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By Michael Kinney
NORMAN– After back-to-back wins against Kansas and Iowa State, all appeared to be on track at Oklahoma. The messiness of their three-game losing streak was in their rearview window.
However, those same issues cropped back up Saturday when they hosted Baylor. Turnovers, suspect play calling, defensive breakdowns and a lack of physicality led to a 38-35 loss to the Bears at Memorial Stadium.
Continue reading “Bears get physical with Sooners in 38-35 victory”
NORMAN– On Saturday Oklahoma won it’s 10th game of the season with a 55-40 victory over Kansas. It was the 17th time since 2000 that the program has reached double-digit victories in a season, which leads the nation in that time span.
However, the mood of the fans, players and coaches coming out of Memorial Stadium was far from celebratory. Once again it was the Sooner’s defense that garnered most of the attention as they allowed the Jayhawks to run up and down the field.
“Defensively, we didn’t tackle at all the whole night and that’s really the story. I thought our pass defense was much improved,” OU coach Lincoln Riley said. “It was something we spent a lot of time on, certainly after the way we played in that fashion the week before. We had some good things there as far as coverage, but clearly, we weren’t good on the run game and it was disappointing because we’ve really done a good job against the run all season.”
The futility of the Kansas offense during the past decade is the biggest sign of how bad the Oklahoma defense looked Saturday.
Since 2015 Kansas has only scored more than 40 points twice. Both came in wins against non-conference teams. Their output against the Sooners is the most they have scored against a Big 12 team since beating Colorado 52-45 in 2010.
“I take it very personally. I don’t think a team should get over 50 yards on us if it was up to me,” safety Robert Barnes said. “I just think as a unit we just have to start playing more physical and be more fundamental. It starts in practice. It starts on Monday through Friday. Just continuing to work on tackling. It’s a long season and there’s a lot of inquiries that happen throughout a season. So it’s not like in practice we can do full-tackling drills. But tackling is a mentality If you train that mentality all week, when you come out on Saturday, it won’t be an issue.”
Run defense disappeared
The Jayhawks posted 348 rushing yards on the night. That included Pooka Williams rushing for 252 yards on only 15 carries. That is a 16.8 Yards per carry average.
We have guys in position. We tell them to not worry about mistakes. All mistakes are mine, so don’t hesitate. Go make it,” defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said. “We tackle every day, so we’ll just continue to do that and continue to work hard. We’ll watch the film and see what angles would help, but look from all different angles on that too. Ready to get back to work and watch the film and fix what we’ve got to fix to get ready for next week.”
Tackling still at the heart of the problem
The OU coaches and players all said tackling is still the issue that has been causing them the most issues.
“We’ve had games where we tackled really well,” Riley said., “I think we have guys that can tackle well. Tackling is just so many things. It’s being in position, knowing where you help is. It all comes down to playing great team defense and when you do you put yourself in position to make those plays and you have got to go make them. The group I watched tonight was too hesitant. I thought we were in position a lot and we have to go. We have to trigger and go play confident and go play explosive. Go play to make the play as opposed to just trying to keep them from making a play. I felt we were more on our heels than we need to be. Certainly, we have to be more aggressive and as coaches, we have to find a way to get there out of them.”
According to defensive end Kenneth Mann, bad tackling can cause a snowball effect.
“I think it can,” Mann said. “ Things like that can but we just have to gather the troops and get back together. We need to make the right moves. Everybody needs to settle down when things get going like that and continue to tackle and get guys down.”
Last one standing
On the first offensive series of the game, Oklahoma leading rusher Trey Sermon left the game with an injury. That left redshirt freshman Kennedy Brooks as the only healthy tailback for the Sooners.
Brooks carried the rock 25 times for 175 yards and two touchdowns as he played the majority of the game.
“He did a great job, doing it by himself,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. “He’s been doing it since he got his chance earlier in the season. We’re going to need him going forward and I’m sure he’ll continue to run well.”
Brooks said he just had to be ready for his moment when his number was called.
“All the guys in the room helped me get to this point,” Brooks said. “I couldn’t do it without them. Everybody just being there and telling me I can do it. Just keeping my confidence up. Going through practice, seeing what I can do, then you’re in the game and you’re actually doing. I give all my glory to God, my teammates second and believing in myself that I could do it. Being in this position is nothing new. We just go out there and do the best we can to help the team win.”
