Tulsa World: Practice Report Oklahoma

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Practice Report Oklahoma

Lendy Holmes

By GUERIN EMIG AND JIMMIE TRAMEL, World sports writers
Published: 8/19/2008 2:07 AM
Last Modified: 8/19/2008 4:44 AM

Position update

Slot receiver

Ryan Broyles' attention-grabbing preseason continued Monday morning when the redshirt freshman from Norman worked as the first-team slot receiver in OU's three-wide sets. He caught about every ball thrown his way, and made several start-and-stop moves past defenders after doing so.

It's the kind of thing Bob Stoops had in mind when he compared Broyles to Mark Clayton early in the preseason.

"The same words came out of my mouth in the quarterback meeting room not long ago," said Josh Heupel, the Sooners' quarterback coach. "He got hurt in the early part of spring ball (with a broken collarbone), so you really didn't see everything that you hoped to see or are seeing now. The guy's got a lot of fast twitch. He has a pretty good feel for understanding space and where he needs to be. He has the ability to catch it in traffic. He's very competitive. He never gives up on a play, no matter if you feel like he's boxed in. He puts a move on to get out of it.

"I'm really excited about the type of player he can be the next three or four years."

With Broyles in the slot, Manuel Johnson and Juaquin Iglesias were OU's outside receivers in the three-wide sets. Adron Tennell, Brandon Caleb and Quentin Chaney made up the Sooners' second group of wideouts.

Key dates

Aug. 25: First day of classes

Aug. 30: Season opener against Chattanooga

Oct. 4: Big 12 opener at Baylor

News and notes

English returns: The Sooners received a big boost Monday morning when Auston English, the Big 12's preseason defensive player of the year, returned to full-contact practice.

"It's just a matter of getting out there and knocking the rust off," the junior defensive end said. "Getting back to banging every play and back to where you feel comfortable. It felt good to get back out there."

English hadn't been cleared since undergoing an appendectomy right before two-a-days began. It was obvious the Sooners missed him.

"That's an edge right there that we kind of conceded since he's been gone," defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. "Jeremy (Beal) has been good on one end, but the other edge left a little bit to be desired until Auston arrived today. He was really alive and active and explosive. You feel like you actually have a full arsenal when he's in there."

The Sooners will be cautious with English for now. Monday morning, for instance, they pulled him out during certain goal-line drills.

"He shook his head. He didn't want to come out," Stoops said. "But I don't need to see him right now."

Bradford honored: Quarterback Sam Bradford has been named to the preseason watch list for the Walter Camp Award, which is presented annually to the top player in college football. Last season, Bradford set an NCAA freshman record with 36 touchdown passes.

Kickoff continues: Jimmy Stevens continues to lead in the race to replace kicker Garrett Hartley, but he is being pushed by Tulsans Tress Way and Matthew Moreland.

"Jimmy Stevens was good on everything," Stoops said. "His deepest (field goal) was 50. He only had one shot at it and made it. He missed one at 53, but he made everything else from 50 on in. The other guys each missed one. Tress Way made one at 53. Matt Moreland missed one at 53. I'm really pleased with those guys."

Get to know...

Lendy Holmes

It is still uncertain where this senior is going to start this season. Whether at cornerback or safety, rest assured that Holmes will be on the field. He tied for the team lead with three interceptions, and played better as the season moved on. He returned his pick at Texas Tech 63 yards for a TD, and tied his career-high with eight tackles in his last three games.

If you had a daughter in school at OU right now, is there anyone on the football team you would let her date?

Nobody.

If someone was writing your life story, what has to be in it?

All the struggles that I have been through when I was little coming up and how I got here, period.

Do you want to talk about some of the struggles?

Seeing my mom and dad divorce when I was 5 and not really knowing what was going on. The next day I was with my pops and all my life has been with him just learning things. He teaches and I'm just learning things on my own. There were struggles. I had bad times. I had good times.

Which player on your team gets the most out of their talent?

Sam Proctor. You look at him and you see him, he is always working on his game and working on his technique. He is learning how to do things without complaining.

Who do you wish was on this year's schedule?

Florida or Florida State. Hawaii. I have an ex-teammate at Hawaii.

If your football career ended today, what would be the highlight?

Just all the good times I had here and my experiences here.

Opponent watch

Cincinnati (Sept. 6)

Like the Sooners, the Bearcats conducted a preseason scrimmage Saturday. Unlike the Sooners, who said they got sharp play out of Bradford, Cincinnati struggled at quarterback.

Dustin Grutza, expected to start unless returning starter Ben Mauk wins a lawsuit against the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility, sat out with sore ribs. Tony Pike threw two interceptions.

It was enough that coach Brian Kelly told the Cincinnati Enquirer he would be open to squeezing the Bearcats' spread offense in favor of a more conservative approach. Kelly reminded the paper he did that with Grand Valley State in 2000, when he started a freshman quarterback, and won an NCAA Division II national championship.

2008 schedule

Aug. 30: vs. Chattanooga, 6 p.m.

Sept. 6: vs. Cincinnati, 2:30 p.m.

Sept. 13: at Washington, 6:45 p.m.

Sept. 27: vs. TCU, TBA

Oct. 4: at Baylor, TBA

Oct. 11: vs. Texas at Dallas, 11 a.m.

Oct. 18: vs. Kansas, TBA

Oct. 25: at Kansas State, TBA

Nov. 1: vs. Nebraska, TBA

Nov. 8: at Texas A&M, TBA

Nov. 22: vs. Texas Tech, TBA

Nov. 29: at Oklahoma State, TBA By GUERIN EMIG AND JIMMIE TRAMEL, World sports writers

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scissortail, (8/20/2008 5:31:49 PM)

"Which player on your team gets the most out of their talent?"

That is an egregious grammar error, Tulsa World. For the record, "player" is singular and "their" is plural. Nouns and pronouns should agree in number.

The copy editor that let let one slide should be canned.

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