Defense

Well, as hard as it is to believe, it's officially game week for the 2012 season opening week. If it's possible, this has sort of snuck up on me. Predictably, we're behind on our preseason posts, with D still left, season preview/predictions and awards: MF and Old Steady. That means a pretty full plate of posting this week. So with all of that ahead, it's time to look at the defense.

It was a big offseason with the return of Mike Stoops and subsequent departure of Brent Venables. I think it's safe to say that Sooner Nation is pleased with this coaching change for the most part. I know I am. I've been saying for years that the D hasn't been the same since Mikey left the first time. Now the question is can he restore the dominance that the Sooners exhibited during his first tenure. I certainly hope so, I can't help but feel that at the very least the prospect of regressing is low. A lot has been made out of Mike "simplifying" the defensive scheme in order to allow guys to make plays without over-thinking. So, instead of making every down a chess match, we'll instead use our athleticism to fly to the ball and roll heads? Umm, yes please. However, the scheme and coaches can only do so much, so let's take a peek at who'll most likely be on the field.

Secondary

Here we find, arguably, our best unit on defense. With incumbent MF'er Tony Motherfuckin' Jefferson moved to FS full time and anchoring this unit, it looks strong. Javon Harris is back and starting at SS. While he did have a penchant for looking like a gas-rag at times last year, he still played pretty well for the most part and has a good amount of experience. Outside is Demontre Hurst and Aaron Colvin (sliding over to CB from Safety) bringing both experience and good amount of skill. I like both of these guys. There are a couple of frosh getting some mention, and don't be surprised to Julian Wilson getting a good amount of PT. Gabe Lynn is currently penciled in at the nickel man, and is my current holder of the Matt McCoy memorial gas-rag title. He was burned early and often last year, and looked both lost and completely overmatched making his exodus to the pine rather hasty. He appears our weakest piece of an otherwise solid secondary. I doubt his leash will be very long, and also suspect his ears are permanently ringing from being screamed in. I'm hoping one of the young guys steps up and deems him unnecessary.

LB

The linebacking corps is decent, but not as tough as the DBs. Tom Wort returns to anchor the middle. While relatively solid last year, he sometimes got so preoccupied with removing someone's head (good) that he missed tackles/assignment altogether (bad). Hopefully, he can keep his emotions in check and be content to make the solid plays and not worry about the spectacular. Also, worth noting is that with the departure of Travis Old Steady Lewis to the NFL, Wort will now be responsible for making the on-field calls. He is backed up by Jaydan Bird who, surprisingly (to me anyway) is actually a Sr. to Wort's Jr., but nonetheless he played well last year when Wort missed time. On the outside is Corey Nelson, who looked solid, if underwhelming, last year. He apparently fell out of favor in the Spring but has been good in fall camp and looks to break out this season. On the other side is Joseph Ibiyouloeroue (fuck it), who is good enough to go unnoticed most of the time, if that makes sense. This group is good not great, and I'll take that for now. Hopefully though, they'll emerge and at least one or two of them will step forward to become real stars at a position where OU usually has someone hard.

DLine

This is probably the biggest question mark on D, and that's not really a good thing. In keeping with the current norm of suspending players with no timetable or reason given, Stacy McGee is suspended indefinitely. Not going to lie, this hurts a little. He's a projected starter in the middle. Now, they'll be sliding David King over from end and that means more PT for a youngster on the outside. I'm not sure why Casey Walker, who played quite a bit and pretty well I thought last year, didn't just slide in there, but maybe that says a lot about him. Jamarkus McFarland is slotted to start the other DT spot. He's been solid but sort of an underachiever. To his credit however, he looked like a bust at one point and has made himself into a solid starter. The aforementioned King is probably our best DL and will be tough in the middle with his pass rushing skills, but may have difficulty plugging up the run inside. The losses on the outside of Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis really hurts. Freshman Charles Tapper is getting touted, but is unlikely to fill the slots without getting owned a few times. Chuka Ndulue has been talked about a lot as well, hopefully he lives up to the hype. RJ Washington finally gets the chance to prove himself on the outside. I think he'll struggle until McGee comes back and allows King to slide back outside. With King on the otherside it'll give O-lines more to think about and free up Washington more. It's a lot of uncertainty to be sure. Hopefully the young guys step up, and the vets step forward to solidify the defensive front.


Well, like offense, it's not exactly sunshine and lollipops on defense. However, we look solid and have some legit players returning. The biggest losses are DE and OLB. But, we tend to reload rather than rebuild and hopefully the first couple of tune-up games get us stabilized and ready for conference play. I think Mike will have them ready, and he'd better because as we've proven, you can't consistently outscore the good teams and it's hard to win when you need your offense to score 40+ every week. I'm as excited for the defense as I've been in a while. Let's hope we reestablish our dominance nationally on defense. Less than a week to the season kickoff.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner