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Houston drafted Texas A&M standout Randy Bullock in the fifth round, then signed veteran Shayne Graham to challenge Bullock for the job. Kubiak is looking for a replacement for Neil Rackers, who signed with Washington in the offseason. Rackers went 32 for 38 for Houston last season.

Kubiak will get his first look at his kickers in action when Houston (No. 6 in the AP Pro32) opens the preseason at Carolina (20, AP Pro 32) on Saturday. He'll decide Thursday night how he'll split the opportunities for Bullock and Graham, and says he'll be watching kickoffs as closely as field-goal tries.

"We'll do everything we can to make it right down the middle," Kubiak said. "It's hard. You can't give them games because one may get more kicks than others, so we'll probably just rotate back and forth."

Bullock is the most accurate kicker in Texas A&M history, connecting on 63 of 80 attempts (78.8 percent) in four seasons. He set single-season school records for points (142), field goals (29) and extra-points (55) in 2011 to win the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation's top kicker.

Graham, 34, has bounced around the league as an injury replacement following seven years in Cincinnati, which included a Pro Bowl invitation in 2005. He went 12-for-12 for New England in 2010 after Stephen Gostowski went on injured reserve with a thigh injury, and kicked briefly for Miami and Baltimore last season.

He's made 214 of 249 field-goal tries in his career (86 percent), but he doesn't think his experience offers much of an advantage in the competition with Bullock.

"Nothing's ever a given, nothing is ever guaranteed," he said. "I still have to perform, it doesn't matter what I've done in my past. You still have to perform, you still have to treat every kick like it's a new kick. I've been to the Pro Bowl, he's been a Groza winner. We've both proved ourselves in the past, but that means nothing right now."

Kubiak had a tougher decision to make before the 2010 season, and opted to keep Rackers and cut Kris Brown, who was the last player from the Texans' inaugural 2002 season.

Kubiak called that a "tough, tough call," given Brown's close ties to the franchise history. There's no such dynamic here, although Bullock is a Houston native and starred at Kubiak's alma mater, Texas A&M. The Texans took the rare step of using a draft pick on kicker after Bullock "put on a show" during a pre-draft workout, according to Kubiak.

Bullock is under the impression that none of those connections count for anything.

"As far as I know, it's open," Bullock said. "It might help me a little bit, but at the same time, he (Graham) has done what he's done, he's got a long resume. It's a good opportunity for me, but at the same time, I've got to show up every day and be ready."

Graham, meanwhile, says he's had competition in training camp more often than he hasn't during his career, and he prefers it that way.

"It's a way to keep yourself sharp," he said. "A knife, if you just keep the knife out in the sun, it'll get dull. But if you put it against other metal, that sharpens it. Really, you do keep each other sharp, and that's good for both of us in the long run."

By all appearances, Bullock and Graham have been friendly from the start of camp, chatting as they wait their turns at practice and sharing information about their routines and preparation.

"We get along great," Graham said. "There are times when I give him advice on certain things, just warming up procedures, to day-to-day, keeping yourself ready. We don't give each other technical advice, because everybody is different.

"But he's a good guy and we get along great," Graham said. "We don't have any animosity toward each other. We know that our kicking is going to be our only competition, not what we say to each other."

Notes: LB Brian Cushing sat out Wednesday's practice with flu-like symptoms. ... WR Andre Johnson took about 20 repetitions Wednesday morning. Kubiak says he'll remain cautious with Johnson, who sustained a mild groin strain last week, and he'll decide Thursday whether he'll play at Carolina. ... CB Johnathan Joseph left practice early with a mild groin strain. Kubiak said the injury wasn't serious.

Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston coach Gary Kubiak found "some ugly" when he broke down a replay of the Texans' victory to open the preseason.

The Texans beat Carolina 26-13 behind a dominant defensive effort Saturday night. The Panthers mustered only 137 yards and failed to gain a first down in the second half.

Trindon Holliday returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, rookie Randy Bullock kicked a long field goal and Houston's defense made eight sacks.

