Garbage yards aside by Baylor in the fourth, not bad and nice seeing Perkins, Kelly and Brown make their imprint.
***
The first two weeks for Oklahoma’s defense were exactly what defensive coordinator Mike Stoops and the fans were hoping.
The next two weeks featured the frustrations for Sooners defensively that have been a common occurrence in Norman in recent years.
So nobody knew what to expect with a high-powered Baylor offense coming to town. Hey, it wasn’t all the gravy train, but OU’s defense took some steps forward in a 66-33 victory against the visiting Bears on Saturday afternoon.
OU (5-0, 2-0) felt like it was physically and mentally battered after the Army game, and those suspicions were confirmed a bit with usual starters Kenneth Mann and Ryan Jones both out Saturday.
But not only did guys like Ronnie Perkins and Jon-Michael Terry pick up that slack, the Sooners got some help from returning names like Tyreece Lott and Marquise Overton.
“You just keep playing guys,” Stoops said. “They all practiced, the guys that are there. They know what the game plan is. I think it’s good we get to play a lot of guys. It keeps them engaged.”
The stats are going to say OU allowed 493 yards on a whopping 101 plays. If you break it down more, the Sooners allowed 153 of those yards in the fourth quarter where OU entered with a 49-23 advantage into the final 15 minutes.
OU had six sacks with Ronnie Perkins and Caleb Kelly earning two apiece and Kenneth Murray and Mark Jackson adding the others.
“I’m excited about how we played in the first half, and I’m excited about how we continue to harass the quarterback,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “We’ve done that the majority of the year, and we’ve done it with more than one guy. That’s big for us. We had a lot of sacks and TFLs, but we probably should have had double that.”
And yes, you read that right. Kelly was back in the lineup after sitting out the previous two games as OU has been attempting to use the four-game redshirt rule with Kelly.
Inserted into the game, and Kelly played like someone who not only was fresh but someone who wasn’t dejected about his current standing on the team.
“It felt like I was a freshman again,” Kelly said. “The first play I get out there and miss a sack. What am I doing?
“My tunnel vision wasn’t there. I was hearing the crowd and everything and things I don’t usually here. After the first couple plays, I settled down and started playing again.”
Kelly finished with five tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble, including a highlight-worthy sack on fourth down of Baylor’s Charlie Brewer.
Does that mean the redshirt experiment is finished with Kelly? It’s a week-by-week thing, said Riley.
“I don’t know yet,” Riley said. “No clarification. Obviously, we played him again today. Those will be discussions that we have weekly.”
Perkins gave a jolt to the defensive line. Kelly added that spark to the linebackers, and it was sophomore Tre Brown who delivered in the secondary.
Although he might lament the missed pick-six that came his way, Brown had a banner performance after missing the Army game.
“Tre got his hands on some balls, some deep balls, and that’s what he can do,” Stoops said. “He shows up in games and plays well and makes plays. So we have to continue to get him snaps.
“I believe as good as he is, I believe he can be a really great player. He needs to continue to really work at the game, study it, understand it and not just rely—he’s got great talent and great speed, recovery speed that a lot of guys don’t have—so I think he has a pretty limitless upside.”
It wasn’t just the six tackles and four pass breakups, it was a different attitude, a confident attitude. It didn’t matter the size of Baylor’s receivers, Brown and the secondary were up to the challenge.
The health of Mann and Jones will continue to be an issue heading into the Texas game, but the Sooners are finding out they might have some playmakers.
Riley stressed trusting guys to play more, and he showed what can happen when Stoops, Riley and the rest of the staff do just that.
***
The first two weeks for Oklahoma’s defense were exactly what defensive coordinator Mike Stoops and the fans were hoping.
The next two weeks featured the frustrations for Sooners defensively that have been a common occurrence in Norman in recent years.
So nobody knew what to expect with a high-powered Baylor offense coming to town. Hey, it wasn’t all the gravy train, but OU’s defense took some steps forward in a 66-33 victory against the visiting Bears on Saturday afternoon.
OU (5-0, 2-0) felt like it was physically and mentally battered after the Army game, and those suspicions were confirmed a bit with usual starters Kenneth Mann and Ryan Jones both out Saturday.
But not only did guys like Ronnie Perkins and Jon-Michael Terry pick up that slack, the Sooners got some help from returning names like Tyreece Lott and Marquise Overton.
“You just keep playing guys,” Stoops said. “They all practiced, the guys that are there. They know what the game plan is. I think it’s good we get to play a lot of guys. It keeps them engaged.”
The stats are going to say OU allowed 493 yards on a whopping 101 plays. If you break it down more, the Sooners allowed 153 of those yards in the fourth quarter where OU entered with a 49-23 advantage into the final 15 minutes.
OU had six sacks with Ronnie Perkins and Caleb Kelly earning two apiece and Kenneth Murray and Mark Jackson adding the others.
“I’m excited about how we played in the first half, and I’m excited about how we continue to harass the quarterback,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “We’ve done that the majority of the year, and we’ve done it with more than one guy. That’s big for us. We had a lot of sacks and TFLs, but we probably should have had double that.”
And yes, you read that right. Kelly was back in the lineup after sitting out the previous two games as OU has been attempting to use the four-game redshirt rule with Kelly.
Inserted into the game, and Kelly played like someone who not only was fresh but someone who wasn’t dejected about his current standing on the team.
“It felt like I was a freshman again,” Kelly said. “The first play I get out there and miss a sack. What am I doing?
“My tunnel vision wasn’t there. I was hearing the crowd and everything and things I don’t usually here. After the first couple plays, I settled down and started playing again.”
Kelly finished with five tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble, including a highlight-worthy sack on fourth down of Baylor’s Charlie Brewer.
Does that mean the redshirt experiment is finished with Kelly? It’s a week-by-week thing, said Riley.
“I don’t know yet,” Riley said. “No clarification. Obviously, we played him again today. Those will be discussions that we have weekly.”
Perkins gave a jolt to the defensive line. Kelly added that spark to the linebackers, and it was sophomore Tre Brown who delivered in the secondary.
Although he might lament the missed pick-six that came his way, Brown had a banner performance after missing the Army game.
“Tre got his hands on some balls, some deep balls, and that’s what he can do,” Stoops said. “He shows up in games and plays well and makes plays. So we have to continue to get him snaps.
“I believe as good as he is, I believe he can be a really great player. He needs to continue to really work at the game, study it, understand it and not just rely—he’s got great talent and great speed, recovery speed that a lot of guys don’t have—so I think he has a pretty limitless upside.”
It wasn’t just the six tackles and four pass breakups, it was a different attitude, a confident attitude. It didn’t matter the size of Baylor’s receivers, Brown and the secondary were up to the challenge.
The health of Mann and Jones will continue to be an issue heading into the Texas game, but the Sooners are finding out they might have some playmakers.
Riley stressed trusting guys to play more, and he showed what can happen when Stoops, Riley and the rest of the staff do just that.
