Tag: Woodi Washington

Final thoughts on the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Nebraska Cornhuskers

Final thoughts as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to close out their non-conference schedule vs. the Cornhuskers on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff.

The anticipation has come to a head as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers today at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as part of Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff.

Bob Stoops will be in Norman with Fox and will be honored at halftime for his upcoming College Football Hall of Fame Induction in December. It is fitting that Stoops is in attendance as the former Oklahoma Sooners head coach was on the sidelines the last time these two teams met in the 2010 Big 12 Championship game.

The Oklahoma Sooners take on a Nebraska team that has rebounded well after a week 0 loss to Illinois in the rare opening week conference game. The Cornhuskers have won their last two games against Fordham and Buffalo by an average of 35 points.

Nebraska isn’t the team it once was, but that doesn’t lessen the excitement for this game. Our Sooners Wire Staff feels very confident in the Sooners’ chances to win this game, but some things need to be figured out as the two teams lock up for the first time in more than a decade today.

Key Players for the Oklahoma Sooners defense vs. Nebraska

A look at the three players on the Oklahoma defense that are key players against Nebraska.

Oklahoma will wrap up its nonconference schedule with their toughest opponent thus far in Nebraska. The game is symbolic as an old rivalry is renewed on the 50th anniversary of the ‘Game of the Century.

On the field, OU will face a noticeable step up in competition as opposed to their games against Tulane and Western Carolina University. Defensively, they will have to contend with one of the best running quarterbacks in the nation in Adrian Martinez.

Martinez, a veteran quarterback has seen a lot of football over the years and will hardly be scared of the moment. However, his relatively young offensive line will line up across from one of the best front sevens in the country. Pressure is something Martinez is very familiar with. We wrote about that here.

Oklahoma will be without some key players on the back end of their defense. Woodi Washington and Billy Bowman are not expected to play. Look for Latrell McCutchin and Jeremiah Criddell to fill in for them in their spots. Here are candidates for the defensive players to watch as Oklahoma tries to bottle up Nebraska and head into Big 12 play undefeated:

Up Next: A Monster in the Middle ready to be unleashed.

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Lincoln Riley provides injury updates ahead of Saturday’s matchup with Nebraska

The Oklahoma Sooners may be without a couple of key starters on defense heading into week three against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Heading into the 50th anniversary of the “Game of the Century,” the Oklahoma Sooners are riding high after a 76-0 throttling of Western Carolina, where everything was going their way. Unfortunately, they’ll also be riding without wide receiver Brian Darby who has already been ruled out for this week’s game with Nebraska and could be without starting cornerback Woodi Washington, who Lincoln Riley listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game.

Billy Bowman and Danny Stutsman were the other notable injuries from Saturday’s win, but no specific update was given on those players. Lincoln Riley did mention several other players were questionable but didn’t mention anyone by name.

Latrell McCutchin, who made his first start last week against Western Carolina, looks to be in line for another start this week against Nebraska. At slot corner, more of Jeremiah Criddell should be expected if Billy Bowman is unable to play.

Brian Darby wasn’t high on the wide receiver depth chart, but he’s figured into each of the first two wins for the Sooners and has totaled four receptions for 42 yards through two games.

Stutsman was one of the standout defensive players from the shutout win in week two and figured to earn more opportunities, but if he’s unable to play, look for Shane Whitter to get some opportunities in his stead.

Cody Jackson worked with the starters in the second quarter, turned three receptions into 31 yards receiving, and helped set up one of the Sooners’ scores late in the second quarter.

In week three, the Oklahoma Sooners’ depth will be tested if they’re forced to play without Woodi Washington or Billy Bowman against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. But every team has to deal with injuries, and it will be interesting to see if the Sooners experience any drop-off without arguably their best cornerback in Woodi Washington.

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Passing Out Grades: Report Card for Oklahoma after win vs WCU

How did the Sooners grade out in their 76-0 win over Western Carolina? Check out this week’s positional report card.

After a week of re-evaluation and reflection, the Oklahoma Sooners came out and showed the world that they did not put their best foot forward in game one against Tulane. Tulane played hard for the entirety of the game. However, OU flexed at once and was up 37-14 and eventually took their foot off the gas and allowed the door to be left open for Tulane to come back.

Oklahoma let out some frustration and then some against the Catamounts en route to posting a 76-0 final score. They would narrowly escape, and head coach Lincoln Riley made it known things would be different during their game against Western Carolina. The man did not lie.

There were several aspects of the team that had decent but not spectacular moments in the previous game. After the game in our previous report card, we broke down the grades for those units.

NEXT: How did the Quarterbacks and Running Backs Grade Out?

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Bold Predictions for the Oklahoma Sooners Defense vs. WCU

As the Sooners defense looks to bounce back after a forgettable second-half performance, here are some bold predictions for the game vs. WCU

Oklahoma is back in action on Saturday as they welcome FCS Western Carolina University into Norman for the official home opener. The Sooners are looking for a complete performance after what many considered a letdown against Tulane. Oklahoma won, but it was hardly pretty at times. Part of the reason for that most certainly can be attributed to the defense.

With the opportunity for a bounce-back performance against what should be an overmatched Catamounts team, look for the defense to crank things up a notch and more closely resemble the defense that closed the 2020 season.

Continue on for some bold predictions for the Sooners defensive for the upcoming game against WVU:

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3 Defensive Keys for the Sooners when they play Western Carolina University

What does the Sooners’ defense need to do to rebound from a disappointing week 1 performance vs. Tulane? Here are 3 keys for their matchup with WCU.

Earlier this week, we had a look at the big keys on the offensive side of the ball for the Oklahoma Sooners as they get set to take on the Catamounts of Western Carolina University. We’ll flip to the defensive side of the ball for Oklahoma and take a look at things they can do to secure a much more comfortable and less divisive win.

In their matchup with the Tulane Green Wave, the Sooners had moments of brilliance, moments of decent play and unfortunately some really bad play. However, seasons aren’t defined by games in September. The Sooners have another opportunity to clean it up and fine tune their defensive machine before the competition becomes a bit tougher.

They’ll be taking on a team in WCU that is lead by an offensive centric head coach in Kerwin Bell. He was a former quarterback at the University of Florida after all.

With that, let’s take a look at the defensive keys to the game.

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A deeper look: Rotations and positions need to be re-evaluated going forward

A deeper look at how the snap counts for both the offense and defense might have had an impact on the final score in OU’s win over Tulane.

After narrowly escaping a scrappy Tulane team, OU has come under the microscope from fans and analysts alike. Some have wobbled from their preseason predictions that had the Oklahoma Sooners contending for a national title.

That’s their prerogative, but personally, that seems a bit ludicrous.

Most of the top 10 played teams  who viewed their week one matchup as their ‘Super Bowls.” The lone exception really being Alabama, who steamrolled a top 20 Miami team. While we’re not here to make excuses, the first game of the season, without a preseason like the NFL has, is bound to lead to some less than stellar play.

Aside from a very tough Tulane team, what else could’ve caused Oklahoma to struggle? After reviewing the game, a deeper look at the substitutions and snap counts reveals something that could be attributed, at least partially, to why the Sooners struggled.

Defensively, the snap counts — provided by Pro Football Focus — show that 27 Oklahoma defenders logged double-digit snaps. In a game that was close for all but the second quarter, that’s a lot of snaps for reserve players.

Multiple-year starters make sense. Guys like Delarrin Turner-Yell, Woodi Washington, and Pat Fields sit inside the top 10 in snaps. However, when you look down the list, guys like freshman Kelvin Gilliam, Ethan Downs, veterans Marcus Stripling, and Kori Roberson saw time on the field. Jalen Redmond only logged 39 snaps, and Perrion Winfrey was on the field for 36 out of a possible 82 snaps.

In a game that wasn’t a “laugher,” two of your starting defensive linemen logged less than than 50 percent of the defensive snaps. Yes, getting players some in-game experience is fine but playing starters less than 50 percent of the snaps can certainly lead to mishaps and missed assignments.

Alex Grinch loves to rotate and keep guys fresh. While that has value and means something, a freshman like Gilliam, who was no higher than third on the depth chart, played snaps in a game that was still in doubt. That could certainly impact the on-field results when youngsters like Ethan Downs played and didn’t record any pressures, hurries, or tackles.

Grinch will be a lot less liberal with who sees the field while the game against Western Carolina is still up for grabs. Look for the snap counts of the first and second teams to be higher this go around until the game is certainly out of hand.

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Pass catchers will always rotate, and the running backs too. The offensive line and quarterback don’t typically see as much of a rotation as some of their offensive teammates. According to PFF’s grades, the seven offensive linemen that did see the field revealed an up and down performance.