Brooks pointed out his offensive line especially.
“They did amazing,” Brooks said. “We have the best offensive line in the country. I am so happy I can run behind them. They made my job so much easier.”
The best?
Tackle Cody Ford was asked if OU had the best offensive line in college football. Ford kept his answer pretty simple.
“Yes.”
Scoring machine
The Sooners 55 points is their third highest output of the season. They also tallied 566 total yards (294 rush, 272 pass)
Despite that, quarterback Kyler Murray wasn’t too impressed. Even with his five touchdowns (3 rushing, 2 passing), it was not close to what he expects from the offense in general.
“It wasn’t bad,” Murray said. “I thought we moved the ball well. I would say personally, a little disappointed. It wasn’t the best game, but it got the job done. We put up 55 points, so I guess you could say it was a good day.”
Except for the two turnovers.
“That’s something we don’t want to do, put the ball in other people’s hands,” Murray said. “We have actually done a good job with that all season, taking care of the ball. Tonight it got away from us a little bit.”
Heisman Worthy
Wideout Marquise Brown, who had 6 catches for 64 yards, said Murray is the clear Heisman frontrunner.
“I just don’t feel like nobody is playing better football than him, to be honest,” Brown said. “He’s throwing it, running it. He’s really the most valuable player for this team. I feel like he should be the Heisman.”
Big game on the horizon
With West Virginia losing to Oklahoma State earlier in the day, it took a little luster off of next week’s matchup with the Mountaineers. Yet, the game is still a big contest for the Sooners as they look to lock up a spot In the Big 12 Championship.
Barnes knows his team has to show an element the defense has shown much of the year if they are going to win.
“I would say from the first play be the most physical team out there,” Barnes said. “From offense and defense, but especially from the defensive standpoint. When you’re going into a hostile atmosphere, an away game, especially at this caliber, from the first play we need physicality across the board.”
Michael Kinney is a Freelance Content Provider
Story first ran in The Yukon Review
As bad as the Oklahoma defense performed throughout the day Saturday, in order to have a chance to beat rival Texas and keep their season undefeated, they needed just one last stop in the fourth quarter to give their potent offense a chance to win the game.
Unfortunately for the Sooners, that stop never came as the Longhorns kicked a game-winning field goal with nine seconds left to beat the Sooners 48-45 at the Cotton Bowl.
“We have to get better in a lot of areas,” Lincoln Riley said. “But we’ve got some fight in that room. We have some guys who are incredibly disappointed right now. They will be ready when we get back on the field here at TCU Congratulations to Texas. They played a very good football game. It was one of the epic ones there. It will be one people will be talking about for years and years and years. It was really a special atmosphere like it always is. It lived up to the billing like it always does.”
The Sooners entered the fourth quarter trailing the Longhorns 45-24. The game looked like it was done.
But then OU seemed to flip a switch in the final 10 minutes of the game.
First quarterback Kyler Murray hit Lee Morris for a 19-yard touchdown with 8:28 left on the clock. The defense came up with a stop to give the ball back to the offense with 5:11 left.
On the first play of the drive, Murray sprinted 67 yards down the left sideline and into the endzone to close the gap to 45-38.
For a third consecutive series, the defense came up with a huge stop and forced Longhorns to punt. The Sooners took over on their own 43yard line. It took only three plays for Trey Sermon to score and tie the game at 45-45.
“It was a tale of two games for us,” OU coach Lincoln Riley said. “First part we were inconsistent offensively. Didn’t get any stops defensively. We were kind of just average on special teams. Then at the end of the game I was very proud of our team’s fight there at the end. To get it back there to tie the game, have a great chance to win the football game.”
Texas ended the day with 501 total yards. Sam Ehlinger threw for 324 yards.
UT came into the game averaging only 396 yards per outing. Their 48 points were 20 more than their season average as well.
The Longhorns had their best offensive performance of the season against an Oklahoma defense that was supposed to be a strength this season.
“Our players got a little bit disjointed. We all did,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “[Texas was] reading what we were doing. We were trying to audible back out of it and I think our players got in between two calls at times. I thought [Texas] played more physical than we did today, and some of it is just who we have there in certain positions. That’s an area we obviously need to get better in – just our physicality across the board.”
