What to do about Tom Wort? Nothing
Published: 9/29/2010 11:50 PM
Last Modified: 9/29/2010 11:50 PM
Two years ago, the position of middle linebacker ruined one of the alltime Oklahoma-Texas games for the Sooners. Ryan Reynolds tore his ACL in the third quarter. An inexperienced Brandon Crow entered. Chris Ogbonnaya ran for 113 of his 127 yards. And the Longhorns went on a 25-7 run to win 45-35.
Maybe that's what has the OU masses chewing their nails from their fingers. Or perhaps it was what happened late in the third quarter last Saturday night at Cincinnati.
Freshman middle linebacker Tom Wort missed a routine tackle of Bearcats running back Isaiah Pead, allowing Pead passage to a 35-yard run. The game was tightening up, but that didn't stop exasperated defensive coordinator Brent Venables from yanking Wort in favor of Jaydan Bird.
A frustrated Wort gathered himself on the sideline before returning to the lineup to finish a 3-tackle night.
Now, with a Red River renewal 2½ days away, where do the major players go from here?
Does Venables consider plugging weakside linebacker Travis Lewis into the middle?
"That would be one of the last things that we would want to do," he said. "You move a guy who's an awfully, awfully good player where he is somewhere else… Probably for a few games, Lord knows how long that learning curve would be to get you comfortable so that you're sure of yourself to be the same type of player there."
Austin Box, still OU's most experienced middle linebacker, isn't an option until the Iowa State game at the very earliest. Ronnell Lewis has practiced some in the middle, but barring a scheme change he's likely a line-of-scrimmage wildcard Saturday.
No, the Sooners' best option would appear to be the one they've chosen this week. Rallying behind Wort.
"I don't have a sense of panic," Venables said. "Tom's done really well, for a lot of different ways to look at it. For a redshirt freshman he's the most experienced guy. We as a staff feel he's the best guy."
"He makes too many plays to be taken off the field," Lewis said. "I have confidence in him. I told 'Coach V' Sunday I'm proud of him. He had a rough game, but he was in there Sunday, willing to get better and work on it. He had a good attitude. 'Coach V' ate him up pretty bad, but he's been positive…
"It's nothing to hang your head about. Everyone has a bad game. It's the great ones that come back from it."
"It doesn't bother me," Wort said of becoming a source of concern. "I'm my own worst critic and I know I can be better. I'm not worried about it. I'm putting in work every day. I'm working to improve. That's all I can do."
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
