Tag: Speed D

Defensive tackle Josh Ellison opts to hit transfer portal

Oklahoma’s roster reconstruction sees defensive tackle Josh Ellison depart for the transfer portal. From @thatmanbryant

Oklahoma’s growing list of transfers continues to get longer as defensive tackle Josh Ellison entered his name into the portal on Wednesday afternoon.

Ellison becomes the 13th Sooner to enter the portal. He’s the third interior defensive lineman to exit, following Alton Tarber and Cedric Roberts. Ellison, will have one year remaining wherever he lands.

Ellison joined the Sooners after spending time at Blinn College, one of the more prominent JUCO’s in the country. He was a part of Oklahoma’s 2020 recruiting class which also included Marvin Mims, Anton Harrison, and Andrew Raym.

Ellison was never a consistent starter and was more of a rotation piece during Alex Grinch’s “Speed D” days. He stuck around for the Brent Venables era and was again primarily a rotational guy.

His departure leaves Oklahoma desperate to find players via the transfer portal. They’ve now lost five defensive linemen between the transfer portal and guys like Jalen Redmond and Jeffery Johnson, who are headed off to the NFL.

As it stands right now, Notre Dame transfer Jacob Lacey is the only arrival from the transfer portal along the defensive line for the Sooners. Look for that number to grow in the coming weeks.

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Sooners safety Delarrin Turner-Yell declares for the 2022 NFL Draft

After three years starting for the Oklahoma Sooners, safety Delarrin Turner-Yell has declared for the NFL Draft.

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With the Sooners ending a tumultuous 2021 season on a high note with a win over the Oregon Ducks in the Valero Alamo Bowl, many Sooners took it as a positive way to close their final chapter at Oklahoma.

Nik Bonitto, Perrion Winfrey, and Isaiah Thomas all opted out before the game, while guys like Pat Fields, Marquis Hayes, Tyrese Robinson, Kennedy Brooks, and Gabe Brkic played in the win over Oregon, but have since declared for the 2022 NFL draft.

Following other Sooners defenders, safety Delarrin Turner-Yell has made it known he’ll be heading to the NFL.

Turner-Yell has been a steadfast and reliable option on the backend of the Sooners defense since coming to Norman.

In his career, he was a three-year starter, making 30 career starts. Turner-Yell led the Sooners with three interceptions this season and was fourth in tackles with 53.

For his career, he finishes with 190 total tackles, four interceptions, and a forced fumble. Turner-Yell was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection this season and an Academic All-Big 12 Second Team honoree as well.

Turner-Yell was reliable, had very few busts in coverage, and was a physical player at the strong safety position for Alex Grinch’s Speed D. His experience, leadership, and physicality will be yet another major hole for the Sooners to replace in Brent Venables’ first year as Sooners head coach.

The Hempstead, Texas native marks the 10th starter from this year’s team to declare for the NFL Draft. If Turner-Yell gets drafted, it’ll mark the second consecutive year a Sooners defensive back was drafted.

At a glance, a name like Key Lawrence immediately comes to mind as a guy that can replace Turner-Yell as the Sooners head into a winter where they’ll be retooling a lot of different positions on top of acclimating a handful of new coaches.

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Pat Fields named Wuerffel Trophy Finalist celebrating exemplary community service

Oklahoma Sooners senior safety Pat Fields was announced as a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy.

While he’s been a constant on the field for the Sooners over the years, Pat Fields has been just as remarkable off of it. Fresh off the press, Fields was nominated as a finalist for the prestigious Wuerffel Trophy, an award celebrating the FBS player who balances exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement. Nakobe Dean, a junior linebacker from the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs and Isaiah Sanders, a senior quarterback from Stanford join him as finalists.

Fields is a fourth-year senior safety from Tulsa, OK who has been a consistent and integral player in the Sooners’ defensive reimagining dubbed “Speed D.” When he’s not coming up making plays in the backfield, intercepting passes, or returning blocked kicks for points, he’s compiling a 3.82 GPA while pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting and a master’s degree in accounting. According to the official athletic website of the Sooners, both degrees project to be completed by December 2021.

His notable efforts with community service include the founding of “Town Business,” a financial literacy seminar. The seminar focuses heavily on teaching high school football student-athletes about budgeting, money management, credit, and personal branding. He enlisted the help of other notable college athletes, as well as current and former NFL players to help him.

