Tulsa World: Practice Report: Oklahoma

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Practice Report: Oklahoma

Keenan Clayton

By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Published: 8/30/2009 2:32 AM
Last Modified: 8/30/2009 6:35 AM

Position battle

Linebacker

The starters are set — Keenan Clayton on the strong side, Travis Lewis on the weak and Ryan Reynolds in the middle. Players and coaches swear Reynolds, who is coming off a third knee surgery, looks like his old self. Lewis, OU's leading tackler a year ago, says he is seven pounds heavier and several times more comfortable than he was coming into the 2008 season.

Mike Balogun will back up Reynolds provided the NCAA allows him to play. If he is ineligible, there is a possibility that Austin Box will move from the weak side, where he currently plays behind Lewis, back to the middle, where he started four games in relief of the injured Reynolds a year ago.

That, however, doesn't seem to be happening right now. Box reported last week that he remains on the weak side, which might be interpreted as a sign the Sooners expect Balogun to play.

News and notes

Rookies of the year: After three weeks of proving themselves in OU's preseason camp, the following true freshmen have put themselves in position to play this year:

Demontre Hurst, a cornerback who started one of the Sooners' scrimmages;

Marcus Trice, who could see action behind starting free safety Quinton Carter as well as in OU's five- or six-defensive back alignments;

Javon Harris, who has used his early enrollment last spring to move into a backup role behind starting strong safety Sam Proctor;

Jaz Reynolds, whom the Sooners need to help

rebuild a depleted corps of wide receivers;

Jamarkus McFarland, who defensive coordinator Brent Venables says is in line to help spell starting D-tackles Gerald McCoy and Adrian Taylor;

Tyler Evans, who could sub in at guard on the Sooners' reconstructed offensive line.

Special teams update: OU special teams coordinator Chris Wilson says Dominique Franks and Ryan Broyles will be returning kicks this year. Franks returned just six punts a year ago, while Broyles brought back 23 for 223 yards, including a 68-yarder for a touchdown at Kansas State.

He says Matt Moreland continues to battle Tress Way for kickoff duty. And he continues to tout the improvement of OU's kickoff coverage, which was woeful last season.

"Like I've said before, I believe we had good guys on (the coverage team) a year ago," Wilson said. "Ultimately, we've got to put them in the right position to make plays and detail it out. We're going to have the right guys out there. The biggest factor is we're going to do a better job of coaching them."

Opponent watch

Baylor

The culture is definitely changing under second-year Bears coach Art Briles. The Waco Tribune-Herald reported more than 1,000 fans turned out for a recent scrimmage. Quarterback Robert Griffin, the biggest reason for the change, threw four touchdown passes. The four Baylor quarterbacks combined to complete 42-of-58 passes for 498 yards. Willie Jefferson, a 6-foot-6 true freshman wide receiver, grabbed a pair of scores. Krys Buerck made seven catches for 100 yards. The only downer was the hamstring injury that kept All-Big 12 Conference linebacker Joe Pawelek on the sidelines (he has since returned).

Key dates

Tuesday: Next Bob Stoops press conference

Saturday: OU vs. BYU, 6 p.m., Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Sept. 12: OU vs. Idaho State, 6 p.m., Sooners home opener

2009 schedule

Sept. 5: BYU (at Arlington, Texas) ESPN-25 6 p.m.

Sept. 12: Idaho State PPV 6 p.m.

Sept. 19: Tulsa FSOK-27 2:30 p.m.

Oct. 3: at Miami TBA

Oct. 10: Baylor TBA

Oct. 17: Texas (at Dallas) KTUL-8 11 a.m.

Oct. 24: at Kansas TBA

Oct. 31: Kansas State TBA

Nov. 7: at Nebraska TBA

Nov. 14: Texas A&M TBA

Nov. 21: at Texas Tech TBA

Nov. 28: Oklahoma State TBA

Dec. 5: Big 12 Championship KTUL-8 7 p.m.

By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer

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lovethemsooners, Fayetteville (8/30/2009 6:32:00 AM)

Please find someone else to return kicks and punts besides Broyles and Franks. They're great returners and exciting to watch, but much too valuable at their regular positions to lose. If one of them goes down, watch the national media rip Stoops again.....like they did when we lost Murray the last 2 years.

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