OK2U
10/21/2010, 10:45 AM
He kind of disappeared there for a while, but played a great first half last week before getting dinged up again--let's hope he's alright because he's got great speed for a guy his size.
Anyone know what happened against Iowa State? Stoops didn't elaborate.
NORMAN — Three days before Oklahoma’s game against Cincinnati, Frank Alexander decided it was time for a change. The junior had done little in the first few games of the season due to a preseason ankle injury.
He knew only time would help that situation. But he also thought trying something different might help.
The dreadlocks he’d worn since he arrived at OU were a good place to start.
“I just had to change it up. I’ve had the dreads the whole time I’ve been here. I wanted a new look,” Alexander said. “I wanted to try something different.”
It’s impossible to presume shaving his head turned things around for Alexander. High ankle sprains don’t have anything to do with hair styles. But his performance against Iowa State showed Alexander’s beginning to come out of his shell.
Three tackles with one for a loss is considered a pretty good game for a defensive lineman. Alexander finished with seven, three going for losses against the Cyclones.
“I don’t know if his ankle was feeling better or what,” Sooner defensive end Jeremy Beal said. “I guess he decided he needed to play better. I’m glad he did.”
A healthy Alexander could be the final piece of the puzzle for the Sooner defense. Beal is one of the best in the country, but he can only come off one edge. Two defensive ends playing at a high level can give quarterbacks that claustrophobic feeling the walls are closing and running backs the sense that there’s no room to run.
When Alexander’s in top form he creates a lot of anxiety for an offense. He’s a pass rusher who can play the run. The Sooners entered this season believing Alexander could be a pillar on the defensive line.
“He had a good fall camp and had a good spring,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “He was playing well.”
Then the ankle injury occurred in August. Everything Alexander had been working on since 2009 was on hold. He didn’t practice, run or do much of anything for three weeks.
“The only way those things get better is to stay off it,” defensive ends coach Bobby Jack Wright said. “That’s hard to do.”
You can’t play if you can’t practice. Alexander’s played in every game but the season opener, but it’s been trying process. The pain was always there.
“It’s getting better,” he said, “but it’s one of those injuries where if you step wrong or drag it wrong … it doesn’t set me back to where it was, but I can feel it and it makes it that much harder for me to go out there and play on.”
The week off between the Texas and Iowa State games helped. His play against the Cyclones provided ample evidence.
“I think it was definitely a step forward for him, and we need that to continue to come along to help make us better,” Venables said. “Hopefully he can keep putting one foot in front of another.”
The third-ranked Sooners (6-0, 2-0 Big 12) will need similar production when it faces 18th-ranked Missouri (6-0, 2-0) at 7 Saturday night at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. The only way to slow a very talented Tiger offense is pressure. Alexander applied a lot of it when the teams met in the 2008 Big 12 championship game, making six tackles.
The performance against Iowa State showed Alexander can still do it. For the first time, the pain took a back seat to everything else against Iowa State.
“I felt like I was my old self again,” Alexander said.
John Shinn 366-3536 [email protected]
Anyone know what happened against Iowa State? Stoops didn't elaborate.
NORMAN — Three days before Oklahoma’s game against Cincinnati, Frank Alexander decided it was time for a change. The junior had done little in the first few games of the season due to a preseason ankle injury.
He knew only time would help that situation. But he also thought trying something different might help.
The dreadlocks he’d worn since he arrived at OU were a good place to start.
“I just had to change it up. I’ve had the dreads the whole time I’ve been here. I wanted a new look,” Alexander said. “I wanted to try something different.”
It’s impossible to presume shaving his head turned things around for Alexander. High ankle sprains don’t have anything to do with hair styles. But his performance against Iowa State showed Alexander’s beginning to come out of his shell.
Three tackles with one for a loss is considered a pretty good game for a defensive lineman. Alexander finished with seven, three going for losses against the Cyclones.
“I don’t know if his ankle was feeling better or what,” Sooner defensive end Jeremy Beal said. “I guess he decided he needed to play better. I’m glad he did.”
A healthy Alexander could be the final piece of the puzzle for the Sooner defense. Beal is one of the best in the country, but he can only come off one edge. Two defensive ends playing at a high level can give quarterbacks that claustrophobic feeling the walls are closing and running backs the sense that there’s no room to run.
When Alexander’s in top form he creates a lot of anxiety for an offense. He’s a pass rusher who can play the run. The Sooners entered this season believing Alexander could be a pillar on the defensive line.
“He had a good fall camp and had a good spring,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “He was playing well.”
Then the ankle injury occurred in August. Everything Alexander had been working on since 2009 was on hold. He didn’t practice, run or do much of anything for three weeks.
“The only way those things get better is to stay off it,” defensive ends coach Bobby Jack Wright said. “That’s hard to do.”
You can’t play if you can’t practice. Alexander’s played in every game but the season opener, but it’s been trying process. The pain was always there.
“It’s getting better,” he said, “but it’s one of those injuries where if you step wrong or drag it wrong … it doesn’t set me back to where it was, but I can feel it and it makes it that much harder for me to go out there and play on.”
The week off between the Texas and Iowa State games helped. His play against the Cyclones provided ample evidence.
“I think it was definitely a step forward for him, and we need that to continue to come along to help make us better,” Venables said. “Hopefully he can keep putting one foot in front of another.”
The third-ranked Sooners (6-0, 2-0 Big 12) will need similar production when it faces 18th-ranked Missouri (6-0, 2-0) at 7 Saturday night at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. The only way to slow a very talented Tiger offense is pressure. Alexander applied a lot of it when the teams met in the 2008 Big 12 championship game, making six tackles.
The performance against Iowa State showed Alexander can still do it. For the first time, the pain took a back seat to everything else against Iowa State.
“I felt like I was my old self again,” Alexander said.
John Shinn 366-3536 [email protected]