OK Brent Venables, what sort of contigency plan do you have?

[adoniijahsooner]

We have seen WR working as punters, TE's working as Centers, The O-linemen are working on different areas, and everyone seems to have a grasp of guard and tackle positions. The offense is set for any circumstance, it's diverse and versatile in all areas.

The question I have for you Brent, is if we lose a saftey, cornerback, and mlb, are you prepared? Does Lewis slide over to the middle? Do you take one of the dozen DE's and move them to the middle backer position? I know you are busy working on your schemes and blitz packages, so I don't really expect an answer; but I pray that, God forbid Reynolds gets hurt in the middle of the Texas game, and if Wort is done, and if the NCAA will succeed in the Balogun case, that you are able to stop a 6ft 195lb TE from running across the middle over, and over, and over, and over again.

I respect what you have done Brent, but don't let your own words repeat itself this year....


"I gave Ryan every rep conceivable in fall camp," he said about last year. "He was our only experienced player, and he had missed a lot of the year before. I was trying to get him game ready. That might have made him more vulnerable.

"The luxury this fall is with Mike (Balogun) having experience, Austin (Box) having experience, Tom Wort having a spring here and showing exceptional ability as a freshman to transition and make plays and call things, that gives us a great deal of depth at that position, and a lot more flexibilty in terms of what we can do with Ryan and rest. Not that he needs it, but I think in the long run, if our goal is to play 14 games, it will help him and help us in the end."

Two of these guys may be gone, so now what?

[Crucifax Autumn]

Hard questions, but queations he needs to have answers for if he wants to keep his job and get some more rings.

I'm hoping both of the potential losses will be ok, but We need a backup plan and I don't know that Box has the experience of Mike and I seriously doubt he has the instincts of Wort.

[IronHorseSooner]

Could Ronnell Lewis be the next in line? I figured Box would be the natural back up.

[adoniijahsooner]

Ronnell looks real physical, so maybe he could pull it off. Daniel Franklin I heard is ballin hard in practice and moved up in the depth chart, but he is an outside backer.

[CK Sooner]

Could Ronnell Lewis be the next in line? I figured Box would be the natural back up.

Box is next and then Bird.

[RedstickSooner]

Now what, is we hope we don't lose two LBs. Because that's what we've got at MLB.

We're not gonna win a national championship if we suffer heavily from the injury bug, folks -- so, really, now is the time to break out the voodoo dolls, or pagan goat sacrifice altar, or whatever you think may work... Because we need to stay healthy to have a shot.

Hell, what happens if Sam goes down? Are we going to call for Stoops' head because the backup isn't as good?

We can't have three-deep All-Americans at every position. That's USC's job ;)

[mehip]

I would hope that with all of these freaks that we have at DE and DT this year the coaches will find some way to pick up the slack for the apparent lack of depth at MLB. It would be wild and fun to see them adjust the scheme with the front 7 to keep pressure on the opponents OL every fracking down.

[gaylordfan1]

Could Ronnell Lewis be the next in line? I figured Box would be the natural back up.

Hmmmm... I've have never ponder'd the idea of R. Lewis getting some snaps to take up some slack. Very interesting. He is a big athletic kid. I think Coach V will have more answers for the def if injuries occur. He has to learn from last year. Will be interesting to see what unfolds from all this.

[CK Sooner]

Hmmmm... I've have never ponder'd the idea of R. Lewis getting some snaps to take up some slack. Very interesting. He is a big athletic kid. I think Coach V will have more answers for the def if injuries occur. He has to learn from last year. Will be interesting to see what unfolds from all this.

I believe Lewis is getting snaps at Defensive and and Strongside Linebacker. Box is next in line and then I bet BV moves Daniel Franklin over if Box gets hurt.

[JLEW1818]

move Gresham to Lb... ha

[Dio]

We can't have three-deep All-Americans at every position. That's what USC pays good money for ;)

fixed

[adoniijahsooner]

I almost forgot we are also working on a 3-4 defense, which will be ideal for our DE depth. Play 2 backers and put Beal and English on the edges. We're Cool.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=rivals-311592&prov=rivals&type=lgns


THE SCHEME: The Sooners’ base defense is a 4-3 set, but they may go to a 3-4 look in long-yardage situations. On obvious passing downs, look for E Jeremy Beal to stand up and move to various spots along the line to get advantageous pass-rushing matchups.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

they've been doing that since dan cody, but not really a 3-4 scheme

[MojoRisen]

Jayden Bird was playing damn well in spring also... I think Box is ready for this opportunity.

[adoniijahsooner]

they've been doing that since dan cody, but not really a 3-4 scheme

I think that would be an excellent defense with our current makeup.

[MojoRisen]

Beal was a heat seeking missle at Mike in highschool. Dude still runs a 4-6 or 4-7 plenty fast and he is huge.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I think that would be an excellent defense with our current makeup.

it does make for a interesting defense... stand a DE up and move him around the line...in theory, the formation still looks more 4-3 since he crowds the line and there are still only 3 true lbs

[Pigface1]

I would give my left nut for the team to be healthy for just one season since I don't know how long it's been. Unfortunately, the odds are definitely against RR making it through the season. Wort's already getting banged up. Hopefully they're not waiting any longer to move Box over to MLB for some back up reps.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

you know, thats one thing that the 2000 team had that isn't ever mentioned...health

[Pigface1]

you know, thats one thing that the 2000 team had that isn't ever mentioned...health

I really can't remember the last bowl game OU has had where we've been healthy. In the games OU has lost in recent years, most (if not all other than USC and Boise friggin State) were due, at least in large part, to injury. Murray in the Fla game, Reynolds in the RRS, Bradford vs TT, Reynolds vs Colorado (played his azz off, but it's tough to play pass coverage when you can't lift your arm above you chest), I lose track of how many were out for the WV game, etc etc etc.

Not moaning about it at all, just bad luck. :confused:

[JLEW1818]

I'm just gonna say, if DM plays in the bowl game, 100% healthy, we will win whatever bowl game that is, this year

[BoulderSooner79]

It has been mentioned here many times (maybe not recently) how lucky the 2000 team was in terms of injuries. No significant time lost to starters, although Heupel was rumored to have an arm injury late in the year and played through it.

Against Boise, AD was clearly rusty after the long layoff and didn't get going until the 2nd half. But the biggest hit was Malcolm Kelly got hurt early in the game (1st qtr I think). Boise had no one who could cover him and he was wide open for a long TD. PT under-threw to him badly and while waiting for the ball to come down, he got his leg tangled with the safety and hurt his knee.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

My guess is that somehow Brody Eldridge end up at LB

[ashley]

Good heavens, does anyone think the coaches don't think of these things?

[gaylordfan1]

I will give Coach V a +1. I trust him to do the right thing... one that is best for the team.

[Boomer38Sooner]

We gotta remember that these guys have dealt with adversity much larger than two backup middle linebackers not being able to play....Bomar getting kicked off the team and losing All-World RB, AD, and the crappy call against Oregon... To me this minor.

[CK Sooner]

Good heavens, does anyone think the coaches don't think of these things?

:rolleyes:

[stoopified]

According to the Norman Transcript Box is #2 at Mike and Ronnell Lewis is getting snaps there.

[CK Sooner]

According to the Norman Transcript Box is #2 at Mike and Ronnell Lewis is getting snaps there.

Yep, but I think Brent would move Daniel Franklin over before Ronnell gets a chance. Daniel has shown a lot of improvement.