NORMAN — The sixth practice of Oklahoma’s preseason camp was finished on Wednesday. The Sooners will have an off day on Thursday before another practice on Friday. Then on Saturday, the Sooners will take the field for their first scrimmage in August. Everything they’ve done on the practice field has been building to that. The […]
NORMAN — The sixth practice of Oklahoma’s preseason camp was finished on Wednesday. The Sooners will have an off day on Thursday before another practice on Friday.
Then on Saturday, the Sooners will take the field for their first scrimmage in August.
Everything they’ve done on the practice field has been building to that. The Sooners have rested or limited several players with minor injuries and have monitored the workload on everyone else in preparation for the weekend.
What will Brent Venables be looking for during the scrimmage?
“Just, how we play,” Venables said. “The effort. We don’t want it to be sloppy. Taking care of the football, making good decisions on offense. Playing within the scheme on both sides of the ball. Certainly will be some special teams, too, and getting these guys to really understand the value of creating field position. All the hidden yardage. We’ve worked some of those situations. We’ve put some pressure on those guys, both in protection in our cover units and in different field zones, how we play special teams. We’ve put some pressure on our kickers. The punter as well.
“And then no sloppiness tackling on defense. Tackling and preventing explosive plays. If they make big plays they do it by earning it. Saw that today. Saw some really good, competitive plays in a red zone live period. Today was our first day that we did some live (work) and it was good. So building to that, what you want. We’ll have a second scrimmage a few days after that. And then the guys that we feel like need it for more of a situational scrimmage after that.”
There are things to still figure out on defense as players continue to battle it out for starting positions. But the identity is firmly solid there, particularly with Venables reclaiming play-calling duties.
The scrimmage will primarily be about watching the offense.
It’ll be the first real glimpse at how John Mateer and Ben Arbuckle hold up against the Sooners’ defense. It’s also an opportunity for the position battles at both offensive line and wide receiver to take a step forward, as several positions are still up for grabs. That’s especially the case with key players like Jaydn Ott, Javonnie Gibson and Derek Simmons dealing with minor injuries.
But there’s a sense of urgency in getting the offense installed and finding an identity. Venables has been mostly pleased with how installing the offense has progressed in the last few days.
“I mean, it’s never as fast as you want,” Venables said. “At the same time, a lot of the things that they’ve been able to establish and install has been impressive. And getting all of your parts to be able to be available at once is what you hope for. That’s really both sides of the ball. But this’ll be the first opportunity for them to get the coaches and everything like that off the field.
“I’ll let them go operate on their own situation, get in a rhythm. We’ve installed a lot. We’ve put in a lot early, put a lot of pressure on the players. Get these guys to learn the value of working outside of what’s required — whats required isn’t ever enough. But that part’s been good. And again, they’ve got a really good synergy about them. That is something that typically takes some time. But you do sense that from the guys.”
With the season opener against Illinois State (Aug. 30) just a few weeks away, there’s a sense of urgency as the Sooners prepare for their first scrimmage. But Venables has liked what he’s seen through the first week of practices.
“As I just told the team, outside of game week we’re 12 or less practices before we’ve got to be ready to go,” Venables said. “So we don’t have a day to waste and we’ve got a lot of improvement to do. But it’s a really competitive team. And again, as what I said even in the spring, through six days (I) saw a lot of back-and-forth (between the offense and defense) and leadership is really strong on both sides of the ball. So that’s been really encouraging.”
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Category: General Sports
