Three could get call at WLB

By John Shinn

Who’s going to start at weakside linebacker against Cincinnati? Defensive coordinator Brent Venables isn’t sure.

He said Tuesday Travis Lewis, Mike Balogun and Austin Box would all get a shot to win the starting job this week.

“There’s a window of opportunity for all of them,” Venables said.

Lewis was the starter against Tennessee-Chattanooga. He made six tackles and was solid throughout the game. But he was a surprise starter.

Balogun, a junior college transfer, spent most of preseason practice at the top of the depth chart. But Box was the expected starter until he missed three weeks of practice due to a knee injury.

Box returned to practice Monday.

“He looked really good in practice yesterday. He went through the whole practice yesterday and looked good,” OU coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday. “He’ll be out there. We’ll see through the week how much but he’s going to play.”

Getting one to emerge as the starter is the biggest issue with OU’s defense. Venables said it could be Friday before he decides who he’ll send out there with the first team.

“They all have some physical gifts, but they can’t use them if they’re thinking all the time,” Venables said. “They have to be able to play at a comfortable level.”

More on Lewis

Lewis said he didn’t find out until late last week he would get the start. He didn’t really start getting a lot of work with the first team until Wednesday.

“That was the day I pretty much just worked with the ones,” Lewis said. “I kind of figured then I was a one. It was pretty gradual.”

Broyles will play

Former Norman High standout Ryan Broyles missed last week’s game due to an unspecified one-game suspension. Stoops said the redshirt freshman receiver will play against Cincinnati and will also get a shot as a punt returner.

“Some will be depending on how tired (Dominique Franks) is and if he needs a blow,” Stoop said. “You want to have a fresh guy back there. So yeah, we’ll give him some.”

More special teams

The Sooners broke in several specialist in the opener. Kicker Jimmy Stevens was 7-for-8 on extra-point attempts and place kicker Matt Moreland averaged 65.4 yards per kickoff.

“I thought overall they did a nice job,” Stoops said. “I’ve seen a lot of consistency with Jimmy through practices. I’m optimistic he’s going to be really solid for us.”

The only other miscue came when deep snapper James Winchester sailed one over punter Mike Knall’s head, resulting in a safety.

“I asked him when he came off what happened and he said, ‘I don’t know coach, it felt perfect.’ I said, ‘It sure wasn’t.’ I think you get in there and you just got to be able to — you want to be excited but you have to control it and just execute. The guy’s been fabulous for three weeks and was great the rest of the day so I’m hopeful it was just a one-time deal.”

Stoops said Derek Shaw, who held the job last season but has been nursing an injured Achilles tendon, is close to returning to the field.

“He’s running faster and stronger now and the whole thing is he’s got to be able to cover to some degree,” Stoops said. “Not that he was our leading tackler on it, but he needs to get in someone’s way.”

Tickets remain

Saturday’s Oklahoma-Cincinnati game is close to a sellout. Approximately 100 tickets are still available for purchase. The remaining tickets were returned by Cincinnati.

Tickets are $62 each and can be purchased at soonersports.com or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office locally at 325-2424 or at 800-456-GoOU.

John Shinn

366-3536

jshinn@normantranscript.com