10
Thursday, October 12, 1978
University Daily Kansan
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McCraney's choice spurns OU
It won't exactly be Old Home Day Saturday for Joe McCrane, who looked an Oklahoma gift horse in the mouth and turned it down.
McCraney, KU's backup noseguard, had been sought by Oklahoma and other schools last year as he finished up his final at a Little Rock. Ark. high school.
This year the Sooners are 5-0 and No.1 in the country. And they're doing it without McCrane. It's fine with him—he thought they were giving him a rush job, anyway.
"They recruited me late," he said of OU's visit in December. "I kind of thought they weren't too interested in me because they started so late.
"I always did want to go to Oklahoma. But Arkansas and Kansas were the ones recruiting me the most, and Oklahoma steened in late."
McCraney grew up in the land of Pig Sooey, several hundred miles east of Booner Sooner and a long way from Rock Chalk. The Razorbacks split their home games between Fayetteville and Little Rock, but never play OU or KU there.
A drawing card for McCraney at Arkansas was the depth at noseguard. Graduation and injuries hit Arkansas just as he did at Ohio, but he kills HU's defensive tackles this fall.
In fact, the only time Arkansas and Oklahoma have played in recent years was last year's Orange Bowl, in which the team creamed the Big Eight's creme de la creme.
INSIDE SPORTS
Leon Unruh
"I would have played at Arkansas sooner than I would have played here," he said. He was one of the few players to play in.
McCrane started last weekend against Colorado, when Algee was hurt. For the season, he has 29 tackles. Nineteen were unassisted and three were for losses.
"At Kansas you can drop back for pass coverage or you can rush you can do a whole lot of things," he said enthusiastically.
If McCranney couldn't 't' or wouldn't 'pl- t' or OUS Big Red, he wanted to lift up on the chair.
"I've been waiting to play Oklahoma for a long time, since I was real small," he said. "I had no idea what I'd be doing."
"Real small" in McCraney's book was a long time ago.
At 5-foot-10, he's no giant of a defender,
but his weight ranks right up there. He's
listed at 235 pounds—and the lion's share of
it is muscle.
Many writers and sportscasters use the adjective "fireplug" before his name. It's a nickname he doesn't mind. Besides, protesting wouldn't do that much good.
"It's just the way I'm built," he says. "I
can't do anything about it. If I get heavier than what I am now, I could harder move."
Such proportions lend themselves to a description of somebody to avoid in dark alley. But McCrane says he would never have said otherwise except the cause of justice and all that.
"I'm going to be a gentleman—try not to do rug-routh-housing," he savs.
When McCraney isn't nursing a pinched nerve in his right shoulder as he is now, he's a pretty tough guy. He isn't the strongest on the team, but he's close.
On a good day, he has bench-pressed 455 pounds. Right now he can do between 380 and 420 pounds.
Joe McCraney
stopped during the summer because of the nerve trouble. When football ends in a month and a half, he estimates that his lifelong ability will be more than 465 pounds.
All that time pumping iron gets him some rave reviews from opposing centers. After he was fired, they said, he said, they came up to him and "wanted to know how much I weighed and how much I knew
Least people think that McCarey is a bench big muscle, rest assured that he is on the roster.
Sometimes, he admits, he wishes he were back in Fayetteville, walking old Past Main instead of Strong Hall and playing in Stadium instead of Memorial Stadium.
"My mamma told me to do what I thought was best," he said. "I wanted to play in front of my friends. But wherever I go, I can find people to put up with me."
In addition to winning two state high school lifting titles, he also placed high in body-building contests. His strong points were his arms and back.
Lott, Sooner offense crippled by injuries
NORMAN, Okla. (UPI) -Sophomore replacement quarterback J.C. Watts and the Oklahoma Sooner offensive squad minus four injured starters yesterday prepared their attack against Kansas, Coach Barry Switzer said.
Watts will be making his debut as quarterback Saturday against Kansas. He replaces injured quarterback Lott, OLF and Drew Reed in improvement during yesterday's practices.
Also to miss the Big Eight Conference game will be fullback Kenny King, split end running back.
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