m in the opener.Houston, led by explosive quarterback Greg Ward, Jr., is ranked 15th and looking to make a jump on the big stage against the third-ranked

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahomas defense might need to reach midseason form in the opener.Houston, led by explosive quarterback Greg Ward, Jr., is ranked 15th and looking to make a jump on the big stage against the third-ranked Sooners on Saturday at Reliant Stadium.Ward went 13-0 as a starter last season and closed by winning most valuable player honors in a Peach Bowl victory over Florida State. A victory for Houston could push the Cougars into the Top 10 and Ward into the Heisman conversation.Ward finished last season with 1,108 yards and 21 touchdowns rushing and 2,828 yards and 17 touchdowns passing.Offensively, everything goes through Greg Ward Jr., Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said at the first of his weekly media sessions Monday. Great player who can run the football -- designed runs, a great scrambler and a good thrower as well.It will be a challenge for the Sooners to maintain the discipline needed against such a player right out of the blocks.You just have to stay strong and stay focused, keep your eyes out of the backfield, Oklahoma cornerback Dakota Austin said. The biggest thing he does is take advantage of blitzing teams or D-ends running up field. Hes just going to step up and try to get down field or get a scramble drill going.Houston, which uses a run-heavy spread similar to Ohio States, ranked 13th nationally in yards rushing per game last season.The Cougars lost top receiver Demarcus Ayers to the NFL, but they still return four of their top five pass catchers from last season. Chance Allen, who had 56 catches for 752 yards last season, is in line to do more damage this season. Steven Dunbar and Linell Bonner both are ready to step into bigger roles.Ward uses his legs to create for his receivers.Especially for the DBs, he can extend the plays, Austin said. When you get a route and initially you jump the route and kill the route, the receiver just cuts back up field and its a scramble drill and now, youre beat all of a sudden.When Ward cant find anyone, he runs as well as anyone. He joins Clemsons Deshaun Watson as the only quarterbacks to pass for more than 2,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000 last season. His 21 touchdowns rushing last season rank second nationally among returning players.The Sooners return six defensive starters from a unit that led the Big 12 in total defense (364.5 ypg), scoring defense (22.0 ppg), passing defense (202.8 ypg), pass efficiency defense (108.5) and sacks (3.08 per game). Though the Sooners lost experience with sack leader Eric Striker, tackles leader Dominique Alexander and linebacker Devante Bond, defensive end Charles Tapper and cornerback Zack Sanchez, they return an experienced secondary. Safeties Ahmad Thomas and Steven Parker and cornerback Jordan Thomas are back, and Austin has been elevated to the starting lineup.Linebacker Jordan Evans is the teams top returning tackler, and the Sooners are expecting big things from linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. Those returnees help Oklahoma enter the game with confidence.If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, Austin said. If you can pop it off and just get it out the way, you know what youll bring to it.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter (at)CliffBruntAP . Cheap Super Bowl Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. China NFL Jerseys . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. http://www.cheapjerseyschinanfl.com/ . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. China Jerseys . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. An embattled BCCI is set to convene a meeting of its legal committee next week to discuss the Supreme Courts verdict that made it binding upon the board to implement the majority of the Lodha Committees recommendations within six months. Officials of the board and state associations, which are required to carry out the recommendations concurrently with the BCCI, said the judgment was on expected lines.Nothing unexpected, nothing unusual. This was on the cards only, a BCCI official well versed in legal matters told ESPNcricinfo. He conceded the board had no wriggle room, and effectively ruled out the option of reviewing the verdict. There is nothing to debate on it. You simply have to just adopt it. Thats what Supreme Court has asked us to do.There is no scope for analysis. What are we going to gain [by reviewing the order]? The Lodha Committee has done everything, so we just have to put in place what it has laid down.The official, however, said it would be difficult for state associations to implement the recommendations within the time frame. The BCCI will do it, but state associations might take a little longer to adopt the same changes, he said.They will all have to amend their constitutions in line with the BCCIs.Meanwhile, state associations are treading cautiously, and waiting for guidance from the BCCI on their next course of action. Officials of five state associations that ESPNcricinfo spoke to confirmed they would firm up their plans after they heard from the BCCI. We are waiting for the official correspondence from the BCCI, Unmesh Khanvilkar, Mumbai Cricket Association joint-secretary said.dddddddddddd Once we get that, we will have a discussion about the verdict. We have a meeting of our managing committee on July 24, and if we get a correspondence from the BCCI by then we will discuss it there.The BCCI official said officials entrenched in state associations would be unwilling to giving up their position of influence easily. You cant be an office bearer, but there is nothing that stops you from being a committee member, he said. They will install their trusted allies in their place. The incumbent office bearer can sit in the committee and oversee everything.G Gangaraju, BCCI vice-president and Andhra Cricket Association secretary, who will have to step down by virtue of being over the stipulated age-limit of 70, had suggested former officials could still have a role to play in the functioning of state associations. We can guide the people. We may not be office bearers but we can always look into [how] things are going on, he said.It is also understood former BCCI president N Srinivasan, who has remained Tamil Nadu Cricket Association president since 2002-03, intends to continue functioning in the state body in a different role. We discussed the situation yesterday. He has to step down as president, but there can be some other position in which we can use his assistance, a TNCA insider said. So long as it is not an elected office, he can function in any manner.That is not an issue, which is why he is not particularly perturbed with the judgement. ' ' '