Oklahoma Sooners Football: Five Things to Look for at the Spring Game
Spring football is coming to a close in Norman, and with the end of the month of practices comes the annual Red and White spring game. Most years, fans come into the spring game wondering just how good the Sooners can be in the upcoming season. This year, there is no doubt in any fan's mind just how talented this team is and how good it could be.
However, no team is perfect, and there are several questions that are still to be answered on this Oklahoma Sooners team. Saturday's game will be a good indicator of how these questions are going to be answered and whether or not the solutions that the coaching staff has come up with over the course of spring practice will actually work.
Here are five things to look for at Saturday's Red and White game.
Secondary
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The departure of both Quinton Carter and Jonathan Nelson certainly left some question marks, but the absence of cornerback Jamell Fleming raised the concern level quite a bit. It is unknown whether or not Fleming will be back for the fall semester after not being enrolled in the spring due to a second academic misconduct violation.
If he is back, the question remains on what kind of shape he will be in after not participating in workouts or spring practice. If he doesn’t return, look for Gabe Lynn to take his place. Lynn has been holding down that position all spring and has looked good. He’s someone to watch on Saturday and see how he looks going up against OU’s great receiving corps.
As for the safety positions, those have been filled by Javon Harris and the surprise of the spring, sophomore Aaron Colvin. Colvin played a lot as a true freshman in 2010 and played extremely well. The coaching staff experimented with moving him to safety at the beginning of spring practice, and halfway through, the experiment was over and it became a permanent thing. Colvin needs to bulk up a bit, but he is an outstanding athlete and will do a great job at safety. Watch for him to have a big impact on Saturday.
Defensive Line
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This is another area that has question marks, particularly at the defensive tackle position. The Sooners signed three excellent defensive tackles in this year’s recruiting class, but only one, Marquis Anderson, was on campus for spring practice. He’ll get a lot of reps on Saturday in an effort to help him adjust more completely to the speed of the game.
The tackles that already have experience also have to learn to become more dominant in the middle of the line. JaMarkus McFarland, Stacy McGee, Casey Walker and Daniel Noble were the four players on the two deep roster at the beginning of spring practice. All of them have a lot of talent and tremendous upside. That just has to translate to the field. The play at defensive tackle is a big thing to look for Saturday.
Running Back
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DeMarco Murray is gone after what seemed like 10 years in Norman. His departure opens up the race for a new feature back.
One thing that OU doesn’t have a shortage of is running backs. With Roy Finch, the likely frontrunner for the job, being limited because of a foot injury that caused him to miss the Fiesta Bowl, Brennan Clay, freshman Brandon Williams and Jonathan Miller were able to get a lot of carries.
There has been no indication of how this race is going to shape up, but Williams has been as impressive as the stars by his name during the recruiting process. All four of these backs will get touches on Saturday, and how they perform in a game situation could go a long way to determining who will be lining up behind (or beside) Landry Jones on September 3.
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Redshirt Freshmen
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Every year, you have some players that sit out because there just isn’t room on the field for their talent. This happens all the time at OU, and that’s the reason that wide receiver Justin McCay, OU’s top recruit in 2010, did not see the field at all last season. Now, McCay is getting a lot of time on the field and joins an already extremely potent receiver corps. Throw incoming freshman Trey Metoyer into the mix along with the return of DeJuan Miller from injury, and this Oklahoma receiving class is flat out scary.
McCay has been getting a lot of time for the first time with several of OU’s receivers battling injuries. Co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell has been raving about his natural ability and his strength all through the spring.
Geneo Grissom was on the fast track to getting a lot of playing time at defensive end in 2010 until a knee injury put an end to that idea. Grissom is now back, and the talent that had him eyeing the field in 2010 has not left him. While he may not be the first one off the sideline, he’s definitely going to see the field in 2011. Look for both him and McCay to have a big day on Saturday.
Backup Quarterback
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At the beginning of last season, some people were wondering whether or not Blake Bell would supplant Landry Jones as the starting quarterback for the 2010 Sooners. Needless to say, that idea never came to fruition.
Now Bell, the much-heralded recruit from Kansas, is in a battle for the backup position with Drew Allen. Both are talented and have great size for the quarterback position. Allen obviously has the experience edge, having gotten playing time in some of the Sooners’ blowout victories last season while Bell was redshirting. However, Bell seems to have a bit of an edge in overall talent and natural ability. Both will get a good amount of snaps on Saturday, so keep an eye on both of them.
However, this battle is like many of OU’s position battles. No matter who it ends up being, there will be plenty of talent at the position.
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