Oklahoma vs. Alabama: Griffin key to OU offense

? Oklahoma tailback Quentin Griffin can be as elusive off the field as he is on.

Griffin ran for a career-high 237 yards in the second-ranked Sooners’ opening game against Tulsa last week, and as a result was among the handful of players scheduled to appear at coach Bob Stoops’ weekly news conference Tuesday.

Oklahoma running back Quentin Griffin runs through Tulsa's defense. The Sooners' co-captain gained a career-high 237 yards rushing last week.

It didn’t happen. Always shy with the media, Griffin begged off the assignment.

“He doesn’t say a lot,” teammate Wes Sims said. “It’s like coach says, actions speak louder than words, and that defines Q right there.”

Griffin isn’t unfriendly, just painfully shy in front of cameras and microphones. He spoke to the media after the Tulsa game, but not for long, and spent most of his time complimenting his teammates.

“He doesn’t speak much, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t want to come up here after the way he played last week,” quarterback Jason White said.

Griffin needed just 17 carries to gain his 237 yards. His longest run was 50 yards, and he also had runs of 49 and 44 yards and two 17-yarders.

Red-shirt freshman Kejuan Jones has shown potential, as has junior Renaldo Works. But neither has been able to dislodge the 5-foot-8 Griffin.

“Coming out of spring ball, he was head and shoulders better than everybody else in the backfield,” offensive coordinator Chuck Long said. “He’s raised the bar for the other guys. He does everything well. He blocks well. He picks up blitzes well. He knows protections. He catches the ball well. I don’t remember the last time I saw him drop a ball.”

Griffin ran for 285 yards in limited time as a freshman in 1999, then had 783 in 2000 and 804 last season. He has averaged 4.5 yards per carry during his career, and started the season with 111 catches. He goes into today’s game against Alabama having caught at least one pass in a school-record 28 straight games.

Griffin appears undersized, but weighs 190 pounds and is among the strongest and fastest backs on the team.

Long said Griffin reminds him of former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders.