As Danny Stutsman exited toward the southeast tunnel at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, he heard someone in the stands screaming his name.
A hollering child, backed by a posse of other youths, wanted to cap off his first OU game with meeting its rising star linebacker. After a fellow child pointed out that the contest was the other’s first attended game, Stutsman noticed and introduced himself to the group of young Sooners fans.
The sophomore from Windermere, Florida, who made just his second career start Saturday, has already become a celebrity in Norman. After recording nine tackles against UTEP in the Sooners’ season opener, Stutsman took his game to another level in Oklahoma’s (2-0) 33-3 win over Kent State (0-2), notching a team-high 12 total tackles and four tackles for loss while picking up his first sack of the season.
“He's got great toughness,” OU coach Brent Venables said. “He loves to play, loves to compete. He holds himself to a high standard. The harder it gets, the tougher he plays. He’s got tremendous instincts, good natural feel... he's taking the knowledge that he's learning and he's really applying it to his game and so he's playing with a lot of confidence right now. He's like a sponge. He wants to learn more. He's really hard on himself.
“So he's taken whatever mistakes or issues that he's had, he attacks the weaknesses, and takes all the coaching, and that's why he's been able to incrementally improve, because he takes responsibility where his shortcomings have been. And so, again, I expect to see him keep moving the needle in the right direction for Danny. Everything is still sitting in front of him.”
While Stutsman’s play has improved, Venables noted the thing he’s most proud of is how much the young linebacker has matured. The Sooners’ first-year coach still recalls a discussion he had with Stutsman back in February about potential not being enough to succeed in college football.
Venables explained to Stutsman that going beyond the bare minimum is required in order to be a great player. To Venables at that point, Stutsman was a player who relied too much on instincts, and he vividly remembers when he didn’t bring a pencil to a team meeting and wasn’t prepared to take notes.
Venables has challenged his pupil to work harder in small day-to-day matters, and he says he’s seen “incremental improvement.”
“We had some pretty big talks when he first got here,” Stutsman said. “They were very tough talks. He told me what I needed to do to be where I wanted to go and I was committed to that change. It was tough at first. I’ve embraced it and I’m doing everything I can to be where he wants me to be.”
While Stutsman led the Sooners’ defense in just about every statistical category Saturday, there were a number of bright spots. Sophomore safety Billy Bowman recorded 11 total tackles, and forced a fumble which led to a touchdown that gave OU a 17-3 lead in the third quarter.
Junior defensive end Reggie Grimes also continued his impressive play, finishing with 1.5 sacks and bringing his season total to an impressive four through just two games. Redshirt senior Justin Harrington, playing Venables’ touted Cheetah position, took advantage of his opportunity and intercepted Kent State quarterback Collin Schlee in the fourth quarter.
“I feel good about (the defense’s) performance,” said redshirt senior defensive back Justin Broiles who finished with 11 total tackles, including one for a loss. “At halftime, it was a tough back and forth game… for (Bowman) to go out there and force that fumble man, that was major.”
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With junior safety Key Lawrence missing Saturday’s game due to a hamstring injury, Broiles and Bowman needed to step up their games, and they did just that. While Broiles is in his sixth season at OU, Bowman and Stutsman have cemented themselves as leaders on the Sooners’ defense despite their youth.
And in junior receiver Marvin Mims’ eyes, Stutsman’s contributions go beyond his on-field production. While he loves watching him play, Mims also enjoys the person Stutsman is off the field.
“Danny’s probably the craziest guy on the football team,” Mims said. “I mean, dude flies around and hits everything. I love watching him play. I've never been a defensive guy. But Danny Stutsman makes me want to watch defense. I just love the way he plays.
“The person he is outside of football. I mean, he's a great guy. I love watching him play. He's gonna be one heck of a player. I mean, just the way he flies around. I mean, what did he have? 11 tackles today? 12. And then nine last week. I mean, it's ridiculous. The dude always makes plays.”
Sophomore linebacker Danny Stutsman during game two against Kent State on Sep. 10.
The Sooners’ defense, led by coordinator Ted Roof, surrendered the program’s fewest points to an FBS opponent since it allowed three against Kansas in 2017. It also had three players with double-digit tackles — Stutsman, Bowman and Broiles — for the first time since 2018 and the most tackles for loss in a game since 2019.
Oklahoma is going to need that trio and its entire defense to maintain its early-season success when it travels to Lincoln to face historic rival Nebraska at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, in what Venables said undoubtedly will be a raucous environment.
“Their fans are first class,” Venables said. “Every patch of grass in that stadium is going to be full. They’re some of the most loyal and intelligent fans in all of college football, they’re going to arrive early and stay late, no matter what, they're going to be there for their team. There’s a lot of pride in that community, in that state.”
Although Oklahoma’s rivalry with Nebraska spans decades before he was born, Stutsman understands the importance of the game and is looking forward to his team’s first road challenge of the season.
“We know it’s going to be a dogfight in Lincoln,” Stutsman said. “We can’t wait, we’re excited… we’re going to take everything we do head on and it’s just another roadblock in our journey.”
