Dein erstes Forum » . She had to hit that at trials to secure her spo

A year ago, under new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, Oklahomas schedule allowed them to ease into things especially on that side of the ball.The Sooners started the season with Akron before moving on to a much more difficult task: going to Tennessee in the second week.This season, there wont be a chance to steadily ramp things up as No. 3 Oklahoma starts off with No. 15 Houston on Saturday at NRG Stadium before playing No. 6 Ohio State at home two weeks later.If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, Sooners cornerback Dakota Austin said. If you can pop it off and just get it out of the way, you know what youll bring to it.Its a great opportunity to show what youre worth early in the season. Once we get in conference play, we can capitalize on that.Houston, one of the top candidates outside the Power 5 to crash the playoff party after a 13-1 season capped with a New Years Eve destruction of Florida State, no longer looks at itself as the underdog. The Cougars view the opener as a must-win to give the January dream any prayer of coming true.Weve raised the bar so high and our internal expectations of the culture around here ... Whats the saying? Weve created a monster, Herman said. And youve got to feed the monster.Oklahoma has aspirations of returning to the College Football Playoff, where they were beaten in the semifinals by Clemson to end last season. That 37-17 loss in the Orange Bowl -- the Sooners second consecutive bowl loss to the Tigers -- has been a focus for Oklahoma throughout the offseason.Losing to the same team twice, two years in a row, theres definitely a chip on our shoulder, Austin said. We know how far we can go. We know how close we have gotten by not even playing our best. Were really focused on that this offseason and I feel like well have a way better team this year.In order for that to be a possibility, Oklahoma needs a strong start.Rileys task figures to be easier, having figured out how to utilize running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon into his wide-open offense and with quarterback Baker Mayfield and his two tackles on the offensive line returning. Perine, a junior, needs just 1,057 yards to become Oklahomas all-time leading rusher, passing Billy Sims.But Riley is guarding against complacency.You cant feel comfortable here, Riley said. If I feel comfortable, Id be selling my house here in a year. You dont feel comfortable at this place. Thats how you want it though. Thats what I want. I want a place where you expect to win. Last years over. None of that matters. We have to go win games this year. We have one of the toughest schedules in the country that we have to get ready to go attack.Sooners coach Bob Stoops said that while his players might use last year as motivation, its not something he considers.I dont tie years together; I never have, Stoops said. If they were living off the past they sure got woke up in the Orange Bowl. That was all over on that night. Point being: years, in my mind, dont tie together. You have new people, new guys in new positions, different schedule. Its a whole new thing.Oklahoma leads the series with Houston 2-0, winning the last meeting 63-13 in Norman in 2004. The other meeting came in the 1981 Sun Bowl which the Sooners won 40-14. J. C. Ramirez Angels Jersey .Y. -- Leading 3-0 with only 11:25 left, the Colorado Avalanche committed a seemingly meaningless penalty to give the New York Islanders a power play. 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EUGENE, Ore. -- Calling Inika McPherson the most unlikely of Olympians wouldnt be much of a stretch.Shes 5-foot-4 and competes in the high jump -- a discipline usually dominated by taller women.McPherson is also only a few months removed from a 21-month suspension after testing positive for cocaine.And yet, the 29-year-old will be on the U.S. team in Rio de Janeiro -- and sure to stand out, thanks to her blue-striped hair, a pair of red lips tattooed on the side of her face and a made-for-the-movies story that included washing dishes to make ends meet while she was waiting for the drug ban to elapse.I think everyone should march to their own beat, just really live life. But I came to the point where I was harming myself and my dreams, said McPherson, who finished third at track and field trials by leaping 6-4 -- or one foot higher than she stands.That positive test was jarring -- to her and her family. Her life at that point was moving too fast, she explained.McPherson tested positive after an in-competition sample she provided on June 29, 2014, at the USA championships in Sacramento, California. Her suspension was announced that December, with the ban made retroactive to July 27, 2014. It gave her a chance to return in time for trials.It was a surprise to me. I was like, `What is going on? No way this can be happening, said McPherson, who lives and trains in Houston. It was something that happened that I really learned from. Dont ever put yourself in that position or in that environment.The toughest part was having a conversation with her mom -- that she didnt have a drug problem, that she was just as perplexed.My mom was concerned at the beginning, `Whats going on in your life that you would test for that? McPherson explained. But we sat down and talked.Not to put it on the people I was around, but I turned into one of those people. I was hanging out with the wrong crew, going a different route. Im thankful for that whole experience, because I can share that so others wont have to go through that.It was painful to be away from a sport she fell in love with in fourth grade, after a gym teacher set up a makeshift high jump. They would run into the gym from the doorway and bound over the bar.Shes always been good, real good. She went to the University of California, where she finished fourth at NCAA indoor championships as a senior. Everything was progressing on an upward trajectory -- made the U.S. team for 2011 worlds, U.S. indoor runner-up in 2012, ouutdoor runner-up in 13 and outdoor champion in 14.ddddddddddddThen, she tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.It was more, `whats going to happen now? she said.McPherson worked at a temp agency and frequently drew assignments at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston as a dish washer.Sometimes, people who didnt know her would ask: What do you want to do one day?Her answer never wavered, even if it drew some raised eyebrows: Make the Olympic team.I never took my eye off the focus or the dream of what I wanted to accomplish, McPherson said.It was hard for her and her coach, Patrick Pyle, to always find a training facility. So they improvised in a gym at 24-Hour Fitness, simulating the high jump by running up to the basketball rim and trying to grab it. Turns out, McPherson has such hops she can actually dunk a tennis ball.We chose to go those unorthodox routes to keep things very fresh, Pyle explained. That way you didnt have the stress and the everyday routine of being at the track.Whatever they were doing certainly worked. McPherson finished third behind 32-year-old Chaunte Lowe and 18-year-old Vashti Cunningham, the daughter of longtime NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham.McPherson had even more pressure because, being away so long, she didnt have the Olympic qualifying standard of 6-4. She had to hit that at trials to secure her spot.Not a problem.I wasnt concerned at all, because I had (reached the standard) a couple of times before I got here, McPherson said. I was going to get it.McPherson is hardly your average height for a high jumper. Consider: Lowe is 5-9 and Cunningham 6-1.I have to work a little harder than the taller jumpers, she said, laughing. Its all good.One things for sure: She stands out. She dyes her hair whatever color strikes her and went with blue for the trials because, I looked around and saw a lot of blue.She also has more than 30 tattoos, including the eye-catching lips ink. She said it represents how a mother or a grandmother will kiss you on the cheek.Soon, she wants to add another tattoo -- the Olympic rings.Her family also is scrambling to get tickets to Rio. They dont want to miss this show.My family was supportive -- thats how I really made it through these two years, McPherson said. No way I could have done this alone.Sometimes, you have to ask for help. ' ' '