Connect with us

Oklahoma

ASU football preps for true test in Oklahoma State QB Spencer Sanders

Published

on

ASU football preps for true test in Oklahoma State QB Spencer Sanders


TEMPE — The Arizona State Solar Devils are about to seek out out precisely what kind of soccer workforce they’ve this weekend in Stillwater, Okla.

After ASU blew the doorways off the visiting Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 40-3 final week, head coach Herm Edwards and Co. on Saturday are paying a go to to the present No. 12 Oklahoma State Cowboys, who’re projected to crack the highest 10 of the AP ballot on Tuesday.

Regardless of solely permitting 120 yards, seven first downs and three factors, Arizona State defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson stated after follow on Monday that the protection towards NAU made “a ton of errors.”

Advertisement

“We actually did and if we’re going to win this sport (at Oklahoma State), we’re going to need to appropriate a few of these,” he stated. “That’s what confirmed up (on the tape). … It was elementary issues that you just work on day-after-day after which the warmth of the second, guys defer or get a little bit pissed off — these kind of offers. General, we have been fairly good however we did make lots of errors.”

Arizona State performed a “vanilla” protection towards the Lumberjacks for a mix of causes.

First, ASU’s line of defense dominated NAU in each the run and go sport, which meant the Solar Devils didn’t have to make use of unique packages to confuse the Lumberjack offense. The opposite cause, and possibly extra importantly, Henderson didn’t wish to give Oklahoma State any seems on movie that Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy might sport plan for.

Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders had a monstrous day within the workforce’s 58-44 win over Central Michigan at Boone Pickens Stadium. The QB accounted for six of the workforce’s seven touchdowns, 4 of which got here via the air with 406 passing yards on 28 of 41 makes an attempt (68%). Sanders additionally added two scores and 57 yards on the bottom on 11 carries (5.2 per rush).

“Athlete, extends performs, I’m scared,” Henderson stated of Sanders. “Actually jogs my memory of that man from Utah (Cam Rising) — he’s a reasonably good athlete, can transfer round, extends performs, is aware of the place the ball has to go, makes all of the checks, fairly good participant actually.”

Advertisement

“They defend properly, they’ll sit in seven- or eight-man safety. In case you’re bringing guys with the talent guys that acquired on the receiving core — they acquired some athletes there too — so you must decide your poison: down and distance formations, the place the sport is headed, the way you’re enjoying. However I do suppose you must combine it as much as hold them off steadiness. You possibly can’t simply sit there and be too conservative and suppose you’re going to beat a reasonably good soccer workforce.”

Henderson stated that Oklahoma State’s up-tempo offense can be a priority.

And in an effort to gradual the Cowboys’ offense down each actually and on the scoreboard, he should get the defensive play name in rapidly whereas additionally mixing it up and conserving them off steadiness with numerous blitz strain and zone schemes. The Solar Devils DC added that regardless of not garnering any sacks towards NAU, “strain and sacks are two various things” to him.

“It’s simply the conditions — third down you’d prefer to see guys rise up the sphere and be a little bit bit extra bodily and quicker and hitting the quarterbacks,” he stated. “However when it’s first and second down, you bought to play a little bit bit extra normal protection and be sure to management the road of scrimmage.

“Now if we get in these conditions the place it’s second or third and lengthy, we are able to open up the road a little bit bit and allow them to run some video games and issues like that. I’m rather more eager about hits than sacks. … You may get three or 4 sacks a sport, however you may hit the quarterback eight, 9, 10 instances and that’s simply nearly as good typically.”

Advertisement

ASU may also be getting a lift within the secondary, as beginning cornerback Timarcus Davis will probably be returning after lacking Week 1 regardless of warming up in full pads previous to kickoff towards NAU. Sadly, although, CB Ed Woods, who made his first begin final week, was dominated out by Edwards resulting from a lower-body damage.

The Solar Devils might additionally see defensive again Jordan Clark make his 2022 debut after he additionally sat out towards the Lumberjacks with an analogous knee damage that Davis had. Nevertheless, after Clark frolicked at each security and nickel nook in preseason fall camp, Henderson stated Monday that defensive again D.J. Taylor will stay because the workforce’s nickel nook and received’t be moved round to exterior nook or security.

INJURY UPDATES

Edwards additionally stated Monday that he misspoke about OL Joey Ramos’ analysis of a high-ankle damage throughout Thursday’s postgame press convention and clarified that the offensive lineman is out for the season.

The top coach added that beginning proper sort out Des Holmes and defensive lineman Gharin Stansbury (hamstring subject), who each missed Week 1 towards NAU, are “questionable” for Saturday at Oklahoma State.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Oklahoma

Trio of Oklahoma Sooners selected to preseason All-American teams

Published

on

Trio of Oklahoma Sooners selected to preseason All-American teams


The Oklahoma Sooners will open the 2025 softball season on Feb. 6 against the CSUN Matadors in San Diego. After a historic season, Oklahoma faces a lot of turnover after losing a number of fixtures in the lineup to graduation.

