Mentioned this is another thread, but Stoops made it sound (at Monday's presser) like Phillips would be good to go this week. He said he was "close" to playing against TCU, and he thought he'd be back this week. Unless something has changed, I would expect him to play. I wonder if folks are confusing Stoops comments about Phillips issue last week, with this week. Stoops did mention there was a "genetic" issue that kept him out of practice last week.
Hopefully. Mike Stoops wouldn't say one way or another on Monday, but again, that's the same day Bob said he (Phillips) should be ready to go.
Phillips has the ability to be flat out disruptive. He's not like a Nix who is just a behemoth (as he is about 30 lbs lighter), he is athletic. I would garner a guess, and there is no way to measure this, that OU has one of the most athletic DLs in the game. There are some who are bigger (ie ND), but guys like Phillips, Tapper, Grissom, Wade, Ch. Nelson, and Onuoha are as athletic as they come for their positions. Ndulue gets an athletic advantage when he goes inside (DT), but a strength advantage when he goes outside (DE). I guess you could use the athleticism about he and Dimon. With Co. Nelson out, we may see some experimentation up front. Coach Stoops liked to use a spinner- stand up DE- (Kearse at UF). Co. Nelson was the LB used around the LOS as a disruptor. Whereas Alexander will be the primary, look for the Stoops Brothers to use guys like Ch. Nelson, Mike Onuoha, or even DJ Ward in that manner. All are listed as DEs, but their game is more like that of a "spinner/ pass rush specialist". Since I expect to see a lot of 3rd and longs over the next couple of weeks, look for this to be a possible rotation: DE: Tapper NT: Phillips (or Ndulue) DE: Grissom OLB/DE: Ch. Nelson MLB: Shannon OLB: Striker NB: Wilson CB: Colvin CB: Sanchez SS: Lynn FS: Hayes Just a thought...
Announcers said he has a back problem. First I've heard of that...guess it could be a 'genetic issue' involving the spine or something?
Phillips being out is really hurting. We don't have enough size in the middle and no one we can rotate in to fix it. Horns just have to keep running and play it conservative in the 2nd half and it will be really hard to erase that 13 pt lead.
