Stills the one
Published: 8/30/2010 10:53 PM
Last Modified: 8/30/2010 10:53 PM
One freshman after another has taken his turn in the Oklahoma football spotlight this month. The latest is Daniel Noble, the rookie defensive tackle from Flower Mound, Texas, who position coach Jackie Shipp says will play Saturday night against Utah State.
Before Noble, it was Corey Nelson, the weakside linebacker the Sooners might clone into Travis Lewis.
Before Nelson, it was Owasso cornerback Aaron Colvin.
Before Colvin, running backs Brennan Clay and Roy Finch, tight end/fullback Trey Millard and safety Tony Jefferson.
It's almost hard to remember that there was a precursor to this freshman invasion, from way back in the spring – wide receiver Kenny Stills.
Well, the national media haven't forgotten Stills. Far from it.
ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit has ranked Stills fourth among the nation's true freshmen, regardless of position.
George Schroeder, my old friend over at SI.com, named Stills as the Big 12's "Impact Freshman."
ESPN.com blogger David Ubben followed suit by predicting Stills would win the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award.
Then there was this assessment of Stills from Lee Goddard of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times: "Landry Jones, meet your new favorite target."
While I doubt Stills is ready to unseat Ryan Broyles as Option #1 in Jones' progression, the point remains – Stills was the original wiz kid among the Sooners' 29-member freshman class. Seems fitting that he make the first impact among rookies Saturday night on Owen Field.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
