Fiesta Bowl notebook: Opposing players recently learned they’re family

Monday’s Fiesta Bowl will be a family affair for Oklahoma’s Rufus Alexander and Boise State’s Gerald Alexander — it just took them a while to figure it out.

The two are distant relatives — their great-grandfathers were cousins, according to Gerald — and Gerald first learned about the connection last summer from his grandmother. The Alexanders have talked on the phone but have been unable to find a time to meet up.

“He text (messaged) me (one night earlier in the week), but I was already in bed,” Rufus, the Big 12 defensive player of the year, said.

With practices, press conferences and various events, it has been hard for both to find free time.

“I thought we were going to have so many events where we were going to see Oklahoma, but we haven’t had that yet,” Gerald said. “We didn’t get into the family history (during the phone call). We’ll meet up and have a long conversation.”

Rufus, a senior linebacker, leads Oklahoma with 101 tackles and three forced fumbles. Gerald, a senior safety, has 33 tackles and an interception this year for Boise State.

TEAM BUILDER

You can call Boise State’s indoor practice facility in Boise “The House that Korey Hall Built.”

Sort of.

The senior linebacker is the Western Athletic Conference defensive player of the year and three-time all-conference player.

He’s also an aspiring construction manager after switching from an engineering degree to construction management. His duties on the new practice building included reading blueprints and schedules to figure out how to construct parts of the team’s $9.5 million facility, which opened last year.

His hands-on work came through an internship with McAlvain Construction last year. His boss was Mike Wilson, a former Broncos receiver in the early 1990s.

“I don’t know if there’s a reason why I chose it,” Hall said. “I kind of liked it and can’t see myself working a desk job. I’m more an outside guy, I’d rather be out working than inside.”

“It’s cool to have a hand in building it and then going to practice in it,” he said.

He noted he had much more input in the design and construction as a construction manager than as a football player.

FULL BACKFIELD

The return of running back Adrian Peterson doesn’t necessarily spell doom for backups Allen Patrick and Chris Brown. Oklahoma went 7-0 after Peterson went out with a broken collarbone injury, as Patrick gained an average of 128 yards per game in the five games he played after Peterson went down.

(Peterson) is capable of (getting the majority of the carries), but he doesn’t have to, coach Bob Stoops said. Those other guys have shown to be capable as well. To me it’s not a big deal. Our offense isn’t going to change when he’s in there and when he isn’t.

PILING UP THE W’S

The Broncos’ 12-game winning streak is second-longest in the nation behind Ohio State (18 consecutive wins). BSU’s fifth consecutive Western Athletic title is tied for the longest string of championships with USC, but the Broncos have the most wins by a West Coast team since 2000 (75), seven more than USC.

OVERHEARD

Broncos running back Ian Johnson, comparing himself to Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson:

“Well, he’s bigger than me, and he’s stronger than me, and he’s faster than me.”