Oklahoma

5 Oklahoma Sooners to watch on defense vs. UTEP

Published

3 years ago

September 1, 2022

5 Oklahoma Sooners to watch on defense vs. UTEP

Oklahoma’s protection was removed from dangerous final yr. Make no mistake although, it wasn’t nice both. In accordance with Sports activities Reference, they had been sixtieth in group protection. Pair that with inconsistent offensive outputs, and it makes up a group that missed out on an opportunity to win their seventh straight Large 12 title.

Alex Grinch is now at USC making ready his new group for his or her 2022 marketing campaign. Oklahoma changed Grinch with a man whose Clemson group hadn’t completed exterior the highest 20 in group protection since 2015. Oh, and that yr? They completed No. 25 out of 128 groups.

There’s an opportunity that if Oklahoma had any of that caliber of protection, they might’ve received a nationwide title contemplating the offensive play they placed on the sector.

Brent Venables received’t be the defensive coordinator in Oklahoma, however you possibly can guess the protection that you just’ll see whereas he’s the pinnacle coach of the Oklahoma Sooners is his protection. Ted Roof will run the protection, however Venables will undoubtedly have his palms within the pot. It’s quick, violent, suffocating, and a number of, and it helped Clemson win nationwide titles in 2016 and 2018.

The Sooners are changing six defensive starters from a yr in the past. Nik Bonitto and Isaiah Thomas will probably be laborious to switch, however somebody has to. Equally, for the again finish of the protection, the place the beginning security duo of Delarrin Turner-Yell and Pat Fields is not any extra, the Sooners might want to discover some solutions.

With UTEP coming to city, the Sooners will get to showcase in full simply how laborious they’ve labored to grasp and be taught this new defensive scheme. We’ve rounded up some defensive gamers to observe when the Sooners tackle the Miners.

1
Jeffery Johnson, DT

Oklahoma’s Jeffery Johnson (77) throughout the College of Oklahoma’s annual spring soccer sport at Gaylord Household-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April 23, 2022. BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

A switch from Tulane, Jeffery Johnson is an enormous dude and completely encapsulates among the modifications Venables wished to make when he returned to Norman. Out with the slimmer 280-pound inside defensive linemen and in with the massive 300-pound monsters once more. Those that appear to be the defensive linemen within the SEC particularly.

At 6-foot-2 and north of 300 kilos, Johnson will probably be a nostril deal with on this protection. He performed towards this OU group final yr with Tulane and gave among the present OU offensive linemen issues then.

With this being his ultimate season and the chance to compete in a Energy 5 convention for a program like Oklahoma, you need to imagine Johnson will placed on a present. The Sooners will want him after dropping Perrion Winfrey to tackle blocks, personal the purpose of assault, and do what’s essential to let the athletic group of linebackers behind him stream and make performs.

2
Ethan Downs, DE

Oklahoma’s Ethan Downs (40) throughout the College of Oklahoma’s annual spring soccer sport at Gaylord Household-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April 23, 2022. Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

Ethan Downs, alongside Reggie Grimes, has the laborious activity of changing Nik Bonitto and Isaiah Thomas. They’ll get the primary alternative, and each ought to thrive.

Downs is beginning to resemble a superhero after the summer season he spent with OU’s power & conditioning boss Jerry Schmidt.

On the heels of his 25 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss as a freshman, Downs has to take a significant step ahead. His head coach referred to as him “in all probability probably the most bodily of that group.” We’ll be watching to see how he handles a beginning function and if he flashes early and infrequently Saturday.

3
Key Lawrence, FS

Oklahoma’s Key Lawrence (12) and Justin Broiles (25) deliver down West Virginia’s Sam James (13) throughout a 16-13 win towards West Virginia on Sept. 25 in Norman. Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

Key Lawrence transferred to Oklahoma from Tennessee as a part of a mass exodus from that program in 2021. He had been recruited by OU out of highschool however selected to remain residence and play for the Volunteers.

He struggled to unseat both one of many established guys at security final season, however accidents opened the door to earn extra taking part in time. Lawrence supplied some massive moments with the taking part in time he earned, just like the sack fumble on Brock Purdy that led to Jalen Redmond’s fumble return for a landing.

This yr he’s now not simply somebody studying the ropes. He’s a starter and a participant OU desperately must turn out to be an impression participant. He has all of the instruments to be an excellent security, and we’ll have eyes on him come Saturday. He’ll be paired at security with Billy Bowman and the 2 give Oklahoma some athleticism and flexibility again there that they haven’t had shortly.

4
Woodi Washington, CB

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports activities

The primary nook on this group, Woodi Washington, has the possibility to be a premier cowl man nationally.

Tyrin Smith of UTEP appears like a participant to observe and will very properly be Washington’s first actual check of the season proper out of the gate. Can Washington set the tone for a possible all-conference season?? We’ll discover out.

5
Danny Stutsman, LB

Oklahoma’s Danny Stutsman (28), Isaiah Thomas (95) and Nik Bonitto (11) encompass on Texas’ Casey Thompson (11) throughout the Pink River Showdown school soccer sport between the College of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the College of Texas (UT) Longhorns on the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. Oklahoma received 55-48. Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

Danny Stutsman simply has one thing about him. He performs like these old-school linebackers 80s and simply has a spark to his sport. He’s intense, however there at all times appears to be a smile on his face.