But the overall performance was far from flawless — Matt Schaub threw an interception, Arian Foster fumbled, and the Texans sputtered in the red zone and were called for eight penalties.

"There was some ugly," Kubiak said Sunday. "The thing I worry about in the first game, I tell the guys all the time, 'Hey, you're going to make mistakes, let 'em go. But I want to see you play hard.' We gave great effort in the game, so I'm very pleased with that. There are a lot of things for us to move forward on."

Kubiak said nose tackle Shaun Cody may miss some time with a "disk issue" in his back. Cody received an epidural injection on Sunday, and he'll be evaluated again on Monday.

But Kubiak expects receiver Andre Johnson and linebacker Brian Cushing to play when the Texans (No. 6 in the AP Pro32) face San Francisco (No. 4) in their second preseason game on Saturday. Johnson strained his groin in the first week of training camp, and Cushing missed time last week with an illness.

Schaub and Foster only played the first quarter in Charlotte. Foster fumbled after gaining 11 yards on his only carry and Schaub was picked off on his sixth throw in his first game since fracturing his right foot last November.

Foster lost three fumbles in 2011, about the only stain on his second straight Pro Bowl season. Kubiak says Foster will get more carries against the 49ers.

"Arian knows he's got to hang onto the ball," Kubiak said. "I don't have to tell him that. I do tell him on a regular basis, but he knows that."

Inconsistent execution in the red zone, another issue last season, also emerged again.

The Texans ranked 23rd in red-zone efficiency in 2011, finishing with touchdowns on only 29 of 62 drives inside the opponents' 20-yard line (47 percent). Two Houston drives stalled inside the Carolina 5 in the first half, setting up field goals on Saturday, and the Panthers stopped another drive at the 9-yard line in the third quarter.

"I thought we had some opportunities to make some plays," Kubiak said. "The field gets smaller down there, you've got to make the little plays. It's something we've been working really hard on in practice. The key to us in the red zone is running the ball well. Overall, if we play better in the red zone, there are a lot more points."

Houston final broke through in the red zone when reserve running back Jonathan Grimes scored from the 3 in the third quarter. Grimes, a 5-foot-10, 209-pound undrafted rookie, rushed nine times for 37 yards.

The 5-5, 170-pound Holliday was another bright spot, returning six kicks (three kickoffs and three punts) for 182 total yards. Holliday spent the 2010 season on injured reserve with a left thumb injury, then played most of last season on the practice squad.

"It's a big step for him in the right direction," Kubiak said. "The biggest thing we're going to do is give him a chance to be our all-time returner."

A sixth-round draft pick out of LSU in 2010, Kubiak would like to see Holliday prove he could handle punt and kickoff returns full-time. Kubiak will keep Holliday out of the regular offense for now because he wants to watch rookies DeVier Posey and Keshawn Martin and others compete for the lower receiving spots on the depth chart.

Kubiak will also have to choose between kickers Shayne Graham and Bullock and both went 2 for 2 on field-goal tries in Carolina. Graham, a Pro Bowler in 2005, was good from 20 and 37 yards. Bullock, a rookie fifth-round draft pick, connected from 21 and 52 yards. Kubiak sent Bullock out to try the long one midway through the fourth quarter.

"I don't know that I'm kicking that field goal in a regular-season game, right there in that situation," Kubiak said. "But I wanted to give him a chance. He put it in the net from 52 or 53, so he's been very impressive. But Shayne's having a good camp, too, so it's going to be a very good competition."

Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Darren McFadden needed one series to show he's in midseason form for Oakland following a foot injury that cut his last season short.

Most of the rest of the first-team offensive players for the Raiders and Dallas Cowboys need plenty of work to get back to that level.

McFadden picked up where he left off last season by gaining 38 yards on Oakland's first three plays of the exhibition season and the Raiders went on to lose to the Dallas Cowboys 3-0 on Monday night.

"He was able to make some explosive gains," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. "That's what we anticipate out of him. He's an explosive play-maker. We have to find ways to get him the ball and give him an opportunity to be explosive for us."

