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NORMAN, Okla. -- For the past five years, Oklahoma coaches have had few worries about who would lead the Sooners offensive line. First All-American Gabe Ikard, then Ty Darlington starred at center and the two erudite linemen proved to be vital cogs on teams that won a pair of Big 12 Conference titles.Oklahoma will start this season at No. 3 in The Associated Press rankings and is considered a serious contender for a spot in the College Football Playoff for the second straight year, but one of the primary questions for the Sooners will be how quickly a young offensive line can develop and open the way for stars such as quarterback Baker Mayfield and running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon.Much will depend on junior Jonathan Alvarez, who is moving from guard to take Darlingtons place at center, and on the two other returning starters, sophomores Dru Samia and Orlando Brown. Their teammates and coaches believe they will be up to the challenge.Its been good so far, Mayfield said. Jon did a good job of watching Ty. Ty was a very smart player, always knew what he was doing, so he got to watch Ty for a couple of years. Now hes on his own, hes controlling his own path now. Hes done a good job of putting us in a good situation.It also helps to have Orlando and Dru at the tackles, to have experience, too, so we can kind of surround those younger guards with experience and try to teach them the ropes.The 6-foot-3, 308-pound Alvarez played center in high school and started at that position against Tulsa last season. He has the added benefit of being able to pick the brain of Darlington, who remains on the Oklahoma campus, about the nuances of playing center.Last year, when I was at guard, I still always heard what he was telling the centers, Alvarez said. Ty would always explain to me why he was making these calls. It helped me get my train of thought going a lot more. It helped me prepare the way I need to.As important as Alvarez will be to the Sooners fortunes, so, too, are Samia and Brown, who started as freshmen at right and left tackle. The 6-foot-8, 340-pound Brown is imposing physically, much like his father, the former NFL lineman by the same name, while the 6-foot-4 Samia has bulked up 30 pounds this season to 305 pounds, something offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh said will make a huge difference in his effectiveness.Bedenbaughs primary concern is figuring out who will play on the outside of the Sooners line and developing depth. Several candidates have emerged during preseason practices, including junior college transfer Ben Powers, redshirt freshmen Bobby Evans and Cody Ford and redshirt sophomore Alex Dalton.Junior Christian Daimler (who has yet to play in three years with the Sooners), redshirt sophomore Quinn Mittermeier and seniors Erick Wren, Sam Grant and Jamal Danley also could figure into the mix.Alvarez said the Sooners experienced linemen want to help teach the newcomers, but at some point, they have to pick it up on their own and figure it out. They cant have somewhere all the time. I cant tell them what to do. They have to figure out what to do on their own.Bedenbaugh wasnt satisfied with the lines performance in Oklahomas first preseason scrimmage, calling it very average and too inconsistent. He is aware hes under pressure to have a solid group of linemen ready for the Sooners opener against No. 15 Houston on Sept. 3. Two weeks after that, No. 6 Ohio State will visit Norman in a much-anticipated game.Ideally youd like to have a two-deep, Benenbaugh said. (But) that doesnt happen very often. What youd like to have is eight guys, a starting five and then a tackle that can play both positions and a backup center. I dont know how its going to work out. Were still young and inexperienced so well see how it shakes out. . But if we can get eight guys and some guys can roll, then well be fine.Having good line depth is critical for the fast-paced offense preferred by offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley.It gives you more confidence to do it as a coach, Riley said. It gives you the confidence if a guy gets nicked up here or there that you can keep going on with it. ... We were lucky last year. Injury-wise, we stayed pretty healthy until the last game. The depth did show up a little bit there. It was a major factor in that last game. Itll be a major factor at some point this year, too.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org Fake Air Force 1 For Sale . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. Yeezy Boost 350 v2 Replica China . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/wholesale-air-max-china/max-270-react-clearance-sale.html . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. Cheap Air Jordan 1 China .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Nike Air Max China Wholesale Paypal . