Practice report (8-13-09)
The Sooners held their first of two open practices this fall on Thursday. Reporters didn’t have the chance to speak with coaches, however, the first hour was open for our viewing enjoyment.
Some observations:
* Place-kicker Jimmy Stevens had a terrific showing. In my opinion, he was the story of evening. I don’t believe he missed a single attempt during the open part of practice and nailed field goals from 48 and 53 yards out. The 400-500 fans who also showed up gave Stevens one of their biggest ovations. It was just a practice, but this has got to give Stevens some confidence. Walk-on Bryce Easley, who wears No. 94, didn’t have the showing that Stevens did. Tress Way was pretty solid at kicker, but nowhere near Stevens.
* While the rest of the tight ends were working with the offensive line on the sled, Brody Eldridge remained with the QBs working on his shotgun snaps. Clearly, getting him ready an an emergency center is a priority for the coaching staff. But projected starter Ben Habern took part in most of drills today and seems like he close to being back 100 percent. Habern has been held out the last week with a inflamed back. Backup guard-center Brian Lepak dressed, but didn’t participate in practice today still due to a high-ankle sprain.
* Jarvis Jones got some work at guard, while Stephen Good slid over to center during team drills with the first-team offense. Not a bad idea, while Haberns rests up.
* The first-team receivers today were Cameron Kenney, Ryan Broyles and Adron Tennell. On the first play during team, Tennell went up over corner Brian Jackson during a fly pattern and brought down the ball for a terrifc catch.
* The second-team WRs were Jaz Reynolds, Dejuan Miller and Brandon Caleb. Mossis Madu got some work with the first unit, but didn’t start. So did Caleb.
* Kenney and Reynolds both showed why Kevin Wilson raved about them earlier this week. Kenney appears to be a solid route runner with good hands and some savvy. Reynolds has great down-field speed. He outran corner Demontre Hurst down the sidelines, but dropped a pass that hit his hands.
* The second-team defense today was Frank Alexander and RJ Washington at DE; Casey Walker and Stacy McGee at DT; Austin Box, Tom Wort (middle) and Daniel Franklin at LB; Brian Jackson (he also played on the first unit) and Hurst at corner; and Emmanuel Jones and freshman Marcus Trice at safety. Javon Harris didn’t get any reps that I saw at safety.
* Not surprisingly, Sam Bradford put every pass he threw on the money.
* Cameron Kenney and Tress Way both looked strong on punts. Way had a rough spring game, but clearly has some talent. And you can see why Stoops is working Kenney out at punter. Ideally, they’d like to play Way there and leave Kenney at WR. But at least they know they have a decent backup option in Kenney.
* Dom Franks and Ryan Broyles handled all the punt returns.
* Injury report: Defensive end David King did not dress today with an undisclosed injury. He stretched with the team, but that was it. King was ahead of Washington on the depth chart coming into the fall, but that appears to be swinging back the other way. DE Pryce Macon is also out with an undisclosed knee injury. DeMarco Murray, dealing with a hamstring, wore a helmet, but was largely held out.
* DeMarcus Granger and Ryan Reynolds both participated in all drills that I saw. Granger is coming back from, back surgery. Reynolds, knee surgery. Granger needs to lose some weight, but both players look about as healthy as could have been hoped right now.
-JT
Stevens makes Groza watch list
In a bit of a surprise, Oklahoma kicker Jimmy Stevens has been named to the preseason watch list for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the kicker of the year.
Stevens, just a sophomore, converted 8-of-11 field goals last season. He also set a school record for extra points made with 92. He did miss five extra points.
The Groza will be presented on Dec. 10 during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards program.
No Sooner has ever won the Groza, which has been around since 1992.
-JT
Trio of Sooners on Bednarik watch list
Oklahoma defensive end Jeremy Beal, linebacker Travis Lewis and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy have all been named to the watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to college football’s top defensive player.
Beal, a member of the preseason All-Big 12 team, had 8 ½ sacks and 15 ½ tackles for loss last season.
Lewis, just a sophomore, was named the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2008 after breaking the school record for tackles by a freshman with 144.
McCoy, who also is on the watch list for the Outland Trophy, had 11 tackles for loss and 6 ½ sacks last season.
Former Sooner linebacker Teddy Lehman won the Bednarik in 2003.
Semifinalists for the Bednarik will be announced on Nov. 4 and three finalists for the award will be revealed Nov. 23.
The winner will be announced during the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on Dec. 10.
