Tag: Rondell Bothroyd

How did EA Sports rate Oklahoma’s defense in ‘College Football 25?’

When “College Football 25” drops, the Oklahoma Sooners will open with one of the best defenses in the country.

EA Sports is releasing “College Football 25” on July 19, and fans are excited for the return of the college football video game series.

On Thursday, EA released its defensive ratings for the 25 best defenses in the game, and Oklahoma is just outside the top 10.

“College Football 25” has OU as the No. 12 defense ahead of the launch of the highly anticipated video game. It’s the No. 4 best defense in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. This comes following the mutual parting of ways between the program and former defensive coordinator [autotag]Ted Roof[/autotag] and the hiring of his replacement, [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag].

On the field, the Sooners have plenty of experienced talent returning on the defensive side of the ball. The secondary is led by [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] at safety and [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] at cornerback, but features plenty of young talent as well.

[autotag]Gentry Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Kani Walker[/autotag] will battle for the spot opposite of Washington. [autotag]Robert Spears-Jennings[/autotag] and [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] will see an increase in snaps this year with the departures of [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag] and [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag].

The defensive line sees some change but still has [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag] leading the way up front. [autotag]Da’Jon Terry[/autotag] and [autotag]Trace Ford[/autotag] are veterans who will aid in the development of younger players like [autotag]Damonic Williams[/autotag], [autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag], [autotag]Jayden Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Adepoju Adebawroe[/autotag] and [autotag]David Stone[/autotag]. The defensive line is in a solid place moving forward even after losing [autotag]Jordan Kelley[/autotag], [autotag]Isaiah Coe[/autotag], [autotag]Jonah Laulu[/autotag] and [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag]. The Sooners also saw [autotag]Jermayne Lole[/autotag] flip his commitment from OU to Texas in the spring portal window.

The strength of the defense is the talent and depth at linebacker. At the inside spots, [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] returns as the heart and soul of the unit. [autotag]Jaren Kanak[/autotag], [autotag]Kobie McKinzie[/autotag], [autotag]Kip Lewis[/autotag] and [autotag]Lewis Carter[/autotag] will all see plenty of snaps alongside Stutsman. The loss of [autotag]Justin Harrington[/autotag] at the cheetah position stings, but [autotag]Kendel Dolby[/autotag], [autotag]Dasan McCullough[/autotag] and [autotag]Samuel Omosigho[/autotag] provide Alley will plenty of options at that spot.

The Sooners open with an 88 overall defense in “College Football 25,” tied with Texas, Penn State, Utah, Florida State and Iowa.

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Trace Ford brings much-needed experience to Oklahoma’s defensive line

Trace Ford will step into a leadership role in his second season as a Sooner.

The Oklahoma Sooners return plenty of experience on the defensive side of the ball in 2024. However, most of it comes at the linebacker position and in the secondary.

Defensive line is a different story for OU entering Year 3 under head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]. While there is some experience in the trenches with Ethan Downs and Da’Jon Terry, a number of new faces will have to get acclimated to [autotag]Miguel Chavis[/autotag]’ and [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag]’ way of doing things.

Oklahoma lost standout performers [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag], [autotag]Jonah Laulu[/autotag], [autotag]Isaiah Coe[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Lacey[/autotag] and [autotag]Jordan Kelley[/autotag]. The veterans were crucial to last year’s step forward up front.

Each of those players were redshirt seniors, and all but Lacey ran out of eligibility. Lacey was forced to medically retire prior to spring football.

But another redshirt senior, [autotag]Trace Ford[/autotag], decided to return for his second season in Norman. He’ll step into more of a leadership role as OU moves from the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] to the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].

Ford isn’t the most experienced player on the D-line for the Sooners (that would be Downs). He may not be a starter at his defensive end position (it’ll likely be [autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag] opposite Downs). But, his experience in college football will be extremely valuable for the bevy of talented true freshmen that Chavis and Bates brought in. As a former transfer, he’ll also be a resource for the younger transfer portal additions, such as [autotag]Damonic Williams[/autotag].