This becomes even more evident looking at the lack of a consistent push in the Sooner’s running game. Though he wasn’t sacked, pressure forced Rattler to bail out of the pocket early or get rid of the ball faster than he may have liked.

Tyrese Robinson, who moved from right guard to right tackle, posted a run-blocking grade of 52. Chris Murray, who replaced him at right guard, had a pass block grade of 58.9 and two penalties. Rattler’s blindside was exceptional between Erik Swenson (85.3) and Anton Harrison (78.2) posted excellent pass-blocking grades.

It’s safe to say that rotating the offensive line is not conducive to success. However, maybe OU will tinker with their offensive line ahead of Saturday. Perhaps Swenson takes more snaps at right tackle instead of Tyrese Robinson, who could slide back inside where he’s more comfortable. A guy like Wanya Morris could finally see the field.

Oklahoma’s very equipped still to be the team many thought they were. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and national champions aren’t crowned in September. It’s back to the drawing board and time for Lincoln Riley and his coaching staff to do some re-evaluating. They need to shorten the leashes of some guys as they get a better grasp of who they can depend on as the season rolls along.

Until then, let’s not press the panic button so soon.

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Oklahoma Sooners release official depth chart for Saturday’s matchup with Tulane

Ahead of the 2021 season opener against the Tulane Green Wave, the Oklahoma Sooners released their first official depth chart of the season.

The Oklahoma Sooners officially welcomed in the 2021 college football season with the release of their first official depth chart for their week one matchup with the Tulane Green Wave.

On the depth chart is the familiar “or” signifying the team’s desire to rotate players at certain positions. Specifically, those positions that are still up for grabs or has several players that could be considered starters like Kennedy Brooks and Eric Gray at running back.

As Riley noted in his press conference yesterday, Tyrese Robinson has won the starting right tackle job, while Chris Murray slides in to play right guard. Marquise Hayes will man his familiar left guard spot, but the center and left tackle positions are still up for grabs.

Three of the spots along the defensive front are spoken for with Isaiah Thomas (defensive end), Perrion Winfrey (nose guard), and Nik Bonitto (rush linebacker) solidified as starters for Alex Grinch’s defense.

Linebacker will be led by the three-headed monster of David Ugwoegbu, Brian Asamoah, and DaShaun White.

At cornerback, Woodi Washington has one spot locked down, while D.J. Graham appears to have the edge on Jaden Davis. While at safety, veterans Pat Fields and Delarrin Turner-Yell will lead the way for the Sooners secondary.

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set to play the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CST, the depth chart is an ever-evolving document. As players continue to battle in practice and in games, guys will move up and down the depth chart. There will be several guys who start in the Big 12 championship game that weren’t week one starters for the Sooners. Woodi Washington in 2020 is the prime example.

Washington didn’t get a significant role in the secondary until his breakout game against the Texas Longhorns. Washington took that opportunity and didn’t look back on his way to becoming one of the more important players on Alex Grinch’s defense.

5 Sooners featured on ESPN’s top 100 players entering 2021

With talent across the board, 5 Oklahoma Sooners are featured on ESPN’s top 100 players entering 2021.

The Oklahoma Sooners are one of the most talented teams in college football. After a strong finish to the 2020 season and few, albeit significant, losses from that squad, the Sooners take a deep team with rich talent across the board into the 2021 season.

As it has been since he took the job as offensive coordinator, Lincoln Riley’s offense is loaded with skill position players and an offensive line that should be one of the best in college football this season.

On the defensive side of the ball, Alex Grinch has his most talented unit to work with at every level of the defense.

Today, ESPN released their top 100 players entering the 2021 college football season, and five Oklahoma Sooners were featured.

Top 21 players for the Oklahoma Sooners entering 2021

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set to continue their reign atop the Big 12 and contend for a national title, here are the top 21 players for 2021.

Heading into the 2021 season, the Oklahoma Sooners have one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the country. On both sides of the ball, the Sooners have great players throughout the lineup that will make big impacts on Saturdays this fall.

On offense, the Sooners are led by Heisman Trophy front-runner Spencer Rattler and a high-powered passing attack. On defense, the Sooners have four guys that can create havoc in both the running game and rushing the passer.

This is a team that should be one of the more exciting teams to watch with their blend of big-play offense and suffocating defense. With just 15 days until kickoff, let’s take a look at the top 21 Oklahoma Sooners heading into 2021.