McFadden, who missed the last nine games of 2011 with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, opened the game with a 4-yard run, an 18-yard reception and a 16-yard run to delight of the Raiders fans.

But Carson Palmer threw an interception to Gerald Sensabaugh on the next play for Oakland (tied for No. 23 in the AP Pro32) and both the Raiders and Cowboys (No. 15, AP Pro32) struggled to generate much of anything until the reserves took over in the second half.

"We made some mistakes and it cost us," Dallas quarterback Tony Romo said. "There will be some good stuff to evaluate and get better. We have to get better from tonight's game and we will."

Kyle Orton drove Dallas 67 yards on the opening drive of the second half to set up Dan Bailey's 33-yard field goal and that proved to be the only scoring of the night.

McFadden left after that first series and Palmer couldn't move the Raiders without him. Matt Leinart played the rest of a scoreless first half and completed six passes to undrafted free agent Rod Streater but couldn't put any points on the board.

Dez Bryant, who status was in question after leaving practice early Saturday because of hamstring tightness, came up with the only big play for Dallas' first-team offense when he made a good adjustment in the air for a 24-yard gain from Romo on the first offensive drive for the Cowboys.

That was the only first down in three series with Romo under center. Only two of Dallas' other 10 plays with Romo in the game went for more than 1 yard and both of those were on third-and-longs when the Cowboys couldn't convert.

But the Dallas defense did the job after the fast start by McFadden.

"We just had to settle down," Sensabaugh said. "Once we got settled down and everybody just kept doing their job, there weren't too many big plays coming after that. (Our) guys were able to make plays."

The play was sloppy all around as Dallas twice committed penalties on punts to prolong drives for Oakland and committed another before a botched snap on a field goal try.

The Raiders were unable to make the Cowboys pay for those mistakes as the first drive aided by two fourth-down penalties ended in a punt and usually reliable Sebastian Janikowski was wide right on a 47-yard field goal attempt after the third infraction.

Oakland had its share of mistakes as Chimdi Chekwa let a punt roll to the goal line instead of downing it at the 1 and receiver Jacoby Ford had a rough day all around.

Ford was stopped after a 4-yard return on the opening kickoff, had two passes from Palmer go through his hands, was the target on Palmer's interception and muffed a punt that rolled out of bounds to miss a chance at a return.

Even the replacement officials had their own problems as they spotted one ball outside the hash marks only to have Romo correct them.

The game also marked the first real action as a pro for Terrelle Pryor, the former Ohio State star quarterback who had no official plays as a rookie with Oakland. Pryor missed last preseason because he entered the league late through the supplemental draft and committed a false start penalty before his only play in the regular season.

Pryor completed 8 of 15 passes for 50 yards, was sacked twice and was quick to leave the pocket to scramble, running six times for 21 yards. He put Oakland in position to score but Eddy Carmona missed a 36-yard field goal wide right with 6:44 remaining. Pryor then threw an interception on fourth-and-26 in the final minute to end the game.

"I thought I played bad," Pryor said. "I just could've played a lot better and I will play better. I just played bad today."

NOTES: Cowboys rookie LB Kyle Wilber broke his left thumb. ... Raiders C Stefen Wisniewski left in the first quarter with a calf injury. ... Former Raiders coach Jon Gruden greeted fans in the Black Hole before announcing the game for ESPN. ... New Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie lit the torch to honor late owner Al Davis. ... There was a moment of silence before the game for former Raiders DL Ben Davidson, who died last month at age 72.

Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

HOUSTON (AP) — Trindon Holliday thought about trying out for the U.S. Olympic track team this summer. He quickly dismissed that notion because the London games overlapped with the start of Houston Texans training camp and Holliday would much rather make this team.

The former LSU track star ran back a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in the preseason opener against Carolina on Saturday, and he wants to be Houston's go-to guy on punt and kickoff returns. A sixth-round draft pick in 2010, Holliday sat out his first season with a left thumb injury, missed the entire 2011 preseason with a hamstring injury and spent most of the last regular season on the practice squad.