Brent Venables has coached some excellent linebackers in his profession, and he walked right into a linebacker room that’s crammed with uncooked expertise able to be molded.

Stutsman will play the WILL linebacker function, which ought to free him as much as run sideline-to-sideline and play in house.

He has the athleticism to play in house and canopy. At 6-foot-4 and 240 kilos, he’s received the scale to tackle blockers within the working sport and to match up with tight ends within the passing sport.

His goofy antics give him persona however come Saturday, we’re taking a look at Stutsman to create havoc with the remainder of this OU protection.

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Oklahoma

Bedlam 2.0: Gundy suggests OSU-OU spring fling

Published

11 hours ago

March 25, 2025

Press Room

Bedlam 2.0: Gundy suggests OSU-OU spring fling

Jake TrotterMar 25, 2025, 08:24 PM ET
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Mike Gundy wants to bring Bedlam back — in the spring.

The longtime Oklahoma State coach said Tuesday that he would prefer having two practices against rival Oklahoma in April instead of holding an intrasquad spring game.

The Cowboys and Sooners discontinued their Bedlam series last year after Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the SEC. Until then, the two in-state rivals had faced one another for 112 straight years.

Gundy suggested the Cowboys could go to Norman on April 12 — the same date that Oklahoma has scheduled its “Crimson Combine” to replace the Sooners’ traditional spring game. The following weekend, Oklahoma could make the trip to Stillwater, in place of Oklahoma State’s spring game.

Gundy added he would also be open to just one annual spring meeting with the Sooners, with the two programs splitting the ticket gate and putting the proceeds toward NIL.

“It’s not going to be a live game, but nobody really has live scrimmages anymore,” Gundy said. “So, you make it a full thud like we’re doing and practice against them, just like they do in the NFL.”

Gundy noted his idea stemmed from Colorado coach Deion Sanders’ push to replace spring games with practices and scrimmages against other programs.

Under current NCAA bylaws, football teams cannot play against another school in the spring, an NCAA spokesperson told ESPN.

Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas, Ohio State and USC are among the programs opting to cancel their spring games this year. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said last month that the expanded schedule with the 12-team playoff prompted him to think differently about the spring game, considering the increased wear and tear on his players.

Gundy said Sanders got him thinking in recent days of how Oklahoma State could better utilize its spring.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Gundy said. “We get tired of practicing against one other.”

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma City is one of the windiest cities in the US: See where it falls in the ranking

Published

23 hours ago

March 25, 2025

Press Room

Oklahoma City is one of the windiest cities in the US: See where it falls in the ranking

So far this spring, Oklahoma has been staying true to an iconic lyric from the official state song.

Yes, Oklahoma is the place “where the wind comes sweeping down the plain,” especially the last two weeks as high winds brought fire weather and raging wildfires to the state.

And the state’s capital, Oklahoma City, is no stranger to the wind. But how does it stack up compared to cities across the U.S.?

Here’s what to know about where OKC falls among the windiest cities in the United States.

OKC is 7th windiest city in the U.S.

According to a ranking of the 10 windiest cities in the U.S. with a population of 100,000 or more by Redfin, a real-estate brokerage company, OKC lands at number seven.

Redfin ranked the cities based on the annual average wind speed, and in Oklahoma City, that is 11.3 miles per hour.

The company also noted that the Oklahoma City metro area holds the world’s unofficial highest wind speed, with the 1999 EF-5 Bridge Creek tornado clocking 301 miles per hour. However, this is just an estimate, give or take 20 miles per hour, and is not an official record.

Officially, the record highest wind speed in Oklahoma City is 151 miles per hour in 2011, according to Redfin.

Windiest cities in the U.S.

Redfin’s rankings of the windiest cities in the U.S. with a population of 100,000 or more are:

Amarillo, Texas
Rochester, Minnesota
Lubbock, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Wichita, Kansas
Boston, Massachusetts
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Wichita Falls, Texas
Fargo, North Dakota
Abilene, Texas

The 10 least windy cities in the U.S.

Redfin’s rankings of the least windy cities in the U.S. with a population of 100,000 or more are:

Los Angeles, CA: 1.9 mph
Chattanooga, TN: 5.0 mph
Tallahassee, FL: 5.5 mph
Augusta, GA: 5.5 mph
Long Beach, CA: 5.6 mph
Montgomery, AL: 5.9 mph
Macon, GA: 5.9 mph
Gainesville, FL: 6.0 mph
Columbus, GA: 6.0 mph
Knoxville, TN: 6.0 mph

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma legislators want to require schools to show controversial ‘Baby Olivia’ video

Published

1 day ago

March 24, 2025

Press Room

Oklahoma legislators want to require schools to show controversial ‘Baby Olivia’ video

OKLAHOMA CITY — A controversial anti-abortion video could become part of the curriculum for Oklahoma students in November after legislation cleared the state House Monday. House Bill 1603 from Rep. Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City, outlines requirements and standards for a video teaching “human biology related to pregnancy” and “human development inside of a womb.” The […]

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