madillsoonerfan5353
7/22/2009, 07:10 PM
Nice read come on Sept. 5!
Berry Tramel: OU defense could be great at every position
Comments 46
Buzz up!By Berry Tramel
Published: July 22, 2009
One of my all-time favorite football stories, I witnessed live, courtesy of an old high school coach, Dave Brown.
OU linebacker Travis Lewis, left, and defensive end Jeremy Beal are part of a Sooner defense which has the potential to be elite. AP PHOTO
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The 1983 Norman staff sat around and discussed the previous night’s junior varsity game, and Brown wanted to know why a certain halfback phenom barely played.
"Coach, he doesn’t know half the plays,” said a young assistant.
Responded Brown, "Run the half he does know.”
I’ve thought of that story a thousand times, watching football teams get all dazed and confused in this era of complicated schemes and formations.
Defenses that don’t get lined up right or on time. Players out of position. Safeties who look at each other after they’ve been split for a touchdown.
Why not streamline assignments? Why not go back to basics? Why not just line up and fight off blockers and rush the passer and tackle the man with the ball?
Fun to think about. Impractical to implement. Not in the 21st century.
"You want to say keep it simple,” said Bob Stoops. "But you can only keep it so simple (against) offenses, with all their formations and different things they do.”
He’s got a point. Think about all the razzmatazz coming from OSU and Texas Tech and the Sooners themselves.
The no-huddle. The uptempo.
Formations that stretch from library to tailgate tent.
Offenses these days are designed to outwit opponents.
"Usually when we’ve given up plays in the past, it’s been more mental than it has been physical,” Stoops said.
Said Stoops’ defensive chief, Brent Venables, "I really felt last year, when we weren’t successful, it was more us than it was our opponents.”
Which brings us to 2009 and why the Sooners seem loaded.
They’ve got big-time defenders, everyone would agree. G.K. McCoy and Travis Lewis and Dom Franks and Jeremy Beal. A dozen more that intimidate just by stepping off the bus.
But what OU also has is experience. Defenders who know where to line up and when to adjust and how to shift on the fly when Mike Leach or Mike Gundy trots out a trick.
The Sooners have nine returning starters and several experienced sabertooths behind them. That’s the good news. The better news: Those defenders were getting really stingy down the stretch of the 2008 season.
After Texas lit up OU’s defense in a 45-35 classic, the Sooners played strong defense save for one game, OSU. The Cowboys scored at 50 percent efficiency (touchdowns plus half the field goals, divided by possessions) in their 61-41 Bedlam loss, a game that said much more about the State offense than it did the OU defense.
The Sooners otherwise shut down some really good offenses. Missouri’s efficiency was 30 percent; Tech’s was 23 percent. In the Big Bowl, Florida’s was 39 percent.
In today’s football, anything in the 30s is solid. Thirty percent and below is dominant defense, 40 percent and above usually will get you beat.
OU’s defense allowed above 30 percent only thrice all season.
"I saw the improvement mostly through the year in responsibility,” Stoops said. "Linebackers and secondary, just saw us settle down and be more responsible. That comes with more time on the field. Guys became more comfortable with what we’re asking them to do, more comfortable in their recognition of the offense.
"So we had fewer breakdowns. I’d like to see that continue. I believe strongly that it will.”
Confidence seems to be growing among the defenders. The belief that swelled in 2000-01, when the Sooners were about as good on defense, considering the era, as they’ve ever been.
Said Franks, "We’ve got a chance to be great.”
Said Lewis, "Everybody knows what the potential can be.”
The potential is to field a defense with an elite player at every position without having to run only half the plays.
Berry Tramel: OU defense could be great at every position
Comments 46
Buzz up!By Berry Tramel
Published: July 22, 2009
One of my all-time favorite football stories, I witnessed live, courtesy of an old high school coach, Dave Brown.
OU linebacker Travis Lewis, left, and defensive end Jeremy Beal are part of a Sooner defense which has the potential to be elite. AP PHOTO
Featured Gallery
Advertisement
The 1983 Norman staff sat around and discussed the previous night’s junior varsity game, and Brown wanted to know why a certain halfback phenom barely played.
"Coach, he doesn’t know half the plays,” said a young assistant.
Responded Brown, "Run the half he does know.”
I’ve thought of that story a thousand times, watching football teams get all dazed and confused in this era of complicated schemes and formations.
Defenses that don’t get lined up right or on time. Players out of position. Safeties who look at each other after they’ve been split for a touchdown.
Why not streamline assignments? Why not go back to basics? Why not just line up and fight off blockers and rush the passer and tackle the man with the ball?
Fun to think about. Impractical to implement. Not in the 21st century.
"You want to say keep it simple,” said Bob Stoops. "But you can only keep it so simple (against) offenses, with all their formations and different things they do.”
He’s got a point. Think about all the razzmatazz coming from OSU and Texas Tech and the Sooners themselves.
The no-huddle. The uptempo.
Formations that stretch from library to tailgate tent.
Offenses these days are designed to outwit opponents.
"Usually when we’ve given up plays in the past, it’s been more mental than it has been physical,” Stoops said.
Said Stoops’ defensive chief, Brent Venables, "I really felt last year, when we weren’t successful, it was more us than it was our opponents.”
Which brings us to 2009 and why the Sooners seem loaded.
They’ve got big-time defenders, everyone would agree. G.K. McCoy and Travis Lewis and Dom Franks and Jeremy Beal. A dozen more that intimidate just by stepping off the bus.
But what OU also has is experience. Defenders who know where to line up and when to adjust and how to shift on the fly when Mike Leach or Mike Gundy trots out a trick.
The Sooners have nine returning starters and several experienced sabertooths behind them. That’s the good news. The better news: Those defenders were getting really stingy down the stretch of the 2008 season.
After Texas lit up OU’s defense in a 45-35 classic, the Sooners played strong defense save for one game, OSU. The Cowboys scored at 50 percent efficiency (touchdowns plus half the field goals, divided by possessions) in their 61-41 Bedlam loss, a game that said much more about the State offense than it did the OU defense.
The Sooners otherwise shut down some really good offenses. Missouri’s efficiency was 30 percent; Tech’s was 23 percent. In the Big Bowl, Florida’s was 39 percent.
In today’s football, anything in the 30s is solid. Thirty percent and below is dominant defense, 40 percent and above usually will get you beat.
OU’s defense allowed above 30 percent only thrice all season.
"I saw the improvement mostly through the year in responsibility,” Stoops said. "Linebackers and secondary, just saw us settle down and be more responsible. That comes with more time on the field. Guys became more comfortable with what we’re asking them to do, more comfortable in their recognition of the offense.
"So we had fewer breakdowns. I’d like to see that continue. I believe strongly that it will.”
Confidence seems to be growing among the defenders. The belief that swelled in 2000-01, when the Sooners were about as good on defense, considering the era, as they’ve ever been.
Said Franks, "We’ve got a chance to be great.”
Said Lewis, "Everybody knows what the potential can be.”
The potential is to field a defense with an elite player at every position without having to run only half the plays.