"My mental approach has always been to stay positive," Holliday said. "The first two years, I had injuries, but I can't help that. Injuries happen. I just told myself, 'Just stay positive, come out and work hard and things will work out for you.'"

The Texans (No. 6 in the AP Pro32) play San Francisco (No. 4) on Saturday night at Reliant Stadium.

Holliday wants to show coaches what he can do as a receiver, as well. He still hasn't played in a regular-season game.

Coach Gary Kubiak has other receivers to evaluate in the preseason and he wants Holliday to keep his focus on the kick returns. Special teams coach Joe Marciano says Holliday just needs to show he can be reliable.

"Up until this week, it almost seems like he misjudges or drops a punt a day," Marciano said. "He can hit home runs, but he's got to be able to catch the ball. He's got to make good decisions, and he's got to be a consistent decision-maker on punt returns."

Marciano said Holliday executed the long kickoff return against the Panthers with sheer speed, and was equally impressive when he broke tackles on a 36-yard kickoff return in the second quarter. Marciano said Holliday had room to run on a punt return in Carolina, but waved for a fair catch, a mistake Marciano said comes from his lack of playing time.

"He had one guy to beat," Marciano said. "He said, 'I saw that guy coming.' I said, 'Dude, he was 10 yards away, running full-speed. All you had to do was move.' That's the inexperience."

But overall, Holliday came out of the opener with renewed confidence, and he heard compliments from his teammates.

"Guys came up to me and told me that the one thing that our team was missing was special teams," he said, "and I just wanted to come out and show those guys that I can be counted on to make plays for this team."

All that's left now is winning over his coaches, who say they still have to see more from him this preseason.

"We've still got three games left," Marciano said. "Let's not anoint him yet. He's basically a rookie. The jury's still out."

At 5-foot-5, Holliday has been proving naysayers wrong since he began playing football in the seventh grade. His mother was afraid he would get hurt because he was so small, but Holliday raised his value by developing world-class speed.

When he first worked out for LSU coaches, they were amazed to the point of disbelief.

"I went out there to run the 40 for them in summer camp, and they didn't believe it," he said. "So they had me run it again."

At times, he thought track might be the career path to follow after college. In 2008, his junior year, he advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic trials for the 100-meter dash. He was the 2009 NCAA champion in the event, and earned the label as the fastest man in college football.

He finished his college career with 3,297 all-purpose yards, 10th in LSU history, and returned four kicks (two punts and two kickoffs) for touchdowns. He impressed scouts at the 2010 combine by running a 40-yard dash in 4.34 seconds.

The next step is showing he belongs in the NFL.

"I've heard all my life — that I've been too small to do this, too small to do that," he said. "I just take all that as motivation and show that I can do it. It's really nothing to overcome. If I stay positive about everything and be smart about my approach, everything will be all right."

Notes: LB Brian Cushing practiced on Tuesday after a bout with a virus last week. NT Shaun Cody watched from the sideline, with a portable device delivering electric stimulation to his injured back. Earl Mitchell will likely take Cody's reps in Saturday's game. Mitchell had 27 tackles, including a sack, for the Texans last season.

OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Jason Witten is going to have to get used to not doing much of anything if he wants to play in the season opener next month.

Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday that his Pro Bowl tight end sustained a "slightly lacerated" spleen in the preseason opener Monday night against Oakland. The best way for Witten to heal is to remain as inactive as possible.

"It's a very serious injury and we're really taking this thing day by day," Garrett said. "He has to be very still and idle for the next week to 10 days, so you won't see him out here on the practice field. He won't play in the game this week or next week. We've just got to make sure he heals as well as possible, as quickly as possible."

Witten is expected to miss the rest of the preseason, starting with Saturday night's game at San Diego. The Cowboys (No. 15 in the AP Pro32) open the season in three weeks, Sept. 5, at the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

The coach said doctors will reassess Witten next week "after we've had a few days of him not doing anything." Surgery would be an option if the spleen isn't healing properly by then.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after practice Wednesday that he hasn't even looked at whether Witten would be ready for the opener against the Giants.

