OKLAHOMA

OKLAHOMA

OU’s Boren has minor stroke during event

NORMAN, Okla.

University of Oklahoma President David Boren had a minor stroke before the unveiling of a statue honoring former Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops on Saturday morning and was taken away on a stretcher.

The school revealed his condition in a news release Saturday evening.

The 76-year-old Boren is a former U.S. senator and has been the university’s president since 1994. He had spoken earlier in the ceremony.

Stoops, a Youngstown native and Cardinal Mooney High School graduate, was being honored in front of a large crowd hours before Oklahoma’s spring game. Right before the uncovering of the statue, paramedics made their way to Boren and talked to him near the podium where athletic director Joe Castiglione was speaking. Castiglione told the crowd the paramedics were taking precautions and then implored the crowd to pray. Boren smiled as he was being taken away.

The school said Boren had discomfort and dizziness and he was transported to the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City, where tests determined that he had a stroke. He had dinner with his family in the evening.

“He is alert and is communicating with family and his excellent team of medical professionals at OU Medical Center,” the news release said. “President and Mrs. Boren deeply appreciate the outpouring of love and support they have received.”

PITTSBURGH

QB Pickett in control as starter for Pitt

PITTSBURGH

A year ago, Kenny Pickett found himself buried at third on the Pittsburgh depth chart during spring drills, as tends to happen to freshmen who’ve been on campus all of a few weeks.

Not that Pickett ever thought of himself as a third-stringer. That’s simply not his way.

“I acted like I was No.1 when I got here,” Pickett said with a laugh on Saturday after the Panthers completed spring practice with their annual Blue/Gold scrimmage. “No one else thought it, but I thought I was No. 1 so when it happens it’s just another day for me.”

Now the teenager who spent most of last season behind Max Browne and Ben DiNucci finds himself entrenched as the starter going forward for Pitt, as tends to happen when you engineer an upset of second-ranked Miami in your first-ever start as Pickett did during Pitt’s 2017 finale.

The 24-14 stunner in which Pickett threw for two scores and ran for another turned him into an instant celebrity of sorts and provided the Panthers with some legitimate momentum heading into an offseason that started sooner than they would have liked. Pitt finished 5-7 and did not play in a bowl game.

“I’ve gone from a guy no one knew, probably no one had any idea about to a guy that after one day kind of flipped the script on it,” Pickett said.

RUTGERS

Sitkowski shows off arm and mistakes

PISCATAWAY, N.J.

After 15 spring practices, Chris Ash is still searching for a quarterback at Rutgers and he doesn’t expect to name a starter until a couple of weeks before the season opens.

It’s no different than what he said when camp opened, even though freshman Artur Sitkowski gave the Scarlet Knights’ third-year coach a lot to think about in the annual spring game Saturday.

Sitkowski hit 11 of 24 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns to Bo Melton, including a 75-yarder on a dart of a pass that zipped roughly 40 yards in the air and found in the sophomore receiver in perfect stride. The other TDs covered 14 and 29 yards.

The New Jersey native who played his senior season at a high school in Florida also showed he was a freshman with two interceptions.

MARYLAND

Maryland QB situation remains on hold

COLLEGE PARK, Md.

Preparation for a new Maryland football season began exactly as the last one ended, with third-string quarterback Max Bortenschlager guiding the offense Saturday in the spring game.

Tyrrell Pigrome and Kasim Hill, dressed in pads and wearing yellow jerseys, stood on the sideline as Bortenschlager and freshman Tyler DeSue took turns implementing the pro-style scheme of first-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

Associated Press