Murray suffered his first loss as a starting quarterback in college with his defeat at Texas Despite throwing for 304 yards and two TDs on `19-of-26 passing and leading the Sooners in rushing with 116, he put the loss on his shoulders with his two turnovers.
“Obviously, I’m not used to losing,” Murray said. “It hurts. Disappointed. It’s just tough because I feel I turned the ball over today and you give them the advantage when you turn the ball over. I feel like if I didn’t turn the ball over we had a better shot at winning the game. Obviously, we didn’t play as well as we wanted to. We knew coming into this game it was going to be a four-quarter game. We’re better than that. I know we’re better than that. It’s just tough.”
Marquise Brown snagged nine catches for 132 Yards and two touchdowns on the day. Lamb added six receptions for 75 yards.
Curtis Bolton led the Sooners with 13 tackles. Kenneth Murray, who leads the Big 12 in tackles, ended with 10. Kahil Haughton added nine tackles.
For Texas, Lil Jordan Humprey tallied nine catches for 133 yards while Collin Johnson tacked on 6 receptions for 81 yards.
Keaontay Ingram led the Longhorns ground game with 13 carries for 87 yards.
Oklahoma took the first lead of the game when Kyler Murray and Brown hooked up for a 4-yard TD pass on the game’s opening drive.
However, UT outscored the Sooners 24-10 the rest of the first half.
The Longhorns kept finding ways to putting the Oklahoma defense in positions it didn’t want to be in. On their second touchdown of the first half, quarterback Sam Ehlinger hit tailback Tre Watson on a wheel route out of the backfield on a 28- yard touchdown catch. He was being defended by defensive end/linebacker Mark Jackson, who was trailing him the entire way.
On the ensuing drive, the Longhorns went on an eight play, 75-yard scoring drive as they rammed the ball down the Sooner’s throat with the run game. They were physically moving the defensive line off the line of scrimmage and back into the linebacker’s laps.
“At the end of the day if we may not get the call, it’s still our jobs as players to get down and run the defense at the end of the day,” Neville Gallimore said. “Whether we get the call or not, get lined up, that’s the biggest thing for us. We just need to do a better job at that. It’s the little things.”
The Longhorns came out of halftime like they started the game. They pulled out an 11-play drive that covered 75 yards. Ehlinger’s 5-yard touchdown run put Texas up 31-17.
But the Sooner’s struck back with a 77-yard scoring strike from Murry to Brown. It’s the longest reception by a Sooner in the series.
After Oklahoma forced a three and out on the next series, they got the back with a chance to tie the game. However, Murray fumbled while trying to evade pressure up the middle and the Longhorns recovered.
“Coach Riley, he is preaching to me all the time about ball security in the pocket. And then it ended up in a big game,” Kyler Murray said. “I don’t know how many times he’s told me that. That one defiantly hurts.”
The Longhorns took advantage of the turnover and scored twice more I the third to take a
45-24 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“We all as a group are supposed to be on the same page,” cornerback Tre Brown said. “We got on different pages and you could see the frustration out of us. But we’re a team, we’re brothers and we picked that up very late. Should have been doing that the whole time. Second half it came together, but we should have been doing that the whole game. We knew what was coming, but we didn’t execute like we should and everything was just coming to us late. We knew it was right there, but we didn’t make the play. It’s on all of us.”
Story ran in the Yukon Review
Michael Kinney is a Freelance Content Provider
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.
For most, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion. When Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield left Oklahoma and become the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, it was assumed backup quarterback Kyler Murray would be handed the keys to the offense.
However, that was not the way Murray approached the quarterback battle with redshirt sophomore, Austin Kendall. The Allen, Texas native came it like he does everything– with hard work.
So when OU coach Lincoln Riley told Murray Wednesday that he had earned the starting job and Kendall would be his backup when the season opens Sept. 1 against Florida Atlantic, Murray took it all in stride.
“Obviously, it’s a huge honor for me,” Murray said after practice Wednesday. “Something I have dreamed of, working hard forever since I got here. It’s a moment ever since I started playing I’ve been working for this. For me to be named the starting quarterback is obviously a huge honor. I know the standard of the position at this university, so it’s my job to uphold it.”
According to Murray, Riley called him and Kendall into his “big” office to deliver the news. While he wasn’t sure he would be named the starter, he had a feeling what the meeting was going to be about.
“We play next weekend, so it had to be soon,” Murray said. “He texted me and told me to come meet, I had a feeling that this is what it was about.”