"We basically were more interested in (the) rest of this week and getting that healed back up," Jones said. "It's diagnosed real good, with the cut on his spleen. He can't do anything or move around too much. And then it heals up like any cut, hopefully he will be back."

Witten apparently got hurt after he caught a pass from a scrambling Tony Romo and was immediately hit from the side by Oakland linebacker Rolando McClain. The play resulted in a 2-yard loss.

Witten has missed only one game in his nine NFL seasons. That was as a rookie in 2003 when he had a broken jaw.

"Asking Wit to be still and idle is a hard thing, that's the biggest challenge right now. But he has to do that, he just has to let time heal it," Garrett said. "Jason has gotten off to a tremendous, tremendous start to training camp and laid a great foundation for himself. ... He's looked as good as I've seen him look since I've been around him."

Witten is a seven-time Pro Bowl player who is one of Romo's best friends and one of the quarterback's favorite targets. The tight end has 696 career receptions, second in team history behind only Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin at 750.

Because Witten has started every game the past five seasons, and all 77 games Romo has started since becoming their No. 1 quarterback in 2006, the Cowboys aren't concerned about him missing some time in training camp.

"I don't think this, at the end of the day, him being away from our football team and off the practice field, is going to be that detrimental to him. In fact, I think it's going to allow him to get his legs back a little bit, and be fresh and ready to go," Garrett said. "We're going to spin this thing positively and say hey this rest will help him."

The Cowboys signed free-agent tight end Harry Flaherty, the nephew of the head coach and tight ends coach John Garrett. He signed with New Orleans as an undrafted rookie out of Princeton last season but was cut early in camp. To make room on the roster for Flaherty, the Cowboys waived injured guard Bill Nagy.

John Phillips, a fourth-year player, will likely fill in as a starter for Witten. Rookie tight end James Hanna will also get more work.

Phillips missed the game against the Raiders because of a sprained ankle but was back at practice Wednesday. He said the swelling was gone and that his ankle was good, plus talked about the difficulty of being without Witten.

"Can't replace a guy like that. I am sure he's going to do the things needed to get back. I am sure he will be ready to go when the season rolls around," Phillips said. "He's a leader of this team, a leader of this offense. Not trying to replace him. He will be able to lead from the sidelines. Help us out in film room."

Notes: Garrett said starting center Phil Costa, who missed the Oakland game with lower back stiffness, likely would not practice Wednesday or Thursday. Because Friday is only a walk-through, Costa's availability for Saturday's game at San Diego is questionable. ... The Cowboys are winding down their camp in Oxnard. After a walkthrough Friday morning, they break camp and head to San Diego. ... Rookie WR Danny Coale missed practice again Wednesday with a sore left quadriceps.

Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

HOUSTON (AP) — A person with direct knowledge of the deal says the Houston Texans have agreed to a new contract with left tackle Duane Brown.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because the deal had not been announced.

The 6-foot-4, 320-pound Brown has started all but four games since the Texans drafted him with the 26th overall pick in 2008. Brown earned Associated Press All-Pro second team honors in 2011 after helping the Texans set a franchise record for yards rushing (2,448).

The Houston Chronicle and KRIV-TV first reported Brown's deal. Brown's agent, Andy Ross, did not immediately return a phone message.

The Texans (No. 6 in the AP Pro32) play San Francisco (No. 4) in their second preseason game on Saturday at Reliant Stadium. Quarterback Matt Schaub and outside linebacker Connor Barwin also remain unsigned beyond this season.

Houston will break in new, full-time starters on the right side of the line, but Brown has proven to be a durable anchor on the left side, starting all 16 regular-season games in three of his first four seasons. Schaub called Brown the best left tackle in the league before training camp began.

Brown was suspended four games in 2010 for a positive test for a supplement on the league's list of banned substances. He acknowledged then that he made a "naive" mistake and was scared straight by "the longest four weeks of my life."

Offensive line coach John Benton says Brown has shown a new level of maturity and leadership since returning from the suspension.

Brown seems to have luck on his side, too, lately. Early in camp, Brown got tangled in a pile and came out limping. An MRI exam showed only a bone bruise in his lower left leg, and Brown was back at practice the following week.