-JT
Today’s chat
Here’s is the archive of this morning’s OU football chat. We plan to do these every Thursday at 11 a.m. throughout the year.
-JT
Practice Report (8-12-09)
The Sooners went late tonight, wrapping up practice well after 8:30 p.m.
The first person to talk with the media DE coach Chris Wilson. Wilson was really high on Jeremy Beal, said he’s outperforming the other defensive ends. Not surprising. Beal is a star and will be even better this year. But what was surprising was Wilson talking up former blue-chip recruit R.J. Washington, who had fallen to the No. 5 DE during the spring.
“He had that label of being the top player a couple of years ago and that’s a lot of pressure for a young guy,” Wilson said. “Now with some reps and some time in the weight room, he’s turning into a good football player.”
Washington is battling fellow redshirt freshman David King for the fifth defensive end spot.
Wilson also said that Frank Alexander and Auston English are competing this fall for the other starting DE position opposite Beal.
* Veteran cornerback Dom Franks said safety Marcus Trice was the freshman impressing the most right now. Said he is picking up the defense well for a position that is fairly complicated to play. Franks also mentioned freshman cornerback Demontre Hurst, who Bob Stoops singled out in a positive way Monday.
* DeMarcus Granger said he continues to feel better, and that it’s just a matter of getting back into shape. Granger also needs to lose some weight, which should come with more practice time.
* By all accounts, wide receiver Adron Tennell has carried over his solid spring into the fall, and looks to be the man-to-beat for one of the vacant starting spots. He’ll have to produce to keep it, but right now, expect Tennell, Madu and Broyles to be OU’s starting wideouts come Sept. 5.
* The defensive players showed up for interviews much later than the offensive players. According to some of the defensive players, the offense had the better day, and as a result, the defense was kept around for some extra conditioning.
* Ryan Reynolds said he tweaked his hamstring recently and is being careful with it. He says it’s no big deal though. Something else interesting the middle linebacker said was that he doesn’t plan to wear a knee brace in games. Reynolds, coming off his third knee surgery, is wearing one in practice, but as a precaution. Reynolds not wearing a brace in games is really good news.
* Injury report: DeMarco Murray wasn’t in pads coming off the field today. He’s out for the next 2 weeks with a hamstring pull, but has done some light drills. Reserve defensive end Pryce Macon is out with some kind of knee injury. Wore a brace tonight, and was hobbling.
* For tomorrow, I wrote about Big-Game Jermaine Gresham, who has dominated on the biggest stages.
* Finally, join me tomorrow at 11 a.m. on NewsOK.com for an online Sooner football chat.
-JT
OU snags 4-star athlete
Oklahoma has landed one of its top recruits yet, snagging a verbal commitment from 4-star athlete Justin McCay.
McCay, of Shawnee Mission, Kan., made his announcement Friday on KREF-AM 1400.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound McCay is rated the No. 34 overall player in the country by Rivals.com. He held offers from several big-time programs, including Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame and Oregon.
Last season at Bishop Miege High School, McCay rushed for 243 yards, caught 31 passes for 354 yards and finished with 10 total touchdowns. Defensively at linebacker, he recorded more than 50 tackles. McCay is also a standout for Miege in basketball and track.
With McCay, the Sooners now have 21 commitments for the class of 2010. Per NCAA rules, teams are not allowed to sign more than 25 players in a class.
While committed to OU, McCay told Rivals.com Tuesday night that he is still willing to listen overtures from Kansas State.
-JT
Practice report (8-10-09)
A lot of good tidbits came from Monday’s practice, the first in full pads this preseason.
The biggest story line was tight end Brody Eldridge being forced to play first-team center with starter Ben Habern and top reserve Brian Lepak both battling injuries. Eldridge is the team’s emergency center, though Habern should be back in practice later this week. Lepak is out for the next 1-2 weeks with a high ankle sprain.
The other most interesting nugget was offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson basically saying that Cameron Kenney and freshman Jaz Reynolds would be ahead of sophomores Jameel Owens and Dejuan Miller if he had to fill out the depth chart at wide receiver today. Kenney is not too shocking, but Reynolds has been a pleasant surprise. Reynolds apparently has blazing speed, which has the Sooner coaches salivating. He could carve out a decent role for himself this season. Owens and Miller, meanwhile, were supposed to have breakout seasons this year. That won’t happen if they don’t make it onto the field. Remember, the Sooners also have Mossis Madu, Ryan Broyles, Brandon Caleb and Adron Tennell at receiver as well, not to mention running back DeMarco Murray and tight end Jermaine Gresham, who will be flexed out or placed in the slot often.
