CK Sooner
12/31/2008, 12:28 PM
Box Will Be Back Today
Clay Horning
The Norman Transcript
“No,” said Bob Stoops, interrupting the question.
A moment earlier, Tuesday night after practice, the Oklahoma football coach said middle linebacker Austin Box would practice again today for the first time since spraining a knee against Oklahoma State.
However, “No,” Stoops could not possibly project how far along Box might be in time for OU’s BCS national championship showdown against Florida Jan. 8 in Miami.
Perhaps the most important defensive position on the field in any three-linebacker scheme, Box solidified the middle linebacker spot following a season-ending knee injury suffered by Ryan Reynolds late in the Texas game.
But when Box went down against the Cowboys, the Sooners were down to third-teamer Mike Balogun. Balogun managed three tackles in the Bedlam game in very limited action. Yet at the Big 12 championship game, Balogun made only one tackle; although he was frequently off the field as OU went with an extra defensive back.
Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Brent Venables is either very confident on the issue or putting up a strong front.
“The best case scenario is having somebody ready to play at a high level and we’ll have that,” he said. “It’s going to be Austin or Mike.”
Venables said Box will be medically cleared to play in the national championship game, and “it’s just a matter of getting reps and familiarity and confidence.”
Though Venables did not mention it, it might also be a matter of Box’s pain threshold.
Already, Box is running on his own and changing direction. But he’s yet to practice. And the only thing certain about today is that he will try to practice.
“I’ve been running with the ones and, right now, I’m just prepared to play,” said Balogun, who admitted the extra time prior to a bowl game has been a real help to his preparation. “I’m going to be ready, regardless.”
Between the two of them, Box and Balogun, Venables believes the position is in good hands.
“Absolutely,” he said.
Oklahoma Switching Up Linebackers
by: JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
NORMAN — Oklahoma will have a plan at middle linebacker against Florida.
But whether that plan is Austin Box, Mike Balogun, a combination of both — or neither — won't be known until much closer to kickoff of its Jan. 8 national championship showdown in Miami, Fla.
Box, a redshirt freshman who stepped into the lineup in the eighth week of the season but went down with a knee sprain in the regular-season finale, is scheduled to return to practice on Wednesday.
Balogun, a junior who replaced Box for spot duty in the Big 12 championship game against Missouri, has "practiced really, really well (and) been very consistent," OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables said Tuesday night.
In OU's last game, weakside starter Travis Lewis started at middle linebacker, and strong safety Nic Harris started at weakside, with Quinton Carter starting at safety for Harris. That same configuration could happen against Florida, too.
"Mike continues to make some improvement and is doing well with the extra snaps," said head coach Bob Stoops. "It's good to have Mike ready to go, and everyone else. It's no different than how we played the Big 12 championship game."
Said Venables, "I feel good about him in there. I really believe we'll have two guys that are ready to play."
Venables said he has no expectations about Box's return, "outside of they're releasing him to play. He should have no limitations. Now it's a matter of how well he picks things up. He has enough time. But again, it's not like it's a veteran guy coming back. That's a big difference. Technique is everything in a game like this, where the margin for error isn't much.
Junior achievement: Stoops declined to identify which underclassmen have requested a non-binding evaluation from the NFL Draft Advisory Committee, other than to say "Virtually all of them, but we're not going to answer any questions on that until after the bowl game."
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last week reportedly said discussion of an impending 2010 cap on rookie salaries was unfounded until at least 2011. Goodell said in an ESPN.com story that he had spoken with USC coach Pete Carroll and Florida's Urban Meyer in particular about concerns their respective junior quarterbacks might have had about the cap. Stoops said he wrote Goodell a letter "and got something back," and was further comforted by Goodell's position.
"There's so much false reporting out there that people say this and that that don't know," Stoops said.
Davis back: Defensive end Alan Davis "has been practicing," Stoops said, and will be expected to return to the four-man rotation with Frank Alexander, Jeremy Beal and Auston English. Davis injured his knee Nov. 8 and missed OU's last three games.
Granger report: Stoops said he doesn't expect back surgery for junior defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger to be career-threatening. Granger will miss the national title game, but is expecting to resume his career next season.
"There's always that chance, but we're optimistic in that he's made great improvements already," Stoops said. "I think it's something that's going to help him. They didn't need to be as extensive as they thought they were going to have to be when they did it, so there are a lot of positive signs that it won't be. But you never know that it won't be career-ending."