Ford played mostly in a reserve role last year on a crowded defensive line. After transferring from Oklahoma State following 8 1/2 sacks in three seasons, he had 18 tackles last year for the Sooners. He also snagged one interception against Tulsa.

Modest stats, sure, but Oklahoma is entering a conference where the trenches are the difference between winning and losing games. Teams that are strong up front and have the athletes to get the job done, typically win in the SEC. The teams that don’t get swallowed up and exposed quickly.

The offensive line remains a question mark for the Sooners, but the defensive line is an area to watch after a lot of player movement since this winter. Having a player like Ford, who provides depth and experience, can only serve to help OU the deeper they get into the season.

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Oklahoma Sooners land visit from highly touted edge transfer target

The Oklahoma Sooners are in the running for arguably the best EDGE defender in the transfer portal.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been hard at work building their 2024 roster. After signing their 2024 recruiting class and the Alamo Bowl, the Sooners refocused their attention on the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag].

The Sooners landed one on Tuesday from the portal and could land another later this week if all goes according to plan. They are scheduled to get a visit from arguably the best edge defender in the transfer portal.

Purdue Boilermakers [autotag]Nic Scourton[/autotag] (formerly Caraway) announced he plans to visit the Sooners on Saturday. Oklahoma is one of four schools getting visits from the talented pass rusher. The Sooners will host Scourton on Jan. 6 after he takes trips to Texas A&M, Florida State and Missouri.

Scourton had a monster season, leading the Big Ten in sacks with 10. He had 50 tackles and 15 tackles for loss. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound lineman fits the mold of [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Redmond[/autotag]. He can play both inside and outside if needed. He would provide a dominant pass rusher, something the Sooners haven’t had in recent years.

The issue is the first visit on his list. Oklahoma fans know all too well how hard it is to overcome the Texas A&M Aggies in recruiting. This time will be no different. Scourton’s hometown is 11 minutes away from College Station, Texas. Missouri has proven a thorn in Oklahoma’s side, and you can’t discount what Mike Norvell is building at Florida State.

The Sooners have one advantage. Scourton’s former teammate, [autotag]Deion Burks[/autotag], joined the Sooners through the transfer portal this offseason.

He has been actively recruiting Scourton to the Sooners.

The Sooners’ coaching staff is hard to beat. They’ve done a great job of reeling in guys when many don’t think they have much of a chance. If they can pull him away from College Station, it would be a massive recruiting win heading into the SEC.

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Oklahoma loses former defensive end starter to the transfer portal

The Oklahoma Sooners lose a former starting defensive end to the transfer portal.

Another former highly touted recruit for the Oklahoma Sooners hit the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] on Monday. This time it was defensive end [autotag]Reggie Grimes[/autotag].

Grimes spent four years in Norman; he tallied 43 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Grimes showed flashes, especially during the 2022 season when he was a starter.

He opened that season with four sacks and five tackles for loss. The only problem is he only had one-half sack and 2.5 tackles for loss the rest of the season. He lost his starting job to [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag] this season and ended up playing in four games as a role player.

With Grimes only playing four games, he has two years of eligibility remaining for wherever he decides to transfer.

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‘There’s always a story behind it’: Brent Venables on the low sack numbers

The lack of sacks is not a worry for Brent Venables and Co.

The 2023 season for the Oklahoma Sooners was about improvement. Across the board, there has been improvement in just about every area.

But one area that has not seen much improvement is the defense’s inability to create sacks. The Sooners had 28 sacks a season ago and currently sit at 18 sacks with one game remaining in the regular season.

Often sacks are used to determine if a defensive line has had a good season or not. However, while it’s a good thing to have a lot of sacks, it’s not always indicative of the play of a defensive line. Run defense can be more telling of a team’s ability up front.

But still, they’ve clearly taken a step back in the sacks department. A big reason is they just don’t have a true difference-maker on the defensive line.

