John Shinn
• An uneventful and injury-filled spring kept OU’s offense grounded
By about any standard, Oklahoma just concluded one of the most dull spring practice seasons in recent memory. Without a quarterback competition to scrutinize and with many starters being held out due to nagging injuries, there just wasn’t much for fans or media to put under a microscope.
But boring doesn’t mean bad for the Sooners.
The 12 practices and three scrimmages they conducted over five weeks were productive.
“We still made good progress,” OU coach Bob Stoops said.
Offense wasn’t a major concern going into the spring. It’s set at quarterback with Sam Bradford. Last year’s offensive line returned intact, and all but one of its leading receivers and two of last season’s three leading rushers will be back.
What OU did was tinker this spring. They spent a lot of it working on a no-huddle offense it would like to unveil in the fall.
The up-tempo offense has become the rage throughout the Big 12 Conference. Texas Tech, Missouri and Oklahoma State all run it at a high level and the Sooners would like to add it to their arsenal.
The goal is to take advantage of the offensive talent OU can put on the field by being able to run more plays. The only problem is it requires making play calls at the line of scrimmage and doing just about everything at a faster pace.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson admitted nothing is set in stone.
“You still have to execute,” he said. “Our judgment will be based on can we execute cleanly and do we understand what we’re trying to do.”
At times, it really looked like OU was in the infant stages with the offensive. It only scored a handful of touchdowns in three scrimmages and seemed to violate the old tenant of sports of “play fast, but don’t play in a hurry.”
It will be up to the players to see how much they can improve and get used to scurrying to the line of scrimmage as they practice without the coaches this summer.
“There’s a lot of little things we can improve on,” Bradford said. “We’ve made some major changes in our offense, but we’ve progressed and improved a lot. This summer is going to be a big key if we want to be where we want to be when two-a-days start.”
The defense didn’t have the luxury of tinkering this spring. It had too many holes to plug. Most of the losses from last season’s Big 12 championship team were on that side of the ball.
Having to find three new starters in the secondary and two more at linebacker were big spring goals.
The linebacker spots are still questionable. Ryan Reynolds will be moving to the middle after playing outside last season. It’s a move he’s capable of making, but he was limited last year by an ankle injury.
The outside spots were questions as well.
The Sooners were hoping freshman Austin Box would seize the weakside spot, but he was lost after a week of practice with an elbow injury. He and freshman Travis Lewis will battle for the spot in the fall.
One bright spot was Keenan Clayton’s move to strong-side linebacker. The junior made the move from safety last season and seemed to take control of the position this spring. He was one of the leading tacklers in all three scrimmages.
“He has been able to come into his own at linebacker,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “He’s kind of taken hold of a position where he has to make a lot of plays.”
Clayton wasn’t the only player who showed he could make plays. Rebuilding the secondary was the biggest goal of the spring. Both cornerback spots and a safety spot were wide open after the departures of D.J. Wolfe, Marcus Walker and Reggie Smith.
In stepped Dominique Franks, Brian Jackson, Jonathan Nelson and Sam Proctor.
The spring was their coming-out party and provided a major confidence boost for the Sooners going into the fall.
“We’re trying to make a name for ourselves,” Jackson said.
They did it in the spring. Offensive big plays were minimal and the group showed a tenacity when it came to getting their hands on the football.
“There’s a lot of guys playing with a sense of desperation because they’re fighting to get on the field and prove their worth,” Venables said. “They really feel like they have a chance to compete for positions.”
That competition will continue throughout the summer and hit a fever pitch when practice begins in August. The spring was essentially a starting point of where those competitions began.
Nonetheless, the Sooners showed that they have players ready to step up in key spots next season. It may not have been as exciting as watching quarterbacks fight it out for the starting job. But stocks rose throughout March and April. Those stocks should pay off next season.