Clay Horning
The Norman Transcript
“No,” said Bob Stoops, interrupting the question.
A moment earlier, Tuesday night after practice, the Oklahoma football coach said middle linebacker Austin Box would practice again today for the first time since spraining a knee against Oklahoma State.
However, “No,” Stoops could not possibly project how far along Box might be in time for OU’s BCS national championship showdown against Florida Jan. 8 in Miami.
Perhaps the most important defensive position on the field in any three-linebacker scheme, Box solidified the middle linebacker spot following a season-ending knee injury suffered by Ryan Reynolds late in the Texas game.
But when Box went down against the Cowboys, the Sooners were down to third-teamer Mike Balogun. Balogun managed three tackles in the Bedlam game in very limited action. Yet at the Big 12 championship game, Balogun made only one tackle; although he was frequently off the field as OU went with an extra defensive back.
Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Brent Venables is either very confident on the issue or putting up a strong front.
“The best case scenario is having somebody ready to play at a high level and we’ll have that,” he said. “It’s going to be Austin or Mike.”
Venables said Box will be medically cleared to play in the national championship game, and “it’s just a matter of getting reps and familiarity and confidence.”
Though Venables did not mention it, it might also be a matter of Box’s pain threshold.
Already, Box is running on his own and changing direction. But he’s yet to practice. And the only thing certain about today is that he will try to practice.
“I’ve been running with the ones and, right now, I’m just prepared to play,” said Balogun, who admitted the extra time prior to a bowl game has been a real help to his preparation. “I’m going to be ready, regardless.”
Between the two of them, Box and Balogun, Venables believes the position is in good hands.
“Absolutely,” he said.
Oklahoma Switching Up Linebackers
by: JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
NORMAN — Oklahoma will have a plan at middle linebacker against Florida.
But whether that plan is Austin Box, Mike Balogun, a combination of both — or neither — won't be known until much closer to kickoff of its Jan. 8 national championship showdown in Miami, Fla.
Box, a redshirt freshman who stepped into the lineup in the eighth week of the season but went down with a knee sprain in the regular-season finale, is scheduled to return to practice on Wednesday.
Balogun, a junior who replaced Box for spot duty in the Big 12 championship game against Missouri, has "practiced really, really well (and) been very consistent," OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables said Tuesday night.
In OU's last game, weakside starter Travis Lewis started at middle linebacker, and strong safety Nic Harris started at weakside, with Quinton Carter starting at safety for Harris. That same configuration could happen against Florida, too.
"Mike continues to make some improvement and is doing well with the extra snaps," said head coach Bob Stoops. "It's good to have Mike ready to go, and everyone else. It's no different than how we played the Big 12 championship game."
Said Venables, "I feel good about him in there. I really believe we'll have two guys that are ready to play."
Venables said he has no expectations about Box's return, "outside of they're releasing him to play. He should have no limitations. Now it's a matter of how well he picks things up. He has enough time. But again, it's not like it's a veteran guy coming back. That's a big difference. Technique is everything in a game like this, where the margin for error isn't much.
Junior achievement: Stoops declined to identify which underclassmen have requested a non-binding evaluation from the NFL Draft Advisory Committee, other than to say "Virtually all of them, but we're not going to answer any questions on that until after the bowl game."
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last week reportedly said discussion of an impending 2010 cap on rookie salaries was unfounded until at least 2011. Goodell said in an ESPN.com story that he had spoken with USC coach Pete Carroll and Florida's Urban Meyer in particular about concerns their respective junior quarterbacks might have had about the cap. Stoops said he wrote Goodell a letter "and got something back," and was further comforted by Goodell's position.
"There's so much false reporting out there that people say this and that that don't know," Stoops said.
Davis back: Defensive end Alan Davis "has been practicing," Stoops said, and will be expected to return to the four-man rotation with Frank Alexander, Jeremy Beal and Auston English. Davis injured his knee Nov. 8 and missed OU's last three games.
Granger report: Stoops said he doesn't expect back surgery for junior defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger to be career-threatening. Granger will miss the national title game, but is expecting to resume his career next season.
"There's always that chance, but we're optimistic in that he's made great improvements already," Stoops said. "I think it's something that's going to help him. They didn't need to be as extensive as they thought they were going to have to be when they did it, so there are a lot of positive signs that it won't be. But you never know that it won't be career-ending."