Other notes:
* As customary with all football teams the first day of pads, the Sooners ran the “Oklahoma Drill.” Among the players who impressed Bob Stoops were Auston English, Jeremy Beal, Trent Williams, Gerald McCoy and backup right tackle Jarvis Jones.
Said Stoops, “The Oklahoma Drill was wild. Guys were getting after it, which you like. It carried right into our inside drill where we did a lot of short yardage. It was really physical.”
* Stoops really praised cornerback Demontre Hurst, which has got to kill OSU fans. Hurst, remember, was committed to OSU for a long time, but switched his verbal late to OU before signing with the Sooners. Stoops said Hurst is “as good a young guy as we’ve ever brought in here.”
* Off. coordinator Kevin Wilson admitted the o-line “struggled” Monday against the Sooner def. line. Not surprising. OU’s d-line will make a lot of teams struggle.
* Safety Kevin Brent is out with a shoulder injury. He was, however, doing fairly well before getting hurt, and should be back on the field before too long, Stoops said.
-JT
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- Dejuan Miller
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- Brody Eldridge
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- Auston English
Thoughts from OU media day
Friday, the Sooners held their annual media day, as well as Meet The Sooners, where fans can get autographs.
Here are few observations from the morning.
* Kevin Wilson really went to bat for the o-line, which has taken some shots lately from the national media. He called Trent Williams the best lineman he’d ever coached, and the said the unit has much talent as any in country. I’m sure Wilson hopes his comments will build the confidence of what is a talented, but young and as a group unproven offensive line.
* Cameron Kenney is really going to be a boost on special teams. I can see him playing on every special teams unit. He also will push both Tress Way at punter and to a lesser extent Jimmy Stevens at kicker. Competition will only make this unit stronger.
* Mossis Madu is there to stay at wide receiver. He has a great chance to start the season opener against BYU.
* DeMarco Murray missing two weeks with a hamstring pull is not as bad as it seems because it’s the other hamstring from which he injured last year against Missouri. Still, his health is a critical story line this year. Think about it. Murray is yet to finish a season without having to undergo season-ending surgery. Bob Stoops wouldn’t say yay or ney about Murray playing special teams, but the Sooners really need to take a look at whether it’s worth the risk to him there. After all, his two injuries have both come on special teams (onside kick 2007, kick return 2008).
* I really think DeMarcus Granger ends up helping the defensive line, maybe more than I would have guessed. It may be similar to last year, where it was only for a few snaps at a time. Because of the surgery, Granger is probably about 20-30 pounds heavier than he would like to be, or was at the start of last preseason. But he’s such a great run-stuffer and has an unrivaled threshold for playing through pain (though he says he’s pain-free right now).
* The offensive line guys, really all of them, look to be in terrific shape. Good is a tank. Habern has the same build as Jon Cooper. Simmons is chiseled. And Trent Williams apparently ran a 4.73 this summer, which, if true, is an incredible time for a left tackle. Williams shows that kind of speed and agility at the combine, and he’s a Top 5 NFL Draft pick.
* Of all the incoming o-linemen, look for JUCO transfer Tavaris Jeffries and freshman Tyler Evans to be the ones to fill two of the primary reserve roles past Brian Lepak. Ideally, Evans and Jarvis Jones will play tackle, Jeffries guard, and Lepak both center and guard.
-JT
Andre Ware picks BYU over OU, then OU to lose 3 more games
For what it’s worth, during ESPN’s College Football Live, ESPN analyst Andre Ware just picked the BYU Cougars to knock off OU in the season opener at Cowboys Stadium. He said he has concerns about OU’s offensive line. Ware also said OU would lose three other games.
-JT
UPDATE: People are wondering who Ware picked for the national championship. Surprise, surprise, Ware picked Florida. -JT
Lehman, Moore to join UFL
Former Sooner linebackers Teddy Lehman and Brandon Moore have signed with the Las Vegas franchise of the new United Football League.
Lehman, previously a Butkus Award winner, was drafted out of OU by the Detroit Lions in the 2nd round. He was the only rookie LB to start every game and looked to be headed for a bright NFL career. But injuries derailed his progress, and after stints with Tampa Bay and Buffalo, he wound up without an NFL contract.
Moore signed as an undrafted free agent with the 49ers, and played their for five years before being released prior to last season.
The UFL is scheduled to debut October 2009.
-JT
