5 Oklahoma Sooners to watch on defense vs. UTEP
Oklahoma’s defense was far from bad last year. Make no mistake though, it wasn’t great either. According to Sports Reference, they were 60th in team defense. Pair that with inconsistent offensive outputs, and it makes up a team that missed out on a chance to win their seventh straight Big 12 title.
Alex Grinch is now at USC preparing his new team for their 2022 campaign. Oklahoma replaced Grinch with a guy whose Clemson team hadn’t finished outside the top 20 in team defense since 2015. Oh, and that year? They finished No. 25 out of 128 teams.
There’s a chance that if Oklahoma had any of that caliber of defense, they would’ve won a national title considering the offensive play they put on the field.
Brent Venables won’t be the defensive coordinator in Oklahoma, but you can bet the defense that you’ll see while he’s the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners is his defense. Ted Roof will run the defense, but Venables will undoubtedly have his hands in the pot. It’s fast, violent, suffocating, and multiple, and it helped Clemson win national titles in 2016 and 2018.
The Sooners are replacing six defensive starters from a year ago. Nik Bonitto and Isaiah Thomas will be hard to replace, but someone has to. Similarly, for the back end of the defense, where the starting safety duo of Delarrin Turner-Yell and Pat Fields is no more, the Sooners will need to find some answers.
With UTEP coming to town, the Sooners will get to showcase in full just how hard they’ve worked to understand and learn this new defensive scheme. We’ve rounded up some defensive players to watch when the Sooners take on the Miners.
Jeffery Johnson, DT
Oklahoma’s Jeffery Johnson (77) during the University of Oklahoma’s annual spring football game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April 23, 2022. BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
A transfer from Tulane, Jeffery Johnson is a massive dude and perfectly encapsulates some of the changes Venables wanted to make when he returned to Norman. Out with the slimmer 280-pound interior defensive linemen and in with the big 300-pound monsters again. The ones that look like the defensive linemen in the SEC specifically.
At 6-foot-2 and north of 300 pounds, Johnson will be a nose tackle in this defense. He played against this OU team last year with Tulane and gave some of the current OU offensive linemen problems then.
With this being his final season and the opportunity to compete in a Power Five conference for a program like Oklahoma, you have to believe Johnson will put on a show. The Sooners will need him after losing Perrion Winfrey to take on blocks, own the point of attack, and do what’s necessary to let the athletic group of linebackers behind him flow and make plays.
Ethan Downs, DE
Oklahoma’s Ethan Downs (40) during the University of Oklahoma’s annual spring football game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April 23, 2022. Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Ethan Downs, alongside Reggie Grimes, has the hard task of replacing Nik Bonitto and Isaiah Thomas. They’ll get the first opportunity, and both should thrive.
Downs is starting to resemble a superhero after the summer he spent with OU’s strength & conditioning boss Jerry Schmidt.
On the heels of his 25 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss as a freshman, Downs has to take a major step forward. His head coach called him “probably the most physical of that group.” We’ll be watching to see how he handles a starting role and if he flashes early and often Saturday.
Key Lawrence, FS
Oklahoma’s Key Lawrence (12) and Justin Broiles (25) bring down West Virginia’s Sam James (13) during a 16-13 win against West Virginia on Sept. 25 in Norman. Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Key Lawrence transferred to Oklahoma from Tennessee as part of a mass exodus from that program in 2021. He had been recruited by OU out of high school but chose to stay home and play for the Volunteers.
He struggled to unseat either one of the established guys at safety last season, but injuries opened the door to earn more playing time. Lawrence provided some big moments with the playing time he earned, like the sack fumble on Brock Purdy that led to Jalen Redmond’s fumble return for a touchdown.
This year he’s no longer just someone learning the ropes. He’s a starter and a player OU desperately needs to become an impact player. He has all the tools to be a great safety, and we’ll have eyes on him come Saturday. He’ll be paired at safety with Billy Bowman and the two give Oklahoma some athleticism and versatility back there that they haven’t had in a while.
Woodi Washington, CB
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
The number one corner on this team, Woodi Washington, has the chance to be a premier cover guy nationally.
Tyrin Smith of UTEP looks like a player to watch and could very well be Washington’s first real test of the season right out of the gate. Can Washington set the tone for a potential all-conference season?? We’ll find out.
Danny Stutsman, LB
Oklahoma’s Danny Stutsman (28), Isaiah Thomas (95) and Nik Bonitto (11) surround on Texas’ Casey Thompson (11) during the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. Oklahoma won 55-48. Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Danny Stutsman just has something about him. He plays like those old-school linebackers 80s and just has a spark to his game. He’s intense, but there always seems to be a smile on his face.
Brent Venables has coached some very good linebackers in his career, and he walked into a linebacker room that is filled with raw talent ready to be molded.
Stutsman will play the WILL linebacker role, which should free him up to run sideline-to-sideline and play in space.
He has the athleticism to play in space and cover. At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, he’s got the size to take on blockers in the running game and to match up with tight ends in the passing game.
His goofy antics give him personality but come Saturday, we’re looking at Stutsman to create havoc with the rest of this OU defense.
