Interview: RB DeMarco Murray

JH: You are an outstanding kick returner, but have they ever tried you as a punt returner?

DM: “I was back there today catching some punts, but I haven’t done it since my freshman year. I kind of didn’t want to do it because I didn’t like it, but now I am going to try to figure out how to do it.”

JH: How have you done fielding punts so far in camp?

DM “I am doing well. I have only dropped one punt so far and I am feeling better back there all the time.”

JH: Gerald McCoy said that during recruiting probably when you guys were juniors or maybe early in your senior year that you guys became friends and talked all the time. How many of these guys did you get to know during recruiting?

DM: “I met Gerald and his family on a recruiting trip to OU and after we met we continued to talk, and tried to figure out where each other was going. Once I found out that I was coming here and tried to get him to commit here too. We hung out and sat together for most of the Army All-American game and I was always talking up Oklahoma. I really don’t remember having that good of a relationship with anyone else during recruiting than Gerald.”

JH: It seems weird that the guy from Las Vegas worked to recruit the guy from Oklahoma City and not the other way around?

DM: “Yeah pretty much!”

JH: So you basically ran into Gerald on recruiting visits?

DM: “Yeah and a few others too. It seemed that every visit that I was on Myron Rolle was there too and I still talk to him on the phone today. He was kind of in the running for Oklahoma a little bit and we still talk every couple of weeks. We keep in touch and talk about the season and stuff. I also talk to Taylor Mays from USC, but other than that I pretty much talk to guys that go here.”

JH: I heard you had your best workout of the camp today (Tuesday) is that true?

DM: “Yeah I think it was. I think it was my best day at the camp so far. I got it going a little bit more and I am just feeling things out a little bit better. I am hitting the right holes and I am picking up my blocks better, and I am reading my assignments well. So I think it was definitely one of my best days.”

JH: Are you cutting it loose yet because you are a guy who just has to feel it and go?

DM: “Oh yeah I am definitely trying to cut it loose, but trying to have fun out there at the same time. I am trying to go as fast as I can to help the team get better.”

JH: You feel you are ready to do just that and cut, slide, run and jump over defenders?

DM: “Definitely, definitely yeah!”

JH: How much does it stink to be in that tent (rehab) for any length of time?

DM: “It depends you know, because if you are one of these guys who work hard they don’t try to kill you. Then of course if you are one of those guys who do not work hard they might try to kill you. I am not dead yet so I don’t mind workout in there.”

JH: How difficult of an injury was this?

DM: “I didn’t have to have surgery and I could have maybe played in the Fiesta Bowl. I didn’t have to have surgery and I could have skipped the surgery part and been back for the bowl game. However, after talking to Coach (Bob) Stoops and the family I didn’t think that was in the best interest for me or the best idea that we had. The rehab is probably the same length of that of an ACL injury, but a dislocated knee cap is not as serious as an ACL. So it is good and 100 percent now.”

JH: We talked to several defensive players and we asked them all how do you like to going up against DeMarco Murray in practice and how do you stop him and they all raved about your abilities. How does it feel to be so admired by your teammates and pears?

DM: “Yeah that makes me feel great and you have to love and respect the game. I try to gain their respect by the way I play the game. When we are doing inside drills I run hard and I have found out that we have plenty of guys who bring the wood. There are some guys, who don’t want to go up against me, but some guys do and most guys do on our defense. It is hard work out here and all of us are trying to get better and iron-sharpens- iron is what Coach Stoops always says. We are just out there having fun trying to make each other better.”

JH: There are still some people that believe that you don’t like to run inside so at this point in your career do you find that amazing that people still doubt that you are a good insider runner?

DM: “I love running inside! They are going to see that this year a little bit more, but I can’t say too much about it. Hopefully I will prove to every one that I am a good inside runner and a good outside runner.”

JH: What was your 65-yard TD run against Texas, wasn’t that an inside run?

DM: “That was inside where I hit the hole and took it outside. Once I hurdled over the defensive guy I dipped it outside a little bit, and you will see my run a little bit better inside and off tackle this year. That run against Texas is an inside run in our playbook.”

JH: Here at OU they don’t pitch the ball to you on student-body right type plays do they?

DM: “I think I only had the ball pitched to me three times last year outside. So we ill see this year.”

JH: What are your goals this year?

DM: “I just want to do better than I did last year. Anything other than that will be a failure. I guess other than that I want to get more yards and I want to help the team out in any way that I can. I didn’t work this hard through the summer to help this team regress. Anything less than I did last year will be a failure to me, so I am just going to go out there work hard and be a better ball-carrier, and get more guys involved in the game.”

JH: What we hear is that you are going to carry the ball more and be more of the main man at running back this year so are you ready for that?

DM: “I definitely look forward to that. I am going to take up that challenge the best that I can, but we still have CB (Chris Brown) and Mossis (Madu) back there. So we will see how it goes.”