Beal ready to deal; did English heal?
Published: 11/10/2007 5:22 PM
Last Modified: 11/10/2007 5:22 PM
NORMAN – It's 45 minutes until kickoff against Baylor and we notice that injured defensive end Auston English is in full uniform and has gone through some light warmups, but it doesn't appear he's going to play.
Instead, look for a steady dose of redshirt freshman Jeremy Beal in the rotation as English continues to recover from a broken bone in his leg. Junior Alan Davis will step in as a starter for English. Redshirt freshman Pryce Macon is second off the bench behind Beal, a converted linebacker.
"It's a great opportunity to showcase what I've got," Beal said earlier this week. "It's time for me to just step up and fill in the shoes, me and Alan both."
Beal told me on Tuesday that his greatest influences in life were his brothers, Preston and Steven, and his cousin, Patrick.
"They actually convinced my mom to let me play football," Beal said. "She said, 'I don't want you to play football,' but they convinced her.' "
Seems the Beal brothers had a family rule growing up that they couldn't start playing football until middle school. One brother was in high school, the other was in middle school when Jeremy started playing.
"Yeah, I was her baby," Beal said. "But my brothers convinced her to let me play in fourth grade."
Any animosity, then, from his big brothers about getting to start football earlier? None, he said.
"They weren't jealous," Beal said. "They knew I was good at football, so they convinced my mom to let me play."
– John E. Hoover
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