Brent Venables spoke about some other reasons as to why that number might be as low as it is. “There’s always a story behind it,” Venables said. “I think the easy one is ‘Oh look this final stat sheet there are no sacks, they must suck.’ Or you just watch the game, and oh I see either we are not stopping the run, so it’s a lot of 3rd and short, or it’s 4th and short, so you aren’t going to get a lot of seven-step drops. Or maybe it’s a team that’s committed to running three-man routes and seven-man protections. Last I checked, seven against four is hard because people respect things that we do. We are not getting a bunch of five on four.”

Combine that with a lot of teams getting the ball out quickly and more athletic quarterbacks and it makes it harder to get home.

When you watch a game, the other team will generally tell you what they think about the Sooners. No, Oklahoma doesn’t have crazy sack numbers, but with teams keeping seven men into block, they are telling you how much they respect Oklahoma as a pass-rushing team.

There’s always more to the story than meets the eye.

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Report Card: Offense’s dysfunction dooms Sooners chance to end Bedlam on top

Grading the Oklahoma Sooners by position group in their loss to Oklahoma State.

If Saturday was the last time Bedlam is played, the Oklahoma Sooners will always regret how things went in their final game against their in-state rivals. The Sooners will walk away from this game knowing they have dominated this series. There’s no debating that the Sooners have owned the Cowboys. But on Saturday, Oklahoma had the chance to put one final bow on this lopsided series, and they didn’t get it done.

Oklahoma State came out swinging, and the Sooners responded. But the most common theme was Oklahoma’s offense stalling on four different possessions once they got to the Oklahoma State side of the field. Most notably on the Sooners’ final drive of the game.

Defensively, Oklahoma played well enough to win. After getting bullied early, the defense found its footing and locked in the remainder of the contest.

In the end, the dysfunction and mistakes on offense put Oklahoma in a near-impossible spot. When it mattered most, they couldn’t rectify their own mistakes.

Oklahoma will move on and turn their attention to West Virginia. Before that, it’s time to pass out grades for Oklahoma’s performance against Mike Gundy’s Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Report Card: Poor grades all around as Oklahoma loses to Kansas

Oklahoma struggles nearly across the board areas but how did each position group grade out in the loss to Kansas?

Oklahoma took their first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to the [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag] on a rainy and disgusting day in Lawrence. From the first play from scrimmage, it appeared Oklahoma would be in for a fight. And sure enough, that’s precisely what happened.

Oklahoma fell victim to another slow start on both sides of the ball. The Sooners were never able to get their passing game going. Due to the weather conditions, they relied heavily on their offensive line and running backs to generate offense.

The sooners will try and figure things out as they get set to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in what will be the last Bedlam for quite some time.

OU played a rough game on all fronts. Some things were encouraging, but a lot of the performance put forth was not good enough. We broke it down by position group below.

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.

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15 highest-graded Oklahoma Sooners through Week 4 per Pro Football Focus

Four games into the season, who are the highest-graded Oklahoma Sooners according to Pro Football Focus.

The Oklahoma Sooners are playing good football as they head into Week 5. They’re 4-0 and allowing an average of 8.5 points per game. Though the offense scored just 20 points against Cincinnati, Dillon Gabriel left a little meat on the bone with a couple of bad overthrows and a fumble inside the 10-yard line.

It could have easily been a 34-6 game.

But, the Sooners are 4-0 and looking like a contender in the Big 12. They’ll have to continue to prove it on the field, but for the most part, they’re looking like a much-improved football team.

Through four weeks, the Sooners have received some standout performances, but who has earned the best grades from Pro Football Focus through four games?

Here are the top 15 graded Sooners who have played at least 77 snaps or 25% of the possible snaps this season.

Report Card: Defense flies high, offense stuck in a rut in 28-11 win over SMU

In our report card for Oklahoma’s performance against SMU, the defense leads the way with the highest marks.

The offense didn’t put its best foot forward in the Sooners 28-11 win over SMU. However, the defense kept Oklahoma in control until the Sooners were able to put together a couple of late scoring drives to seal the win.

Oklahoma knows it will have to play better as the season wears on. They’ll need to improve in all three phases to be in the mix for a Big 12 title berth in November. But for this game, it was enough.

Instead of a shootout, we got a game where neither team even scratched 40 points.

Here’s how each position group graded out in the 28-11 win over SMU.