as quick as I wanted.In that second half, Oklahomas offense dissembled into Mayfield scrambling around haplessly in the backfield trying to make a big play that wasnt there. As a result, the Sooners didnt score until a meaningless touchdown in the final two minutes when the outcome had already been decided.I only have one quarterback. I dont like to throw players [under the bus] or name names, but at times, Baker held on [to the ball] and instead of taking what was open and what was there in his first read, was waiting for something different, Stoops said. Something that takes a little longer to progress, and thats not how the offense operates. We had guys in certain spot that would have been easier throws and wouldve helped us.Mayfields go-for-broke, second-half style resulted in several ugly numbers. He ended up with more rushing attempts (13) than Mixon and Samaje Perine combined (12), to go along with a negative rushing total. After completing all nine of his passing attempts in the first half, Mayfield had nine incompletions in the second. He also took five sacks that, as Stoops pointed out, were more on him than the receivers not getting open or the offensive line protecting.On a few occasions, he might have been more effective taking something sooner and that was available instead or waiting for that to come open -- Im thinking of one particular case that sticks in my mind, said Stoops, who later alluded to another play where Mayfield kept the ball instead of pitching it on an option call. If he pitches the ball, its going to get [the running back] 50 [yards] or a touchdown, then he doesnt pitch the ball.I think [Mayfield was] probably pressing. Trying to make the big play instead of the simple play and the obvious play.The Houston loss wasnt all due to Mayfields pressing. Oklahoma executed disastrously on a pair of critical plays in the second half that had nothing to do with its quarterback.After Oklahomas first drive of the third quarter stalled out, Houston returned a 53-yard field goal attempt 109 yards for a game-swinging touchdown. Later in the fourth quarter, the Sooners called a beautifully designed double pass that seemed destined to be a touchdown. Receiver Dede Westbrook, however, overthrew a wide-open Dimitri Flowers. The next play, Mayfield was sacked and stripped, and the Cougars recovered the fumble.We were in a good balance, and then the third quarter happens, and now youre behind 16, Stoops said. We fumbled two times and we had the long field goal that gets returned. Then all of a sudden youre in a hole and you lose your patience. ... it gets you out of your rhythm.The Sooners have a prime opportunity to regain their rhythm this weekend against Louisiana-Monroe before Ohio State comes to town Sept. 17. With TCU and Texas to follow, Oklahoma can get back into the playoff mix, despite opening with a loss, if it can reel off three consecutive wins against such formidable opponents.But the only way the Sooners will have any chance of accomplishing such a feat is if Stoops most important player performs much better than he did in Week 1.Ive just got to be better, Mayfield said. I know what to expect of myself, and knowing how the team reacts to my play, its even more important. Just getting the ball out and keeping everybody on a positive note and keeping the attitude good and on the bright side is important for me, and ultimately, thats getting the ball out of my hands, getting it into their hands and letting them make plays. Adidas Stan Smith Dam Rea . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said. NMD Skor Billigt . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. http://www.nmdsverige.com/falcon-adidas-skor.html .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Adidas NMD Sverige .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Adidas NMD R1 Herr Rea . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void.NEW YORK -- The best horsemen in the business like to change things up every once in a while in the Belmont Stakes. Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas ran 1988 Kentucky Derby-winning filly Winning Colors in the Belmont and she finished sixth. Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey ran one of his top fillies, My Flag, in the 1996 Belmont and she finished third. Todd Pletcher ran his filly Rags to Riches in the 2007 Belmont and she won -- and now he wants to see if he can win it again with another filly, Unlimited Budget. It doesnt hurt that he has four other entries for Saturdays final leg of the Triple Crown in Revolutionary, Palace Malice, Overanalyze and Midnight Taboo. But much of the attention is on Unlimited Budget, a big, muscular filly owned by Mike Repole, who thought she was a colt the first time he laid eyes on her in a sales ring. That Rosie Napravnik will be aboard only "makes for a better story," Repole says, adding that hes "a little more comfortable knowing Todd has done it before. "Hes run one filly in the Belmont and hes undefeated," he said. "I like that." Pletcher has said he believes Unlimited Budget is bred to handle the 1 1-2 miles of the Belmont, the longest race most horses will ever run. She is a daughter of 2007 Derby winner Street Sense, but says the bottom side of her pedigree is not as deep in stamina as Rags to Riches. Nonetheless, the filly who won her first four starts before finishing third in the Kentucky Oaks is listed as the co-fourth choice at 8-1 in the 14-horse field. Kentucky Derby winner Orb is the 3-1 favourite, with Revolutionary at 9-2 and Preakness winner Oxbow at 5-1. "I think this is one year the fillies are as good as the colts, and the numbers show it," said Repole, who also owns Overanalyze and Midnight Taboo. "Shes a big filly, and shes bigger than half the colts in the race." Running fillies against the boys can be risky. Lukas sent out Winning Colors in the Santa Anita Derby to see if she could handle colts. McGaugheys My Flag had impeccable bloodlines, by 1989 Belmont winner Easy Goer, out of the unbeaten mare Personal Ensign. "I think its a very large step for a filly who hasnt run that much and hasnt run against colts," said McGaughey, who trains Orb. "If you run a filly and you are wrong, you can be really wrrong.ddddddddddddThat would be the one thing that would worry me." Winning Colors had 10 more races after competing in all three legs of the Triple Crown, but won only twice, while My Flag came back and won the Coaching Club American Oaks after the Belmont and raced eight more times. After becoming the third filly to win the Belmont -- and first in 102 years -- Rags to Riches ran only one more time, finishing second in the Gazelle three months later. Pletcher said a stumble at the start of the Belmont is what may have compromised her career more than taking on the boys in a grueling race. "She took a pretty nasty fall down to her nose at the beginning of that race," Pletcher said. "If there was any negative effects, I think it came from that; it wasnt the mile-and-a-half distance." Napravnik, seeking to become the second woman to win a Triple Crown race (Julie Krone won the 1993 Belmont with Colonial Affair), has ridden Unlimited Budget before, winning the Rachel Alexandra Stakes at the Fair Grounds on Feb. 23. "Shes a big, strong filly, and obviously shes been training well," said Napravnik. "With a big field, its going to be a tough race for everyone. But I dont think she will be intimidated -- she looks more like a colt. Plus, she can sit close to the pace, or close into it." With rain -- heavy at times -- in the forecast for Friday into early Saturday morning, there is a chance for a wet track. That could bode well for the first three Derby finishers -- Orb, Golden Soul and Revolutionary -- who handled a sloppy track at Churchill Downs. Freedom Child flourished on a wet track at Belmont four weeks ago, winning the Peter Pan by a stunning 13 1-4 lengths. "If its wet, well certainly take it," said Freedom Childs trainer Tom Albertrani. After Thursdays races, Belmonts main dirt track was scheduled to be rolled and sealed "in anticipation of heavy rains," said Glen Kozak, the New York Racing Associations vice-president of facilities and racing surfaces. Tractors will be equipped with heavy metal rollers that are used to compress the dirt so water doesnt seep into the surface. "What we actually get in terms of rainfall will determine how we manage the track on Friday with respect to training and other preparations," Kozak said. ' ' '