According to Riley he just laid it out plainly that Murray was going to be the starting quarterback.
“These are elite athletes, they are competitors,” Riley said. “They don’t want you to beat around the bush. They want you to just tell them straight. That’s what I did. I told them both what the situation was and what the expectations were going forward, what we based the decision on.”
According to Riley, competition between the two stayed close throughout camp. But he wouldn’t give specifics on what Murray did better to win out.
“It was pretty simple honestly,” Riley said. “I don’t know that there is some elaborate breakdown that we have. As we looked at the whole body of work we just thought he was slightly ahead of Austin. So it was a very close one, stayed that way. One of the closest I’ve been involved with. They both did a tremendous job. At the end of the day, only one can do it. We’ll need them both to be successful this year. But Kyler is going to be the guy right now.”
What made this quarterback battle so intriguing were the things that had nothing to do with football. Murray was selected No. 9 overall in the MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics. He later signed a guaranteed contract worth estimated $4.7 million.
Despite that, 5-foot-10, 190-pound Murray insisted he would be coming back to Oklahoma for at least one more season to play football.
“I came in here every day ready to work,” Murray said. “Trying to get better. I think I’ve been playing the best football of my life these past couple of months. As of late, going from my freshman year at Texas A&M to being with coach Riley has obviously helped me a lot. Sitting behind Baker has helped me a lot. Now it’s time to go, put that to the show. ”
Murray is in his third season at Oklahoma after transferring from Texas A&M. He played sparingly last season behind Mayfield as he completed 18 of his 21 throws for 359 yards and three touchdowns. He added 142 yards on 14 carries.
The prevailing thought has been that Murray’s ability to use his legs and break open plays on the ground was an advantage that Kendall didn’t have. However, Riley said people are underestimating his ability to throw.
“Guy wouldn’t be able to play here, nor would we recruit him here if we didn’t think they would be a good enough thrower,” Riley said. “It starts with that. It starts with the ability to lead, it starts with the ability to throw the football. Everything else is all well and good, but our guys are going to have to be able to do that. He’s going to get his chance. People can say this or that, but he’ll get this chance to show what he can do.”
Murray said he got a text from Mayfield earlier in the day congratulating him.
According to Riley, Kendall took the news as expected.
“He handled it in a very mature way,” Riley said. “He certainly was disappointed, wants to play. For a guy like him, he can’t sit here and say what I did here over the last several months didn’t work. What he did over the last several months did work. He’s much, much-improved player. It’s going to help him a lot going forward.”
However, just because Kendall didn’t win the starting job now, doesn’t mean he won’t get his chances to get on the field this season. And, as Riley explained, no job is bench proof. Every day is a competition.
“That’s where the competition comes back, because they know we have two good players in there,” Riley said. “They know the expectations of within this offense, the expectations we have of the quarterback’s performance and out our offense’s performance. They realize that this is for the next 10 days and the first snap against FAU. Then after that, it’s about who’s playing the best. We keep the competition always going here. No matter the position, no matter the time of the year. That’s just what we believe in this program. Quarterback is no different.”
Center still undecided:
While the quarterback starting spot has been settled, Riley said no decision has been made between Jonathan Alverez and Creed Humphrey in the battle for the starting center.
Michael Kinney is a Freelance Content Provider with EyeAmTruth.com
The 2018 NBA draft will take place Thursday at the Barclays Center in New York City. At some point in the first round, Oklahoma native Trae Young will be selected.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard is projected to be a top-10 lottery pick.
When Young is chosen, it will be just over a year since he graduated from Norman North High School as one of the premier players in the country. He will have gone from an everyday teenager living with his parents to being on the verge of becoming a millionaire with his first NBA contract.
Twenty years ago that would have been all any professional athlete would have wanted. Throw in a shoe deal and a few commercials and they were set.
But now, in this new generation of young men and women gaining instant wealth and fame before they can even legally take a drink, the team contract is just the starting point.
For athletes like Young, the aspirations aren’t just to conquer their sport. It’s also to build their own brand and create a business empire.
“I dreamed of it. You ask me a year ago if I wanted to do this in a year. I would tell you that I’m gonna work my butt off to get to this point,” Young said. “But you never know. All I can do is focus and control what I can control. That was just playing and trying to do whatever it takes to help my team win. Ultimately that got me to this point. I envisioned it, I dreamed of it, but now that it’s reality … my dreams all come true on Thursday. It’s definitely something that is a blessing.”