Brown married radio host and MTV personality Devon "Devi Dev" Anjelica in Southern California in July and the two went on a weeklong honeymoon in Thailand. His wife acknowledged him on Twitter soon after news of his contract leaked out.

"Congrats to the man I love (at)DuaneBrown76 on a well deserved new contract," she wrote. "(asterisk)Houston Texas, home of the Texans.(asterisk)"

Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys are finally home, and out of training camp mode.

Even with two preseason games left in five days at Cowboys Stadium, where the team had a two-hour workout without pads Thursday, coach Jason Garrett said the team is making the transition to the regular season.

"We're a different team now than we were 3½ weeks ago when we started out there in Oxnard (Calif.)," Garrett said. "The training camp is behind us now. ... (Players) have to kind of shift gears, get back in the mode of being back in Dallas and get the right mindset to prepare themselves the right way."

The Cowboys (No. 15 in the AP Pro32) spent all that time in California for training camp, two preseason games and two days of practices with the San Diego Chargers. There is now less than two weeks before their Sept. 5 regular season opener at the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

"We've just got to keep the momentum going," linebacker Sean Lee said.

Quarterback Tony Romo and the rest of the healthy starters are expected to get their most extensive playing time of the preseason in Saturday night's game against St. Louis.

The preseason finale is against Miami on Wednesday night, a week before the season opener.

Among the starters who didn't practice Thursday and won't play Saturday are the top three pass-catchers, Pro Bowl receiver Miles Austin (hamstring), Dez Bryant (patellar tendinitis in his right knee) and seven-time Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten (lacerated spleen).

Garrett said the team is remaining extra cautious with Austin, who missed six games last season because of problems with both hamstrings. Witten is making good progress from the spleen injury he sustained on a hard hit in the preseason opener Aug. 13.

"The most recent update on Witten is everything is going fairly well with him. Obviously it's a very serious injury," Garrett said. "The doctors have seen all of his tests, his blood work all throughout the process and he's scheduled to see another doctor on Tuesday, and hopefully we can get an OK from that. But this is all normal within the process of what we thought right from the outset. ... Everything has come back positive for him and we're hopeful that he can return sooner rather than later."

Austin, Bryant and Witten stood on the sideline for Thursday's session, which was open to the public.

Witten said he is feeling "a lot better" but that there is still a lot of uncertainty as he heals.

"We'll find out soon enough," Witten said while walking off the field. "I'm sure we'll evaluate next week and see where we're at and go from there."

When Austin started dealing again with hamstring problems a week into camp, the Cowboys said they planned to be careful with their top receiver. Garrett said there has been no setback, and that the focus for the Cowboys is to make sure not to bring him back too early with an opportunity to hurt his hamstring again.

"I think everything has been really positive with him since he had the injury. I think he's gotten better and better," Garrett said. "We're trying to, as a staff and as a medical staff, do the right things by him to make sure that these things go away a little bit. He's worked very hard, and in some ways how hard he works might contribute to this."

Cornerback Mike Jenkins still has to have another visit with Dr. James Andrews before he can get clearance to practice and possibly be ready for the season opener. Jenkins has been recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and last saw Andrews 2½ weeks ago.

"He's improving," Garrett said. "Strength in his shoulder is getting better, the range of motion is getting better, his conditioning is getting better."

Notes: There was an announced crowd of 10,121. There were also 54 former Cowboys players, including Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, who won two Super Bowl titles. ... LB Isaiah Greenhouse, who broke his thumb two weeks ago, was released. The Cowboys have 87 players on their roster, 12 above the limit for the first roster cuts Monday. ... Texas Lottery officials said more than $150 million has been spent on a Cowboys-related game since a partnership that began four years ago. ...

Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have released receiver Raymond Radway and seven other players.

The team also Monday waived two injured players, receiver Donovon Kemp and linebacker Caleb McSurdy, and declared center-guard Kevin Kowalski physically unable to perform because of an ankle injury.

