Tulsa World: OSU working on pass rush

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OSU working on pass rush
The Cowboys' defense only had 13 sacks this season.

By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer
Published: 12/14/2008 2:31 AM
Last Modified: 12/14/2008 3:13 AM

STILLWATER Oklahoma State defensive line coach Glenn Spencer could apply an old saying about this year's group of defensive players: figures lie and liars figure.

The regular season statistics show the Cowboys had 13 sacks. As a comparison, Oregon defensive end Nick Reed, who the Cowboys will face in the Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl, registered 13 sacks on his own this season.

The figures suggest no sustained pass rush from the OSU defensive front. Spencer looks at the figures another way.

"It's just persistence," he said. "Ninety percent of a great pass rush is the will to get there. We had a lot of good pass rush during the year and were able to get the quarterback out of the pocket.

"But when you do that, you got to come up and make the play."

Or as redshirt freshman defensive end Richetti Jones said: "We didn't finish when we had those opportunities."

The luxury of a bowl game is the extra practice time. Part of that time is spent preparing for the opponent. Part of it is devoted to individual and fundamental instruction.

OSU is using some practice time to work on the pass rush.

The Cowboys are expected to return a seasoned defensive line next season. The top five defensive ends starters Derek Burton and Ugo Chinasa, and reserves Jamie Blatnick, Jeremiah Price and Jones and top reserve defensive tackles Swanson Miller, Quencey Patrick and Chris Donaldson all have eligibility remaining.

While the extra work could help against Oregon in two weeks, Spencer anticipates the additional drills will pay off in the 2009 season.

"It is going to make them so much better in the spring because we have had this extra work," Spencer said. "I'm going to sit back and count the extra reps that guys got because we went to a bowl game and I bet it is going to be about 400 reps."

For Jones, the additional work could provide significant benefits toward enhancing OSU's pass rush efforts next season.

Jones was the headliner of Oklahoma State's 2007 recruiting class. However, the redshirt freshman dislocated his left hip as a senior at Dallas Lincoln High School two years ago and underwent major surgery. Overcoming the injury and adjusting to the speed of college football have hindered Jones' development.

Jones admits today that his left hip is "as good as it's going to get."

But Spencer believes Jones has adjusted to playing with the fixed hip and can become a factor in OSU's defense the next few years.

Jones said he wants to live up to some of those expectations he had when he picked OSU.

The redshirt freshman had only five tackles and one quarterback hurry in limited action this year.

Jones had 28 sacks combined as a high school junior and senior.

"I sat out so long that I lost a little bit of my edge on the field. But by this spring, I hope to get that all back," Jones said. "I plan to be 100 percent this spring and be the player that I know I can be. This year was a learning experience, seeing how everything went. Next year, I want to step it up."

PRESSURE POINTS

The inability to generate a consistent pass rush from its defensive line this season has hindered Oklahoma State’s defense. The Cowboys had only 13 sacks, the same number Oregon defensive end Nick Reed had by himself this season. OSU faces Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. A rundown of OSU’s sack totals this season:

DE Jeremiah Price 3
DE Ugo Chinasa 2
SS Ricky Price 2
LB Andre Sexton 1.5
DE Jamie Blatnick 1
DT Jeray Chatham 1
DT Tonga Tea 1
DE Derek Burton .5
LB Patrick Lavine .5
DT Shane Jarka .5

Matt Doyle 581-8316
matt.doyle@tulsaworld.com By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer

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