Share the Sugar
This game serves as the perfect opportunity for the Sooners to get back to spreading the wealth. One of the questions heading into the offseason is who will start at wide receiver opposite Marvin Mims.
Mario Williams is a legitimate threat and while he had a decent freshmen campaign he could really stand to be free and let loose like Hollywood Brown was. Let him and Trevon West take the top off of defenses while guys like Drake Stoops, Cody Jackson, Mims and Brayden Willis work underneath and in the intermediate part of the defense. Feeding Eric Gray in a myriad of ways would also go along way for the game at hand and also for confidence heading into another offseason too.
Up Next: Beware of this safety
Beware of Verone McKinley
Without a doubt, safety Verone McKinley will be the best Oregon player to step on the field especially in the wake of Thibodeaux’s absence. McKinley appeared and started in all 13 of the Ducks’ games this season. No player in the country intercepted more passes than McKinley’s six, and he was also second on Oregon’s squad with 72 tackles. He led the team with 12 total pass deflections to cap it off.
McKinley was also selected to the Pac-12 all-first team defense in addition to being a Thorpe Award finalist. He presents a unique matchup for the Sooners to scheme against but if they find ways to get him off balance and work away from him, it greatly increases their chances to win.
In 2021 he’s lined up at boundary corner, nickel corner, as a single-high safety, two-high safety and in the box for the Ducks. Basically everywhere you can imagine for a defensive back. He’s a pro at recognizing leverage and shows good spatial awareness in zone coverage. He’s a major problem the Sooners will have to work around.
The Sooners seem more amped, are healthy and have a major edge on offense in terms of continuity that ultimately should result in them putting together a solid game offensively. Williams may take a few drives to get to Oregon defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, but he and Cale Gundy should be fine if they handle the keys mentioned above.