The Sooners certainly aren’t lacking for talent, however, as a trio of players were named to Softball America’s preseason All-American teams on Tuesday.

Sophomore outfielder Kasidi Pickering and Utility/DP Ella Parker were named to Softball America’s first team. Newcomer Abby Dayton was named to the second team.

Parker led the Oklahoma Sooners with a .415 batting average from the utility role. She also had 13 home runs and 62 RBIs as a true freshman. Parker hit .500 over Oklahoma’s final four games to clinch their fourth-straight national title.

Advertisement

Pickering hit .389 with 12 home runs and 51 RBIs as a true freshman for the Sooners. In the Women’s College World Series final against Texas, she had home runs in both games against the Texas Longhorns to win the championship.

Abby Dayton is one of a number of impact transfers for the Oklahoma Sooners this season. She led the Pac-12 in batting average, hitting .431 and also had an on-base percentage of .510 for the Utah Utes.

The Oklahoma Sooners will have a new look, but led by this trio of stars, the defending national champions will be ready to compete in the SEC.

More: 5 Oklahoma Sooners included in Softball America’s top 100

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Oklahoma

Report Card: Oklahoma lets second-half lead slip, falls to Texas A&M

Published

on

Report Card: Oklahoma lets second-half lead slip, falls to Texas A&M


Report Card: Oklahoma lets second-half lead slip, falls to Texas A&M

With 17:00 minutes left in the second half, No. 17 Oklahoma led No. 10 Texas A&M 51-33, and with 19 seconds remaining, Zhuric Phelps hit a three-pointer to give the Aggies an 80-78 lead. That score ultimately held, handing Oklahoma a tough loss and dropping them to 13-2 (0-2) on the season, despite leading by as many as 18 points in the second half, getting 34 points from Brycen Goodine, and facing a Texas A&M team without its best player, Wade Taylor.

The first half was all about Brycen Goodine, who put together one of the most impressive halves from a Sooner in recent memory. He tallied 21 points on 6-8 shooting from deep, propelling Oklahoma to a 39-30 halftime lead. The Sooners shot the ball extremely well early, but things fell apart after the break.

Advertisement

The second half belonged to Phelps, who hit the game-winning three. Phelps, a career 26.1% three-point shooter, erupted for 28 points in the second half alone, including six three-pointers. He finished with 34 points on 11-25 shooting from the field and 6-10 from behind the arc. Despite Goodine’s stellar performance and Oklahoma’s strong start, the Sooners couldn’t withstand Texas A&M’s furious comeback.

Well, here’s the Report Card from Oklahoma’s loss despite: 1) getting 34 points from Goodine, 2) leading by 18 in the second half, and 3) facing a Texas A&M team without its leading scorer.

Offense: D-plus

Good or bad first? Let’s start with the bad.

Advertisement

In the final eight minutes of the game, Oklahoma made just two (!) field goals. If you’re looking for a “How to Blow a Lead MasterClass,” scoring only twice in crunch time is Lesson 1.

It was those last eight minutes — where the Sooners simply couldn’t get anything going — that cost them the game. That collapse makes it hard to fully appreciate their solid first half, when things were actually clicking.

Oklahoma shot an impressive 14-24 (58.3%) from deep, 25-46 (54.3%) from the field, and 14-17 (82.4%) from the free throw line. They put up 39 first-half points and were firing on all cylinders offensively. But when it mattered most — those crucial final eight minutes — they completely imploded.

Starting Five: C-minus

Let’s start with Jeremiah Fears, who logged only 21 minutes. Fears finished with 13 points, four rebounds, four turnovers, and three assists while shooting 4-8 from the field, 1-3 from behind the arc, and 4-5 from the free throw line. There were plenty of freshman moments, but it felt like his reduced minutes prevented him from finding a rhythm—something that became evident when Oklahoma turned to him as a potential hero late in the game.

Duke Miles added 8 points on 2-6 shooting from the field and 2-4 from deep, along with three rebounds, three assists, and three turnovers in just 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Kobe Elvis was a non-factor offensively, scoring 0 points in 27 minutes. He shot 0-3 from the field and 0-2 from beyond the arc but did record eight assists, most of which were to Goodine. Despite the assists, Elvis struggled with the physicality of the game and contributed little else.

Advertisement

Jalon Moore played 33 minutes and contributed 11 points on 4-6 shooting from the field and 2-3 from deep, along with four rebounds, three turnovers, and two blocks. Sam Godwin added 6 points, five rebounds, and three blocks in 26 minutes while shooting 3-5 from the field.

Overall, it was a rough night for the starting five. Fears had his freshman struggles, Elvis couldn’t handle the physicality, and while Miles and Moore were solid, neither had standout performances.

Bench: A-plus

The Sooners got an incredible 34 points out of Goodine on 10-14 shooting from the field and 9-11 from behind the arc. He also shot 5-6 from the free-throw line. Goodine was on fire from the jump, knocking down six of his three-pointers in the first half. He put together one of the best shooting performances ever seen by a Sooner, in fact, tying Mookie Blaylock and Hollis Price for the fourth-most three-pointers in a game in Oklahoma history. After a rough showing from the bench against Alabama, this performance from Goodine was exactly what the team needed.

Additionally, Mohamed Wague had a solid first half, playing 12 quality minutes before only seeing two minutes in the second half. He scored 2 points, added two rebounds, one assist, and a block. His biggest struggle was not being able to playmake off the short roll, but aside from that, his first half was encouraging.

Advertisement

Oklahoma got 34 points from Goodine, solid minutes from Wague, and good contributions from Glenn Taylor, who scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting from the field. Overall, it was a strong performance from the bench, which makes this loss even more puzzling.

Ball Security: F

Arguably the main reason Oklahoma lost this game was turnovers. A team that has been solid at taking care of the ball all season long imploded, committing 18 turnovers—twice as many as their opponent. Beating a top-10 team while turning the ball over 18 times is incredibly difficult, and it wasn’t just in the second half where turnovers haunted this team. Despite getting 21 points from Goodine, Oklahoma led by just nine at halftime.

That was, in large part, due to turnovers, as they gave the ball away eight times in the first half. The turnovers made it difficult for the Sooners to extend their lead. Pair those eight first-half turnovers with Phelps’ explosive second half performance and Oklahoma’s inability to score more than two field goals in the final eight minutes, and you have the recipe for a tough loss.

Oklahoma’s guards collapsed when Texas A&M ramped up their pressure in the second half, leading to an influx of turnovers and ultimately contributing to the defeat.

Not an OUInsider.com premium member? Sign up today to get loads of inside information on Oklahoma football, softball, basketball, and recruiting, all for just a few dollars a month. Click HERE to get started!

Advertisement

Follow us on Twitter @OUInsider and on Instagram @ouinsiderofficial!

Subscribe on YouTube by clicking here for daily video content on all things Oklahoma!



Source link

Continue Reading

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City area shelters ready to house people through freezing temperatures, snow

Published

on

Oklahoma City area shelters ready to house people through freezing temperatures, snow


play

A local winter shelter has hundreds of beds for people experiencing homelessness, but the number of people seeking overnight shelter quickly swelled as freezing temperatures descended, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Taylor Self, communications director for the Homeless Alliance said the organization’s winter shelter, which opened in 2023, offers overnight shelter from November through March 31. Self said the Homeless Alliance leaders anticipated more people would seek safety and warmth at the shelter, 1601 NW 4, as temperatures plummeted in recent days, and their expectations were borne out.

Advertisement

“The great thing about it is it’s open nightly, and it’s open seven nights a week, so no matter the temperature, we’ve got space for up to 300 adults, and we also have space for pets and personal belonging storage,” she said.

“We’ve got space for up to 300, and when it was warmer in November and December, we were still seeing about 200 roughly, each night. Once the temperatures really started to drop, we’ve been seeing over 350 folks, especially since Monday, and I expect we’ll see it again, especially with the possible snow in the forecast tomorrow.”

Leaders at several other shelters also said they were meeting the need as people began seeking respite from temperatures dipping below freezing.

Advertisement

Annie Perkins, development and marketing manager for The Salvation Army Arkansas and Oklahoma Division Central Oklahoma Area Command, said the overnight shelter at The Salvation Army Center of Hope, 1001 N Pennsylvania, offers 120 beds for men, women and families, and it consistently stays full throughout the year.

Perkins said shelter guests check in about 3 p.m. each evening and are typically required to leave about 7 a.m., but they are allowed to remain at the shelter during the day during freezing weather.

“We are incredibly blessed to be able to offer emergency shelter and know that it’s of dire importance during this time of the year, and so we’re grateful for the community support,” she said.

Advertisement

Alex McGowan Rayburn, community engagement director at Sisu Youth Services, said the organization offers five emergency weather beds at its drop-in center for young people seeking shelter when the weather dips below freezing. She said the drop-in center has been full each night this week.

A single mother with an infant and two other young children was among families welcomed to an emergency shelter set up at a downtown Oklahoma City church this week.

The Rev. Katie Churchwell, dean of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, said the church opened on Sunday as an overflow shelter for families like the mom and her young trio. The church at 127 NW 7 began offering emergency shelter during freezing temperatures two years ago and, in April, the Oklahoma City Council gave its official approval for the house of worship to serve as a temporary cold weather shelter.

Advertisement

Churchwell praised the church volunteers, particularly Stephanie Jensen, a staff member serving as shelter coordinator, who had worked to get the shelter open on Sunday and continue to help in the ensuing days.

“We’ve got our outreach center to equip our families with items that they need, like shoes and things like that, and then, of course, space to sleep, to eat,” she said.

“It’s just been beautiful to see how many people have just given themselves to care for people in these really extreme moments.”

Churchwell said she was happy to report that the single mom was at the church for only a short time before more permanent shelter was found for them at City Rescue Mission. She said there were many partnering agencies working together to meet the needs of such families, offering things like housing and education for the children.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending