Tag: Da’Jon Terry

Da’Jon Terry leaves mark in Oklahoma Sooners win in the Cotton Bowl

Da’Jon Terry showed flashes of dominance in Oklahoma’s win over Texas.

The Oklahoma Sooners defensive line dominated the Texas Longhorns‘ offensive line on Saturday in the [autotag]Cotton Bowl[/autotag]. Several players made big impacts on the game, like [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Lacey[/autotag], [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag] and [autotag]Da’Jon Terry[/autotag].

Terry is someone a lot of Sooners fans had high hopes for when he transferred late in the offseason. His size was something the Sooners haven’t had in some time. Terry stands at 6-foot-3 and 321 pounds. Terry has been relatively quiet this season from a statistics perspective, but has been one of the better run defenders. His ability to eat blocks allows the linebacker to stay clean and get to the football.

But on Saturday he was able to have a big game himself. He talked to reporters on Monday about how crazy the atmosphere was for his first OU-Texas game.

“They said it was going to be 50-50, but in my head, I’m like there’s no possible way half the stadium is going to be crimson and half of the stadium is going to be orange like there’s no possible way,” Terry said. “Then when we got out there, I was like, ‘oh sheesh that was really for real.’ How loud it was just going back and forth like they were doing the Texas fight song and we were doing Boomer Sooner, it was amazing.”

Terry finished the game with four tackles, one sack, and 1.5 tackles for loss. He was a problem all day for a very good Longhorns offensive line.

When you get a game like this, it can become easy to start to relax. But now it’s key for a lot of these players, like Terry, who had their coming-out parties to build off of it for the rest of the season.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Report Card: Sooners pass biggest test of the season in win over Texas

The Sooners won an instant classic against their rivals from Texas 34-30. We went and graded every position group’s performance.

Oklahoma’s win over Texas was a significant notch in the belt of head coach Brent Venables. It also signified the revitalization of Oklahoma football, just a year removed from getting blasted 49-0 in the same stadium by the Longhorns.

Venables’ team spent the entire offseason leveling up and striving to return to the standard people have become accustomed to.

This season, the Sooners handled everything that came their way. Every setback or adversity they faced in their first five games prepared them for Saturday in Dallas. The entire team and coaching staff handled it masterfully as the Sooners beat Texas, 34-30.

It was the most complete performance of the season, and some of the most significant areas the Sooners needed to work on after last season’s 6-7 record were on full display. After passing a test like that, it’s time to pass out some grades. It’s report card time.

Can the Oklahoma Sooners slow down Cincinnati’s top 10 rushing attack?

If the Oklahoma Sooners want to leave Ohio with a win, it all starts with slowing down the Cincinnati Bearcats top 10 rushing attack.

It can be easy to discount a team’s success early in the season because of the assumed weakness in their nonconference schedule.

That’s the knock against Oklahoma heading into Big 12 play. “They haven’t played anyone,” people say.

The Sooners get a true test when they take on the [autotag]Cincinnati Bearcats[/autotag] today at 11 a.m. CT. Yes, the Bearcats are coming off of a loss to Miami (OH). Cincinnati had opportunities to win but failed to convert in the red zone and had some costly turnovers in the game. But that shouldn’t diminish what the Bearcats do really well, namely run the football.

Cincy comes into their first Big 12 matchup with the No. 8 rushing attack in the country. They’re averaging 239 rushing yards per game, five yards per carry, and two rushing touchdowns per game. In their lone Power Five contest against Pitt, the Bearcats ran for 216 yards in their 27-21 win.

Emory Jones will sling it, but Cincinnati wants to run the football. In order to take the air out of the high-flying Oklahoma Sooners offense, Bearcats head coach Scott Satterfield will want to use the running game to control the game.

For the Sooners to return from Ohio with a win, they’ll need to figure out how to slow down the Bearcats rushing attack.

Oklahoma comes into the game with the No. 16 run defense, allowing just 78 yards per game. Tulsa and SMU are currently averaging 166 rushing yards per game. The Sooners held the Mustangs to 116 yards and 3.54 yards per carry and the Golden Hurricane to just 71 yards rushing and 1.54 yards per carry.

The Sooners look like a team intent on stopping the run this season, and they’ve been very effective at it.

This offseason, they made a concerted effort to bulk up their defensive line in the weight room and in the transfer portal. After not having a defensive tackle over 300 pounds a year ago they have three players over that mark in 2023 in [autotag]Da’Jon Terry[/autotag], [autotag]Isaiah Coe[/autotag], and [autotag]Phillip Paea[/autotag]. [autotag]Jordan Kelly[/autotag] and [autotag]Jonah Laulu[/autotag] come in over 290 pounds. The Sooners have a healthy rotation of players with good size to help the OU hold up better at the point of attack this season.

The Oklahoma Sooners look like a defense trending in a fantastic direction. This game against Cincinnati will provide the Sooners a significant test for their run defense. If they can hold up and control the line of scrimmage, it will give Oklahoma a significantly better shot at winning the game.

Here are some of the best photos from Oklahoma’s last trip to Cincinnati back in 2010.

 

Stock Up, Stock Down: Passing game trending up, run game trending down as Sooners head into Big 12 opener

Taking a look at what is trending up or down as the Oklahoma Sooners prepare for Big 12 play.

The warm-ups are done now. Oklahoma’s nonconference schedule was far from a gauntlet, but they did what they needed to. This team is more equipped to be players for the Big 12 title this year than at any point last year. That much feels like a near certainty.

Starting Saturday at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, we’ll dive deeper into this team and see what they are about as the competition level jumps. They’ll take on one of the Big 12’s newest members, the Cincinnati Bearcats, who will provide unique challenges for the Sooners.

As they spend the rest of the week preparing for the matchup, Oklahoma as a team is trending in the right direction. Health isn’t much of a concern yet, though they’ll be without Justin Harrington. That speaks to the depth this team has built in such short order. They are playing well in all facets of the game, but there are still some question marks to which we don’t have answers.

Below, our stock report looks at what’s trending up for Oklahoma and what’s trending down as the Big 12 season begins.

Sooners DT Gracen Halton taking advantage of every opportunity

A pleasant surprise for the Sooners this year as been the emergence of Gracen Halton. Someone taking advantage of his opportunities.

Much has been made about how well the defensive line has been playing, especially against the run. The Oklahoma Sooners currently rank No. 15 in the nation in run defense.

That in itself is a massive improvement from a season ago. One guy on that defensive line who isn’t getting talked about enough is [autotag]Gracen Halton[/autotag]. Halton has arguably played the best of any of them and constantly flashes when he’s in the game.

Halton told reporters after practice on Monday he has improved from a year ago.

“I won’t say that I’m there but I’ve got a lot of work to do but I’m way better than I was last year,” Halton said. “Technique-wise and everything else, so I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m definitely better than last year.”

Halton has been playing as a role player rather than a starter, but he said the starters have really helped him get to where he is today. “I’m just learning from them,” Halton said. “They’re more experienced than me so every opportunity that I get, I’m just trying to go all in. That’s what I’m trying to display and show on TV and for the people watching.”

While his stats aren’t eye-popping, he is second on the team in tackles for loss with 2.5. But it’s the plays he makes consistently that don’t show up on the stat sheet like beating his guy and forcing the runner to cut back right into another tackler.

Stuff like that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but it’s stuff that will show up on film. Which will ultimately lead to more playing time for the one they call “G Baby.”

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Report Card: Saturday against Tulsa was about passing final nonconference test with flying colors

Oklahoma dominated Tulsa from beginning to end. Take a look as we go position by position and hand out grades for the performance.

Saturday’s dismantling of Tulsa was a much-needed conclusion for the Sooners to their nonconference schedule. The Sooners needed to erase any doubts, bouncing back and disposing of teams handily after a grind-it-out win against SMU.

The concerns about the conservative nature of the offense against SMU were put to rest as Oklahoma slung the ball all over the field for 476 yards.

Defensively, the Sooners grounded the Tulsa passing attack, allowing less than 250 yards through the air.

It was a convincing win and a pleasant, feel-good tuneup before they turn their heads to Cincinnati. Big 12 play is upon them, but before we turn the page, let’s pass out grades for this weekend’s performances.

Brent Venables thought the defensive line ‘played well’ despite the one sack

The Oklahoma Sooners did almost everything right in Week 1 but with only one sack, many are wondering what happened. Brent Venables said there isn’t anything to worry about.

If there was one criticism about the Oklahoma Sooners’ first game of the season, it was the pass rush didn’t get home as much as fans would like. Now, there is context as to why, from the quick drops to Arkansas State’s max protection when running deeper passing concepts.

Max protection made it so that there were almost always two people on one guy. The way the defensive line did show up was in the running game. The Sooners held the Arkansas State Red Wolves to 48 yards on 2.1 yards per carry.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] talked about the defensive line (ESPN+) performance during his show on Monday night.

“I thought they played well,” Venables said. “Not perfect. They didn’t drop back a lot. You’re rushing four, and they had seven or eight-man protection several times. They did a lot of boots so you don’t have clean opportunities for sacks necessarily.”

Venables is someone who wouldn’t sugarcoat the performance if it wasn’t good enough.

[autotag]Da’Jon Terry[/autotag] spoke after practice on Monday and said he felt it was an overall good defensive performance.

“Everybody stepped up and did what they were supposed to do,” Terry said. “We didn’t have very many busts defensively, and everyone stepped up and did their part.”

Now the Sooners will take on an SMU Mustangs team with a high-powered offense that almost assuredly won’t do much max protection. So, if the pass rush is a no-show in this game, then there are problems.

Until then, there isn’t much to worry about.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Media weighs in on Oklahoma’s breakout player, toughest game in 2023

OU and College Football Media Personalities weigh in on which Sooners will have a breakout season for Oklahoma in 2023. Which game will be the toughest this season?

The 2023 college football season is nigh upon us. The Oklahoma Sooners open the season with the Arkansas State Red Wolves coming to town.

A new year creates new opportunities for players on both sides of the ball to experience breakout seasons.

While depth was an issue a year ago, the work of this coaching staff on the recruiting trail and through the transfer portal have helped create competition at a number of spots. The Sooners feel good about the “competitive depth” they’re carrying into the season across the board.

Oklahoma released its depth chart ahead of week one, which provided some answers to the position battles they’ve been working through this year. But how will that depth reveal itself on gameday and which players will experience breakout seasons in 2023?

We’ve gathered the opinions of a number of media personalities from across Oklahoma Sooners coverage. Here’s who they think will have a breakout year and which game will be the toughest in 2023.

From my days covering the Dallas Cowboys for Inside The Star, this has been one of my favorite pieces to create.

Hope you enjoy.

5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners first official depth chart of 2023

5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners first official depth chart of the 2023 season.

If there’s one thing that signals we are genuinely back for college football, it’s the release of the official depth charts for colleges across the country. .

Earlier Tuesday morning, Oklahoma’s official football account released the depth chart, helping paint a clearer picture of how this year’s team will be deployed. Several names who played sparingly last year or didn’t play at Oklahoma are now in starting roles for the Sooners.

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All offseason, Brent Venables stressed competitive depth as one of the biggest changes from last offseason to this offseason. It clearly shows up on paper as the depth chart has 21 different “OR” situations.

In many ways, the game against Arkansas State is a tryout for many players to solidify or leap someone at their respective positions. Below, we share our five takeaways from the first official depth chart.

Oklahoma Sooners pass rush will be better in 2023

With added talent and more experience, the Oklahoma Sooners pass rush will be much better in 2023 than it was a year ago.

Among the many issues the Oklahoma Sooners ran into when they entered Big 12 play was the dropoff of their pass rush. In a defense predicated on pressure, the Sooners finished tied for 64th in the nation with 2.15 sacks per game. Much of that success came in their nonconference, when the Sooners defense was looking pretty good. Once they entered Big 12 play, the pass rush was a different story.

The losses of [autotag]Nik Bonitto[/autotag], [autotag]Isaiah Thomas[/autotag], and [autotag]Perrion Winfrey[/autotag] were felt up front as Oklahoma broke in several new starters along the defensive line.

There was solid play from guys like [autotag]Reggie Grimes[/autotag], who got off to a hot start to the season, and [autotag]Ethan Down[/autotag]s, who closed the season strong. However, the play from their defensive line was inconsistent, and that was felt throughout the back seven.

With Downs and Grimes returning, along with other prominent fixtures in the defensive line rotation like [autotag]Isaiah Coe[/autotag] and [autotag]Jordan Kelley[/autotag], there’s hope that the Sooners’ pass rush will be improved this year.

[autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag] showed flashes last fall, as did [autotag]Gracen Halton[/autotag] in the spring. Both Thomas and Halton play with incredible quickness that they can create pressure in a hurry.

With more experience and another year of development, Oklahoma’s key returners along the defensive line will play a big part in the Sooners’ pressure resurgence.

But the Sooners’ coaching staff didn’t sit on their hands and assume the defensive front would develop. Brent Venables and his crew attacked the transfer portal with the same intensity that he coaches.

Oklahoma Added four defensive tackles in [autotag]Davon Sears[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Lacey[/autotag], [autotag]Phillip Paea[/autotag], and [autotag]DaJon Terry[/autotag]. They also added defensive ends [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag] and [autotag]Trace Ford[/autotag]. [autotag]Dasan McCullough[/autotag], who figures to factor in at Cheetah, played EDGE for Indiana in 2022 and accumulated four sacks as a true freshman. In Bothroyd, Ford, and McCullough, the Sooners added 28 career sacks to their defensive end room.

Then there are the incoming freshmen like [autotag]Adepoju Adebawore[/autotag], [autotag]Taylor Wein[/autotag], [autotag]Ashton Sanders[/autotag], and [autotag]Markus Strong[/autotag]. Adebawore is the five-star edge rusher that is long and super athletic. Wein flew under the radar until late in his senior year, but he’s also a very good athlete in his own right. Sanders and Strong offer good size and athleticism in the middle and can be disruptive. It only remains to be seen how quickly the freshmen can acclimate and help add to the Sooners’ depth along the defensive front.

If there’s truly strength in numbers, the Oklahoma Sooners have turned what was a weakness a year ago into a strength ahead of the 2023 football season. The talent added to the development they had in-house will be a big reason why the Oklahoma Sooners improve from the six-win team they were a year ago.

The Sooners raised their talent floor along the defensive line for 2023. Although we won’t be able to truly evaluate the pass rush until they get into Big 12 play, and the Texas game in particular, this team has added talent to rush the passer. They’ve raised the talent floor, minimizing any dropoff the Sooners might see from their starters to their rotational guys. That improved talent and more experience will help Oklahoma win on the rush a lot more frequently than it did in 2023.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.