Oklahoma Football: Can Landry Jones Lead the Sooners to the Promised Land?

While it is common knowledge to most fans of the team in crimson and cream that their favorite program will start the season very highly ranked, maybe even a consensus No. 1, some are still not convinced that quarterback Landry Jones has the ability to take the team all the way to their eighth national championship.

Despite finishing the 2010 season with 38 TD passes against only 12 INTs, leading the team to a 12-2 record, another Big 12 championship and an elusive BCS victory, doubt still lingers for some fans about the Sooners signal caller.

While Jones has had his struggles over the past two seasons as the Sooner starter, he has also made plenty of plays that should give fans hope. Landry did lead Oklahoma to a five-game win streak in crunch time to end the year and produced big time in the process.

Jones threw for 1,881 yards, with 16 touchdowns against six interceptions, while completing 64.5 percent of his passes in those final five contests, four of which were played away from the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium in Norman.

That averages to 376 yards, with 3.2 touchdowns and 1.2 interceptions a game to close out the season. These are great numbers but not a huge jump from what he did over the course of the season.

Over the entire season he averaged 2.7 touchdowns, .85 interceptions, a completion rate of 65.6 percent and 337 yards a game.

Breaking down Jones' stats further, it is obvious that like most quarterbacks he is at his best when his line is protecting him, giving him time to go through his progressions and hit the open man.

In the eight games where his line surrendered one sack or fewer, his numbers are outstanding. In those games, Landry threw only four interceptions compared to 27 touchdowns. That is a ratio of nearly seven TD passes for every INT thrown when he gets comfortable in the pocket.

In the six games where the line protection broke down more frequently and surrendered two or more sacks, his numbers drop significantly to 11 touchdowns against eight interceptions.

While some will say that a big time quarterback will always produce even in the face of enormous pressure, even the revered Sam Bradford had trouble at times against a fierce pass rush.

As a freshman in 2007, only twice did Sam get sacked multiple times in a game. He ended up with two touchdowns and two interceptions accumulative in those games.

However, in 2008 Bradford played in four games where he was taken down in the pocket multiple times and managed to throw for 15 scores against only four picks combined despite being sacked 10 times in those contests. That is incredible production in the face of heavy adversity.

But hey, that's Sam Bradford. Very few quarterbacks can stand up to that comparison.

So what does all this mean? Obviously, Oklahoma's path the programs eighth national title depends mightily on the play of the offensive line. If the big boys up front can keep Landry's jersey clean, Jones has the ability to lead them to pay dirt a majority of the time.

With an improved offensive line opening holes for the running game and making the play action pass game more effective, look for Landry to put up numbers similar to what Jason White produced in his Heisman winning season of 2003.

That would mean Jones would throw in the neighborhood of 40-plus touchdowns and 10 or fewer interceptions. And Stoops Troops could add another BCS crystal ball to the already crowded Oklahoma trophy case.