Oklahoma’s regular season is over, but in some ways recent practices have looked a lot like the preseason.
The Sooners face No. 6 Oregon in the Holiday Bowl at San Diego Dec. 29. The down time is an interesting time. Finishing the fall semester has been the players’ top priority off the field.
On the practice field, it’s the time of year when veterans get to recuperate from regular-season aches and pains, and the youngsters get to show what they’ve learned through the course of the year.
Reaching bowl games is nice, but ask any coach about the benefits of qualifying for the postseason and somewhere pretty high on the list are these practices.
“We are getting a number of different personnel groups with the young guys going in and out so they can learn a little bit,” offensive coordinator Chuck Long said. “It is like training camp again. We like that because it is a training camp mode. We give all of them repetitions.”
That’s what OU has focused on since beating Oklahoma State 42-14 on Nov. 26 to end the regular season.
Since then, OU has hit the practice field a few days each week with the focus being on the future.
“It’s just experience and getting in there and getting reps,” freshman quarterback Rhett Bomar said.
For Bomar, every play he can run with OU’s young receivers pays off down the road.
“Quarterbacks always need reps,” Long said. “He is still young and needs to get all the reps that he can get. He is getting quite a few right now, just about every one of them.”
But Bomar is winding down his first season as a starter. Junior linebacker Rufus Alexander is wrapping his second and his experience level means getting rest from the wear and tear of a long regular season has taken precedent over added practice time.
That has made the last two weeks a critical time for Alexander’s backup: freshman Ryan Reynolds.
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said this is a critical time for a player like Reynolds.
“It’s extremely important that they don’t waste the reps and that they zero in on the things that will help them become the players they need to be,” he said. “They get to work at the intensity that they need to practice at and, obviously, use the technique necessary to practice at a high level and to be a great player.”
Reynolds is happy for the time. He spent the season playing special teams and that’s where most of his focus has been.
“That’s where I knew I was starting and that’s where I spent the most time in the film room,” he said.
But the last few practices have added to his film collection.
“I’ve gained a lot,” Reynolds added. “I’ve been able to take the reps and make the mistakes that I wouldn’t be able to make in the regular season. I’m getting to make more calls and see different more offensive formations.
“Then I get to watch the film and see what I did wrong as opposed to watching the older guys and what they did wrong. Experiencing it firsthand is definitely more beneficial.”
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
When the young guys get the work
Sooners preparing for Holiday Bowl … and beyond
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