While the verdict is still out on who will be the best player in the 2018 draft, there seems to be very little debate on who has the potential to be its biggest star. Earlier this month ESPN Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell said Young would be the most marketable player in this year’s draft.
Young seems to agree with the assessment.
“It means everything, courtside, on the court, off the court. Being able to attract fans, attract people,” Young said. “As far as on the court, make my teammates better, my overall skill set, you know, shoot the ball, spread the floor, but also be able to get in the lane, get my teammates involved, stuff like that.”
But Young knew that was a possibility early on in his basketball career. When he started getting recruited as an eighth-grader, he had his eyes set on creating a brand that others would want to be involved with.
“Well that was something that I knew I needed to do,” Young said. “ Back in the day there wasn’t social media, you weren’t as marketed like players are now. Even some of the best players weren’t. But, I think that’s something that I’ve learned … I think that I’m very mature at, is knowing that there’s always someone watching. Just making sure I’m doing the right thing at all times, is something I’m focused on.”
Part of that brand building meant staying away from trouble. He knew if he was going to be the face of multimillion-dollar corporations, he couldn’t give them a reason to have a second thought about his character.
“It involved just making sure that I have a clean brand, everything about me is clean,” Young said. “I’m not perfect by any means, but just trying to make it as clean as possible. Trying to do things the right way. Give back to my community. Do different things like that. Just making sure that my off the court is just as good as on the court.”
So far the plan has worked. Young has already inked deals with NBA 2K19 to be one of the featured players on the game. He also signed endorsement deals with Express, the fashion retailer. It will be their suit he is wearing when he crosses the stage on draft night.
Young is also part of Footlocker’s One and Done campaign. Other new partners include Panini Memorabilia, the watch company Tissot and New Deal Custom Hats. According to his father, Ray Young, he was the only player in the 2018 class to have a deal in place with Panini.
Since the day Young said he was turning pro most fans and sports business analyst were waiting to see which shoe company he would join. That wait came to an end Tuesday when it was announced that Young would join the Adidas family. He and Miami’s Lonnie Walker were the only players to sign a footwear and apparel endorsement deal with the 69-year-old German company.
“After seasons of holding down highlight reels, Trae and Lonnie are both heralded for their elite skill set and creativity on-court,” Adidas said in a statement. “Their path to the NBA started with loyalty to family and community and further solidified by their character, passion and dedication to the game. Trae and Lonnie will play an instrumental role in driving performance insights, in addition to creating deeper connections within basketball communities across the globe. They will also be featured in upcoming brand campaigns and activations.”
While the numbers sound great, Young is well aware of the challenges that lie ahead for him in building a global brand. He is now basically a CEO and that means being involved in every aspect of his business dealings.
“Well, that’s something I’ve looked into. I’m very involved on the business side of my brand,” Young said. “Wanting to figure out who I’m going to sign with. Just little things like that. I’m very involved and every part of Team Young. Especially the business side.”
Young relies heavily on his parents, Ray and Candice Young. One of them is normally with the 19-year old wherever he goes while the other is back in Norman with his younger brother, Timothy, and two younger sisters, Caitlyn and Camryn.
“They are going to be a big a big factor to that,” Young said of his parents. “The way they feel about things is a big determining factor on certain things. They are going to be very involved in it. I talk to them all about what they think on certain deals and certain marketing opportunities, different things like that. They’re involved heavily.”
Others who have had an influence on Young have been the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who he has known since his high school days. Both have turned their names into global brands and helped paved the way for what Young wants to accomplish.
However, there is another player who Young is trying to pattern his business path after.
“I really like Chris Paul (L.A. Clippers). How he controls everything. He’s branded,” Young said. “The way he carries himself, he’s a big role model for me. He’s a big person that I look up to like that.”
Young isn’t looking to be a flash in the pan on the court or off. He building his brand for the long term and that means making smart decisions on who he associates with himself.
“Every decision I make now is going to affect me in the future,” Young said. “ Focus on what I can do now to make sure my brand is right, make sure my decisions going forward are looking good. Everything that I do now effects ultimately affects your future. I’m looking at everything, not just on a short-term basis, but long term.”
Michael Kinney is a Freelance Content Provider with EyeAmTruth
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