The #Sooners are entering the season ranked at No. 2, watch our best clips from today's practice for the 2021 season:
Filmed by Collin McDaniel and Justin Jayne
Edited by Collin McDaniel
Oklahoma, recently ranked No. 2 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll, is just 18 days away from its Sept. 4 season opener at Tulane.
Head coach Lincoln Riley reported Tuesday that his team remains close to full strength midway through fall camp. Redshirt junior cornerback Ryan Peoples will miss the rest of practice with an ankle ailment, but he’s the only OU player who has sustained a significant injury since the start of practice.
Riley, running backs coach DeMarco Murray, inside linebackers coach Brian Odom and cornerbacks coach Roy Manning discussed their team’s progress as the 2021 season draws near. Here’s the best of what Murray, Odom and Manning had to say:
DeMarco Murray
Murray’s first year at Oklahoma presented plenty of challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out 2020 spring practice and premium recruiting opportunities. Entering his third season as a coach and second at OU, the former Sooners running back has made up for lost time this fall.
“Everyone's dealing with the same thing, so you can't make excuses,” Murray said. “You’ve got to go in and roll with the punches, so to speak. … (I’m) just happy to be back in person with our guys, and it's been a great transition from year one to year two. ... You’ve just got to get your job done.”
Murray’s backfield group is expected to be a two-headed monster this fall featuring two-time 1,000-yard rusher Kennedy Brooks and Tennessee transfer Eric Gray. However, Murray has also been impressed with Oklahoma City native Marcus Major, who ran for 110 yards and a touchdown in OU’s Cotton Bowl victory over Florida in December.
“(Major) made huge leaps individually last year just throughout practice,” Murray said. “You can kind of see it the last probably six or seven weeks of the season, he was probably practicing better than anyone. He's a young guy, obviously didn't get a ton of reps last year but is a guy that's been around for a while and knows the system, but his development — especially last year since I've been here — has only been increasing, so he's done a good job for us.”
Sophomore running back Tre Bradford has also stood out in fall camp after transferring from LSU over the summer. The former four-star recruit ran for just 58 yards and snagged only one receiving touchdown last season, but Murray expects him to contribute immediately.
“Obviously our top two are our top two, and Tre’s came in and gave us a lot of good speed and things like that,” Murray said. “He's really good with the ball in his hands. He's still learning the offense. Like I said, we're kind of in the middle of camp so we want to give guys as many reps as they can and kind of compete. At the end of the day our room is extremely competitive so nothing’s set in stone, I don't think, anywhere on our depth chart so we'll continue to go that route.”
Brian Odom
Inside linebackers coach Brian Odom guides one of the Sooners’ deepest rooms entering the 2021 season.
Junior David Ugwoegbu, redshirt junior Brian Asamoah, senior DaShaun White and redshirt senior Caleb Kelly shoulder the most experience. They combined for 138 total tackles in 2020 while Kelly was sidelined with a torn ACL. Kelly is entering his sixth season at OU and has amassed 160 tackles in his career. With those four leading the way for the Sooners’ inside linebackers, Odom’s expectations for his unit are high.
“At the end of the day, (for) everybody in that room, our main objective is to win,” Odom said. “Play well and win. … They have a good relationship with each other. Everything that I've witnessed has been really, really good. … Those old guys have been through a lot in their time here. Even maybe some of those guys that you are thinking are young guys, they’ve been in a fire, too.
“That’s part of having a veteran room. They’ve all kind of experienced it. There’s a common ground with a lot of those guys in there.”
Sophomore Shane Whitter and freshman Danny Stutsman are among the team’s younger players that Odom has high hopes for. Whitter, a three-star recruit by Rivals in 2019, totaled nine tackles in nine games for OU last season. Odom said Whitter’s psychological approach to his game has been his biggest improvement this offseason, noting the Burlington, North Carolina, native makes fewer mental mistakes now than in years prior.
Stutsman’s physical attributes excite Odom most. The 6-foot-3, 225 pounder was a three-star recruit by Rivals in 2020 and finished with 333 total tackles, 20 sacks, 47 tackles for loss and eight forced fumbles in his high school career. Though Stutsman has only been at OU since June, Kelly said at OU’s local media day that the Windermere, Florida, native is already a guy to watch for.
“(I) was very excited about Danny from the get,” Odom said. “He flashed on film. … The thing you see right now is his willingness. He plays fearless, man. He’ll run around (and) he’ll run fast. He pursues to the ball. He’s got closing speed. He's done a great job of absorbing the defense and being able to play Mike and Will which provides him an opportunity to get on the field.
“To say the least, I'm extremely excited about his future here at University of Oklahoma.”
Roy Manning
Cornerbacks coach Roy Manning has observed defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s development of OU’s defense from when the two came to Norman in 2019.
Grinch and Manning’s “Speed D,” which improved from No. 64 in total defense to No. 28 from 2019 to 2020, expects to develop even more in year three. With that comes a different demeanor from the unit.
“Yeah, they better,” Manning said about the defense’s new swagger. “We preach and preach and preach 'Speed D' and as much as anything, I think that swagger or that confidence. … I think it really comes from having success on the football field, and specifically in games.”
Manning returns junior Jaden Davis, redshirt sophomore Woodi Washington and sophomore DJ Graham as cornerbacks with starting experience. Junior college transfer Justin Harrington, who has yet to debut after tearing his ACL before last season, is also ready for action. Manning expects four players to contribute at cornerback, but aims for five.
“The good side of all of it is that our guys, especially in the secondary but across the board, they understand, ‘Hey if I don't get my job done, It's not a go again or go again or go again’ until you figure it out,” Manning said. “No, at some point, someone else is going to get an opportunity, and I think that's probably the greatest difference from year one to year three for our defense is that — the competition level from position and position group is, as we say, the price of rent has (gone) way up.”
A new face in Manning’s room — freshman Latrell McCutchin, who was a four-star recruit and No. 4 ranked cornerback in the country, per Rivals — has impressed since joining as a mid-year enrollee.
“He's done a phenomenal job,” Manning said. “He was able to come in early, which is always such a benefit now, for those guys to get that spring ball under their belt as much as anything. … He definitely flashed in spring and showed some natural ability of what he can be. And then he struggled at times and hit a wall a little bit, just like all freshmen do when they're out there and they're getting up to speed to Big Boy football as we call it.
“He's done a good job this camp, we're a week-and-a-half in, and the good thing I've seen from him, even in his short time, is the ability to get the job done.”