With the 11 moves, the Cowboys still were at 76 players on their roster. They had to make one more cut before the NFL mandated 75-man roster deadline later Monday.

The other released players were tackles Levy Adcock and Tyrone Novikoff, receiver David Little, tight end Harry Flaherty, running back Javarris Williams, cornerback C.J. Wilson and punter Delbert Alvarado.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Times are changing in the Big 12.

A new commissioner, two new schools and a batch of new starting quarterbacks bring a distinctly different flavor to the conference this season after a period of turmoil when one-third of the original members left.

Big East champion West Virginia and Mountain West champ TCU will at least partially fill the void left by Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Texas A&M scattering to other leagues.

Exactly who will take over the superstar roles filled by Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and fellow first-round NFL draft picks Justin Blackmon, Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden and Kendall Wright remains to be seen.

It all makes for an unpredictable season. But can it be a great one?

"We don't want the SEC to win another national championship," new commissioner Bob Bowlsby proclaimed Monday during a stop on Oklahoma's campus.

"We think the University of Oklahoma can compete at that level and have a chance, and we think there are several others this year that can do similar."

Defending conference champion Oklahoma State (Wes Lunt), Baylor (Nick Florence) and Kansas (Dayne Crist) will all be breaking in new quarterbacks. And although they're not new to starting college football games, West Virginia's Geno Smith and TCU's Casey Pachall will be new to the Big 12 and trying to continue their championship-winning ways.

"When you're going into a new conference, a new landscape, it's all about finding a way to win," said TCU coach Gary Patterson, who'll wait an extra week to make his Big 12 debut Sept. 8 against Grambling State.

"We've had this plan before. This is not the first time we've changed conferences."

Patterson's Horned Frogs are rejoining some former Southwest Conference foes after hopscotching to the WAC, Conference USA and Mountain West.

"You've just got to keep growing up. That's what good programs do, and that's what we intend to do here," Patterson said. "It's not going to be a sprint. It's three to five years, and then over the course of 10 years, how do we get as a program as we keep recruiting to the Big 12 to become what we need to become?"

Whoever can overcome all of the changes the best will be crowned the champion in December.

Oklahoma State is attempting to get there with Lunt, who's just out of high school, taking over for the 28-year old Weeden. Yet coach Mike Gundy says the Cowboys won't be changing their offense up — or relying heavily on the run — to ease Lunt into the college game.

"There'll be mistakes, growing pains," said Gundy, whose Cowboys open the season Saturday against Savannah State.

"We had them with Brandon Weeden here, and he had been in practice and was obviously very mature with his age. ... He'll make mistakes just like any other young player, and you go with it and you keep playing."

Kansas, which didn't win a single conference game last season, is turning to the former Notre Dame connection of Crist and coach Charlie Weis. Weis was brought in to replace Turner Gill, who was fired after two losing seasons, and said his players have been through a "pretty grueling offseason" to try and improve.

"I think they're really looking forward to showing everyone they're not as bad as they were," Weis said.

Bowlsby believes there's depth in the Big 12 from top to bottom that can help the conference build on its reputation.

"I think the thing that makes a great conference is great competition every time you take the playing surface," he said.

The league has been dumped on at times over the past two years as longtime members have headed toward the door. Bowlsby believes there is stability ahead as he tries to conclude negotiations on a television contract worth as much as $2.6 billion, along with a written agreement among the 10 schools to give their grant of rights to the conference.

The latter part of that deal would be as close as the league can come to ensuring that no more schools will leave, since they would have to forfeit millions upon millions of TV dollars to do so.

"There are no real stumbling blocks. It's a matter of just fine-tuning the wording and some things like that. I think the grant of rights will fall into place almost automatically," said University of Oklahoma President David Boren, seated next to Bowlsby.

If Bowlsby can complete that, it might finally be time for the change to slow down for a while and for the conference to get back to talking about championships instead of its possible extinction.

"What enhances athletic reputation? Winning," Bowlsby said. "And it isn't just winning conference championships. It's having our conference champion go on and win national championships. We're going to do that. We've had a rich tradition of it, and we're going to continue to do it."