Blitzkrieg

John Shinn

Take off the pads and remove the helmet and Auston English looks anything but menacing. Put him in his every-day attire — T-shirts, jeans or shorts — and you see a typical college student.

English likes it that way.

“I don’t think I really stand out,” he said. “I prefer to be quiet and keep to myself.”

He blends in nicely on a campus with over 25,000 students. He’s 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds and gives off the appearance of an athlete, but not like one who dominated the Big 12 Conference last season.

You see, there’s almost two versions of English. There’s the one that quietly goes from class to class every weekday with little fanfare.

There’s also the other English. The one that will be on display at 6 Saturday night at Owen Field when the fourth-ranked Sooners open the season against Tennessee-Chattanooga.

There, he looms larger than life.

Opposing teams lock on him the moment he walks out of the locker room. His teammates treat him like a star.

The day he returned to practice after missing the first two weeks due to appendix surgery, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy bordered on giddy.

“I jumped up and down because I was so excited,” McCoy said. “I was real happy to have him back.”

Who wouldn’t want to line up next to one of the best defensive players in the Big 12?

English enters his junior season after leading the league with 91⁄2 sacks, doing it despite missing three games with a broken leg. He’s shown the ability to dominate football games.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables likened the impact English has a steadying influence that 10 other guys seem to feed off.

“He has great respect from all of his peers and his teammates, and he has a motor and an attitude with him,” Venables said. “He is not a big rah-rah guy, but he plays with a lot of energy and the guys do feed off of that. They play better, and I know the linebackers play better when he is in there because he keeps guys off of them. He maintains whatever type of leverage he is supposed to maintain and allows other guys to do their jobs.”

Doing his job is about the only compliment English is interested in hearing.

The sacks, the tackles for losses, just about any play he makes is a byproduct of the job.

His athletic ability is immense, but he plays the game from his head down.

To him, football is a game of assignments.

“I think numbers get in the way of you thinking clearly,” he said. “Plays are drawn up for each person to do a job. If you do what you’re supposed to do, someone will make a play. If you think about numbers you don’t see the whole picture.”

“You can only play what’s in front of your face,” he added, harping on words defensive end coach Chris Wilson has drilled into him since his freshman season. “As soon as you look in the backfield, you’re going to get punched in the face by a tackle or cut or something. You play what’s in front of you.”

What’s in front of English is season where he can put himself in the running with some of the best defensive linemen in OU’s history.

Cedric Jones holds the all-time sack record with 311⁄2. With two seasons remaining English is on that pace.

It will take two incredible seasons to get there. It’s a record English won’t think about.

His goals are simple.

“The goal should always be to progress,” he said. “Whatever I can add to whatever I did last year would be great.”

John Shinn

366-3536

jshinn@normantranscript.com