OU Practice Report
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
3/25/2006
NEWS AND NOTES
In pads: Friday's practice was the Sooners' third of the 15 allotted drills, but the first in full pads, and the first outdoors.
"The usual first day in pads," head coach Bob Stoops said. "A little sloppy, I guess, with our snap count and all. But we've changed it up and we need to keep changing it up. So that's expected."
Snap issues: Some of the offense's inconsistencies so far can be traced to a revolving door at center. Friday, redshirt freshman Ben Barresi sat out with an undisclosed injury, and true freshman Chad Roark did most of the work with the starting unit. Sophomores Jon Cooper and J.D. Quinn, the lead candidates for the job in the fall, are both recovering from offseason surgeries.
"It gets a little foggy sometimes who 1s and 2s are," Stoops said. "Yeah, right now in the spring there's a lot of rotation going on where you get a lot of 1s and 2s together, really on both sides of the ball."
Switching sides: Freshman Brian Simmons, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound defensive tackle who redshirted last season, moved to the offensive line on Friday and was frequently used at guard. Simmons hails from North Carolina but came to OU from Hargrave Military Academy.
OU
needs offensive linemen in the worst way, and with Barresi down, the situation has become bleak. Simmons said he agreed to the move because of the success that Jammal Brown and Davin Joseph had after switching from defensive line. Brown became a first-round NFL pick, and Joseph is projected as a second-rounder next month.
"I thought (Simmons) looked awesome for one day and just, on the run, trying to teach him where to go and what to do," Stoops said. "But he looks like a natural in there. I kind of equate and evaluate it a little bit like a Davin and Jammal. They made the transition, and I think it has a chance to be really good for Brian as well."
SCRIMMAGE PREVIEW
OU will scrimmage on Saturday for the first time this spring. After an 11 a.m. practice, the team will begin what Stoops said will be a 60-play scrimmage, lasting about an hour. The scrimmage is expected to start around noon. Campus lots will be open, and gates 1 and 11 on the west side of Memorial Stadium will open at 10 a.m.
Stoops said quarterback Rhett Bomar will work exclusively with the No. 1 offense, and that running back Adrian Peterson will be "tagged" for limited contact if he does anything at all.
It might be good to rest Peterson not only for his sake, but for the defense's as well. On Friday, Peterson took one handoff around the left end and slammed into safety Darrien Williams. Williams spent the next 30 seconds trying to readjust his helmet.
"I keep telling him, 'Why don't you try and avoid somebody?' " Stoops said. "He keeps muscling up on everyone."