His efforts mean so much to the area of Tulsa. Tulsa has seen a boom in the quality of athletes that are being produced there as they’ve produced high-level, professional-caliber athletes, for a while now. Look no further than former Sooner cornerback Tre Brown, who is contributing as a rookie for the Seattle Seahawks.

In addition to the seminar, he has started the Black Wall Street Scholarship. In collaboration with the president of the OU National Black Alumni Association, Black Wall Street provides scholarships for minority, underrepresented, and lower-income students from his hometown of Tulsa looking to come to Oklahoma while also hosting free football camps during the spring and summer.

His academic achievements include multiple Academic All-District selections (2020-21) and three Academic All-Big 12 First Team selections. He’s received multiple Scholar of the Year awards as well.

Most will only see him as the two-time captain, a three-year starter at safety with 189 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 10 pass breakups, and three interceptions on his ledger. Currently, he sits second on the team with 67 tackles, has 4.5 TFLs and two interceptions through 11 games this season.

The winner of the 2021 Wuerffel Trophy will be announced Dec. 9 on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN, a televised event that wraps up award season for college football, while the actual presentation of the trophy takes place on Feb. 25, 2022, at the 53rd All Sports Association Awards Banquet in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

As Fields potentially nears the end of his career as a homegrown Oklahoma Sooner in the next few weeks, regardless of how these next few weeks go, he will leave an incredible ambassador for his community, school, and his family on top of being an excellent ballplayer that helped bring respect back to the Oklahoma defense.

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Defense leads the way as the Oklahoma Sooners defeat Iowa State 28-21

Game recap of Oklahoma’s win vs Iowa State at home on Senior Day.

While it wasn’t always the prettiest display of football, the Oklahoma Sooners find themselves back in the win column after beating the Iowa State Cyclones 28-21. Coming off a tough loss on the road against the Baylor Bears, the Sooners had one week to turn the page and figure out how to stop an underachieving but tough Iowa State team.

The defense led the way for the Sooners. A unit that is was finally healthy for the first time since September dominated large chunks of the game. The Oklahoma defense amassed seven sacks, 11 tackles for loss, two interceptions, forced multiple fumbles (Key Lawrence had two), and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by Jalen Redmond. When the Sooners needed a play to seal the game, it was senior Pat Fields who came through with the timely interception.

The Iowa State Cyclones would start the scoring by driving down the field, aided by a few penalties, and a gratuitous review in the red zone that led to a Breece Hall touchdown run.

On the next drive, Caleb Williams would take a quarterback keeper 74 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at seven apiece. The defenses would settle in and the two teams would trade punts until the Sooners would muster up enough offense to get into field goal range. Kicker Gabe Brkic would miss his third consecutive kick, this time 25 yards out as it banged off the left upright.

The Cyclones would meticulously get downfield before Key Lawrence came in like a heat-seeking missile and blast Brock Purdy, forcing the fumble that Redmond would return for the Sooners’ second score of the game just before halftime.

The Sooners defense would come out of halftime still dominating defensively, while the offense continued to find itself. Oklahoma’s defensive line was relentless and on a 4th down got a stop that gave the Sooner prime field position. On Oklahoma’s ensuing drive, they’d march down the field, ultimately leading to Caleb Williams touchdown pass to Mario Williams. Williams, who played sparsely last week made an incredible catch and toe-touch on the sideline to make it a two-score game.

Brock Purdy was replaced by Hunter Dekkers due to injury on the next drive and came in and tossed an interception to Delarrin Turner-Yell. The Sooners’ offense wouldn’t take advantage of the interception as Caleb Williams tossed his third interception in two games on the following drive.

Dekkers led the Cyclones to the red zone where he’d find tight end Chase Allen for the touchdown to make it 21-14.

On Oklahoma’s next drive, the offensive line and the running game would take over. Kennedy Brooks led the way with 43 yards on three carries and the Sooners would be the beneficiaries of an Iowa State facemask penalty. Eric Gray would cap off the drive in the fourth quarter with a seven-yard touchdown run to make it 28-14.

Ultimately, “Speed D” would be the difference. Iowa State scored once more to close the gap to 28-21, but on the final drive with Brock Purdy back in the game, the Cyclones got to the Sooners 21-yard line, but faced a fourth and 10. Purdy dropped back to pass and looked to have plenty of time before he released the ball just out of the reach of tight end Chase Allen, who knocked the ball into the air before it was secured by senior Pat Fields for the interception. It was a fitting end to an emotional senior say for him and the rest of the Sooners senior class on Saturday.

Caleb Williams would take a knee and finish his day 8/18 for 87 yards with one touchdown pass, one interception, and one 74-yard rushing touchdown. Kennedy Brooks led the way with 17 carries and 115 yards.

The win was Oklahoma’s 10th on the season and guarantees that with one more Baylor loss or a win next week in Bedlam against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Sooners will make another trip to Arlington, Texas to play in the Big 12 Championship game.

For Iowa State, the loss drops them to 6-5 on the season. They’ll end their Big 12 campaign at home against TCU.

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3 Defensive Players to watch as Oklahoma takes on Texas Tech

The Sooners will take on Texas Tech in the last game before a much-needed bye week. Which 3 defenders will make an impact in Saturday’s game?

Some things are better solved with simplistic answers instead of trying to overcomplicate things. In the case of the current state of the Oklahoma Sooners defense, they simply need to get it done.

After a horrible showing for over half of the game in Lawrence, Kansas the Sooners found a way to make enough plays to get out of there with a win.

Now, they return home and face a Texas Tech offense that is far from a slouch and has some players that can make this game a headache for Oklahoma.

Texas Tech ranks second in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma in passing offense, and senior quarterback Henry Columbi has a big (literally) receiving weapon in 6-foot, 3-inch Eric Ezukanma, who will tower over the smaller OU defensive backs that Oklahoma is bound to send out there.

Senior Kaylon Geiger is their other main wide receiving threat and he has over 400 yards receiving to this point as well.

Their running game has guys like SaRodorick Thompson and Tahj Brooks, who both have over 300 yards and at least four touchdowns on the season.

Who are the three defensive players that can help out Oklahoma this week taking on this multi-faceted and talented Texas Tech offense? Take a look below.

Up Next: Redmond Returning

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4 defensive players to watch as Oklahoma takes on TCU

Oklahoma is in need of a bounce back defensive performance and to get it, these four Sooners are vital against TCU.

While the offense continues to find itself and find its quarterback, the Oklahoma Sooners defense will have to continue to show up. After a very poor performance in the first half of the Sooners win against the Texas Longhorns, Speed D found its footing and was absolutely lights out in the second half to hold up their end of the bargain in the team’s improbable comeback effort.

Timely stops, better coverage, and better tackling all led to better results in the second half of the Sooners’ win.

Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch will be hoping they can carry that second-half finish with them as they return home.

They now turn their attention to TCU, who’s offense has been pretty good in 2021.

They are led by Max Duggan and lining up in the backfield with him is former five-star running back Zach Evans and another solid running back in Kendre Miller. Out wide Quentin Johnston, Derius Davis, and Taye Barber are their main threats.

Who are the key Oklahoma defenders in this match-up? Here are four Sooners that are vital to Oklahoma’s chances of slowing down the Horned Frogs offense on Saturday night.

Up Next: It all Starts Upfront

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Big 12 Conference flips the script on the SEC when it comes to defense

The Oklahoma Sooners defense saw a complete overhaul under Alex Grinch. A big reason why they are poised to make a run at the CFP.

Traditionally, when viewers tuned into Big 12 conferences games they knew they would get an offensive firestorm, which looked more like a basketball score by the end of the game than a football game. Continue reading “Big 12 Conference flips the script on the SEC when it comes to defense”

Can Nik Bonitto build off stellar 2020 Season for the Oklahoma Sooners?

Nik Bonitto is one of the top returning players in all of college football, can he get off to a hot start in 2021?

The 2020 season was full of highlight performances from the Oklahoma Sooners. The defense experienced a breakout season in their second year under Alex Grinch’s leadership. At every level of the defense, we witnessed improved play all the way around. One player that saw a huge leap in production from the 2019 season and is poised for another big year is Rush Linebacker (edge rusher) Nik Bonitto.

Bonitto came into the 2020 season with just 3.5 sacks to his resume in 15 games played over the course of his true and redshirt freshmen seasons in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, however, his sack total jumped to nine in 10 games. That averages out to 0.9 sacks per game. For a shortened season, that’s fantastic production rushing the passer. Had the Sooners played their typical 13 games or so, that would project to 11.7 sacks in a season.

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It’s no wonder Bonitto was listed among 247Sports’ ranking of College Football’s 10 most feared defensive players. The guy is an absolute beast.

