(Photo by Jay Beauchamp)
By Michael Kinney
Days after Oklahoma defeated UCLA, sophomore wideout CeeDee Lamb was still being asked about his spectacular non-catch in last weekend’s. Even though the one-handed grab was ruled out of bounds, that has stopped Lamb’s phone from blowing up.
Lamb said he even surprised himself when he went back to see the replay of it.
“I actually jumped higher than I thought,” Lamb said. “I was pretty up there. I surprised myself, to be honest. I just jumped to see if I was able to get to it. The next thing you know I caught it.”
Lamb said he doesn’t know what his vertical jump is right now. But he believes it increases during games when the adrenalin is pumping and more people are watching him.
Teammate Marquise Brown is one of those who was watching Lamb as well.
“That was crazy,” Brown said. “I was watching it and was like ‘oh, he just caught that.’ They should have just counted it for the effort.”
Because the wide receiver room at Oklahoma is so competitive, Lamb knows Brown will be trying to outdo him this week at Iowa State.
“There is no telling what Jet has in his bag,” Lamb said. “I will just wait till he pulls out something spectacular. He will probably pull out a helmet catch or something. I will just be prepared. We always compete, so I hope he gets it.”
The competition that Lamb and Brown have between each other is just a small sample of what seems to be the driving force behind this year’s Oklahoma squad. Whether it’s individually or group vs group, the Sooner’s foundation is built on competition.
“We compete through offense, defense, special teams,” Brown said. “We compete, compete, compete.”
While the offensive and defensive lines get after it as do linebackers and runningbacks, it’s the receivers and defensive backs who seem to take the most joy in going after each other.
“It’s just great going against those guys every day,” safety Justin Broiles said. “Every day we’re competing. In and out. It’s vice versa. Monday we might get them. The next day they might come back out and get us. You just get fighting, keep pounding at each other.”
With a player like Broiles on the field, it’s hard for things to not turn competitive. The 5-foot-10, 180 Oklahoma City native is not afraid to get up on the faces of his offensive players on his team and opposing squads.
““I’ve always been one to try to get in your head,” Broiles said. “If I can get in your head, it’s over with then. It’s just something that comes from being JB. That’s just being me. (I know I have them) when they start getting frustrated when they start trying to get extra after the whistle. That’s when I know it’s over with now. I’ve got you.”
According to Brown, their daily face-offs in practice has them prepared for anything they will encounter on Saturdays.
“It’s competitive. Every practice is so competitive. Not only are we competing with the DBs, but we’re competing with each other. I make a play, CeeDee wants to make a play, AD wants to make a play. The youngins want to make a play. So, it’s like we’re all competing, going hard. The DBs are just pushing us, pushing us. So, it’s like when we get out here (games) we want to get rewarded for it for the work we put in.”
Michael Kinney is a Freelance Content Provider.