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Because he had to dive in to make his ground and then wait for the third umpires decision to make sure he had completed his 100th run, these were the most subdued celebrations for a Virat Kohli Test hundred. It was fitting because Kohli had just finished one of his more subdued hundreds. There were only two cover-driven boundaries, one to get off the mark, the other after reaching his fifty. His other favourite shot, the flick, was used with a straight bat, to get singles down to long-on.Generally Kohli doesnt do subdued. He has shown he is an excellent frontrunner who can be near impossible to contain, not somebody who lets the bowler have his time and then change gears. This is not strictly a criticism; every team needs different kind of batsmen. Everybody cannot react to good bowling the same way as Cheteshwar Pujara does. A bowling side has to fear the counter-attacker too. When you know a slight error will be punished, you tend to make more errors. Kohli is that batsman who can capitalise on a good start and sometimes counterattack during testing periods.Steve Waugh once said that when Sachin Tendulkar came in to bat, the chant of Sa-chin Sa-chin and the noise every time he middled the ball could be disorienting. Waugh said Tendulkar would have run away with the advantage by the time he realised what was happening. In that aspect of his game, Kohli can be compared to Tendulkar, but Tendulkar could buckle down when required. Kohli, as was evidenced in the first innings in Kolkata, put too much of a premium on dominating the bowlers early, of not letting them bowl to a plan. Thats perhaps why this is the slowest of his 10 centuries since February 2013.Test cricket is also about adjustments, about evolving all the time. From how lovingly Kohli speaks about Test cricket, it matters too much to him to be just batting in one tone. In front of 18000-plus people in Indore, at a ground making its Test debut, Kohli premiered his patience.New Zealand are not the most penetrative attack in this condition, but they have shown they can make it difficult by following their game-plans. This pitch - with less bounce - somewhat took the bouncer out of the equation, but they bowled with discipline to reduce India to 60 for 2 when Kohli came in, and 100 for 3 with Pujaras wicket. These are situations from where India have lost quick wickets in almost all their home Tests since Kohli took over, asking the lower order to bail them out. But Kohli, in partnership with Ajinkya Rahane, made sure the bowlers could relax. This was the least difficult of the three pitchhes, but 60 for 2 and 100 for 3 can look much worse in no time.dddddddddddd. New Zealand had managed to bring the scoring rate back under three after the quick start when they first looked to attack Kohli with the short ball, just five deliveries into his innings. When the deep square leg went back and the first bouncer didnt rise too high, New Zealand went back to testing him through denial.That denial was strong, but Kohlis resolve matched it. In partnership, Jeetan Patel and Jimmy Neesham kept testing him either side of lunch. Neesham kept bowling well outside off, Patel kept changing his trajectory smartly. A flat ball didnt always mean you could go back to it, but Kohli kept getting outside the line whenever beaten in the flight. Patience half-broke when Kohli chased a wide shortish ball from Neesham with a vertical bat, but by now the catching men were sparse.Neesham had set the base up for another tandem, between Patel and Mitchell Santner. The latter bowled Pujara with one that turned from middle. The two kept asking questions. Kohlis strike rate kept dipping, but he didnt go looking to manufacture shots. In the 41st over, Santner turned one past Kohlis edge, but the batsman did not follow the ball with his hands, which is what happens when you are unsure. Kohli was back to a flatter lbw ball next ball but managed to get an inside edge. In Santners next over, Kohli saw flat trajectory, went back, ended up pushing at a full ball in front of his body, but he still didnt look edgy.Then, after waiting and waiting, on 28 off 72, Kohli finally got a short ball from Santner. There was no over-eagerness to hit it hard. He just went back, used a vertical bat and punched it past midwicket. There he had seen off a tough passage of play, and had now cashed in a loose ball he had earned. There were minor smaller tests to follow. New Zealand finally managed to get a ball changed, and they reversed it for a while, but Kohli offered them no chances. The new ball was taken as soon as it became available, but Kohli was comfortable against it.The manner in which Kohli went from 39 off 99 to 103 off 191 without playing a shot in anger would have reassured him that he doesnt always need to go out of his way to look for runs, which is what has resulted in some of his early dismissals. That if he stays there for long enough he can get those runs organically. This could be an important step in the evolution of Kohli the Test batsman. ' ' '