His ability to win with speed and power off the edge, play the run at a high level, and drop into coverage makes Nik Bonitto one of the most dangerous and versatile weapons in college football.

He performed well in the biggest games of the season for the Sooners. Bonitto totaled seven sacks in games against Kansas State, Texas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State (Big 12 Championship Game), and Florida (Cotton Bowl). The only big game he was kept off the sack ledge was in the first game against Iowa State. But he rebounded to come up with two sacks in the Red River Rivalry game the following week.

Alex Grinch and the Oklahoma Sooners defense will need Nik Bonitto to rise to the occasion as the premier pass rusher in college football. Expectations will continue to rise for Bonitto as the Sooners build off of an improved defensive performance. Now he’s the guy that offensive coordinators will be looking to slow down on the pass rush. As much as defensive football relies on all 11 guys doing their job, teams have to have guys that can take over a game. If the Sooners want to reach their goals of contending for and winning a national championship this season, Nik Bonitto will need to be a big part of it.

Sooners linebacker David Ugwoegbu, brings “different mentality” to OU’s defense

Coach Brian Odom dishes on middle linebacker David Ugwoegbu.

Last August, David Ugwoegbu moved from outside linebacker to inside for the Oklahoma Sooners. The 6-foot-4, 251-pounder shifted from his rush standing up end role to the middleman.  He made three starts commanding the second level of OU’s defense last season. The move was based on the intuition of inside linebackers’ coach Brian Odom and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch based on Ugwoegbu’s length and effectiveness to flow in space.

“When I saw his film out of high school, really didn’t think much about inside. In my mind it was going to be more of the outside linebacker position that we kind of thought. Which he played in his freshman year. I really didn’t anticipate being able to gain a guy like that until I saw him in drills. I saw him in drills, I saw him move in space. I saw the length and how he can handle his body and the competitiveness, the toughness, and the speed that he brings to the game. I saw that pretty early on when he got here. That got some wheels turning in my head as far as trying to steal him from another room. We are always recruiting.” (Brian Odom on David Ugwoegbu via zoom)

In 2020, Ugwoegbu notched 34 total tackles, one interception, 3.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, six quarterback hurries and a blocked punt. He became a disruptive presence on the field and served as a reliable backup to DaShaun White. Going through a full offseason at the MIKE position will elevate his game. Ugwoegbu possesses the skills to impact games with his playmaking, and as his reads and reactions become more natural, the sky is the limit. So much so that ESPN ranked Ugwoegbu as the No. 3 breakout player in America in 2021. 

“The thing with David is he brings such a different mentality as far as he is mature, he’s so physical, and he’s a tough guy, ” Odom described to media via zoom. “The other thing that I really really like about him is he loves football. Obviously, you cannot get over the length. The thing about David, his length- you don’t see him miss many tackles in space. A lot of that is due to how long he is. He gets more surface area on you when he goes to wrap you up. I really like coaching that guy. His impact should continue to grow. We moved him in there at the start of camp, right around the start of camp last August. This will be his first real true offseason as an inside backer. Like all those guys, we should see a jump in efficient play from David.”

Ugwoegbu will have a chance to earn the starting MIKE role over White during the offseason. No. 2 is a player to watch in Crimson and Cream. He took advantage of opportunities in 2020 stopping runs between the tackles and assessing the field as plays developed. Ugwoegbu is poised to have a breakout campaign this upcoming season.

Five-Star linebacker set to take unofficial visit to Oklahoma

2022 five-star linebacker from Cypress, Texas set for an unofficial visit to Norman

After a year hiatus, high school recruits will be able to take visits once again after it appears that the NCAA’s dead period will come to an end. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the dead period prevented any face-to-face contact between coaches and prospective recruits. With that coming to an end, there is no need for a Sooners Summit type deal as players will be able to visit schools once again.

A recent report showd that 2022 five-star linebacker Harold Perkins is lining up a visit to Oklahoma and Texas as well in June.

Harold Perkin’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 4 18 4 1
Rivals 4 35 6 5
ESPN 4 28 6 3
247 Composite 5 14 4 1

Vitals

Hometown Cypress, Texas
Projected Position Outside Linebacker
Height 6-2.5
Weight 200

Recruitment

  • Offered on April 10, 2020
  • Unofficial visit set for June

Offers

  • Oklahoma
  • Alabama
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Texas
  • Texas A&M

Crystal Ball

Film

Twitter

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