Tulsa will test OU coverage teams
Remember when covering kickoffs and punts was the biggest concern facing the Oklahoma football team?
Those days seem long since passed, but they were only last season. The Sooners had a terrible time figuring out how to cover kicks and punts. There were long returns. There were touchdown returns. It was a mess.
This season, it’s been difficult to know just how good OU’s coverage is. Idaho State last week offered no gauge, and BYU two weeks ago isn’t exactly a team known for its speed.
So, are the Sooners any better this year covering kicks and punts?
We’ll find out this weekend.
Tulsa return man Damaris Johnson is one of the best in college football. Never mind that he plays for Tulsa, a mid-major school. Never mind that he’s all of 5-foot-8, though some might dispute that. The dude is a burner. He makes people miss. He causes special teams’ nightmares.
Last season as a freshman, he set a Tulsa record with 1,382 kickoff return yards. He averaged 25.6 yards per return.
Get this — against UTEP last season, Johnson had 211 kickoff return yards. You read that right, friends, 211. Now, granted, OU is a lot better than UTEP, but the Sooners’ kick coverage was so bad last season that you have to wonder what kind of day Johnson will have against them.
A couple big returns could give the Golden Hurricane the boost that it needs against the favored Sooners. Will it be enough to upset the Sooners? I’m not ready to go that far, but at the very least, we’ll have a much better idea if OU’s coverage has improved this season.
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How your a sports writer never ceases to amaze me.