How Danny Stutsman gave OU football defense 'real emotional lift' in win vs. West Virginia

NORMAN — Danny Stutsman came off the field fired up.

Words were exchanged on the sidelines.

Things could’ve gone sideways in a big way for the OU defense after it allowed an early touchdown against West Virginia on Saturday night.

But Stutsman, the Sooners’ linebacker and unquestioned leader of the defense, wasn’t about to allow that.

After missing the Bedlam loss a week earlier due to an ankle injury, Stutsman returned to a different position on the field but maintained his status on the Brent Venables/Ted Roof defense with another stellar performance in OU’s 59-20 whipping of the Mountaineers.

“There’s a real emotional lift that you get when he’s out there,” Venables said of Stutsman. “The toughness, and he loves to play, loves his teammates, loves to compete. I think he brings out the best in people when he’s out there.”

That was apparent early.

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On the sixth play of the game, West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene found Devin Carter for a 32-yard gain.

Two plays later, the Mountaineers took the lead on CJ Donaldson’s 13-yard touchdown run and plenty in the packed stadium had to be wondering if the Sooners were in for more of the same of what they showed in losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State.

“There was a few frustrations where I had to make certain checks and I didn’t really make that when I was out there,” Stutsman said. “I take full accountability for that and as a leader I’ve got to make that call so I can get the front lined up so the secondary’s all on the same page.”

Stutsman said Carter’s long pass play was “entirely my fault.”

But Stutsman adjusted and the Sooners’ defense took off from there.

After gaining 75 yards on the opening drive, West Virginia managed just 13 yards on the next five drives combined.

By the time the Mountaineers earned another first down, the Sooners led 31-7.

With Stutsman returning, and after his redshirt freshman replacement at weakside linebacker had 15 tackles in Bedlam, Venables and Roof made the decision to shift Stutsman to the middle linebacker spot and keep Kip Lewis in the starting lineup.

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“It’s a little bit different,” Stutsman said. “At Mike, you’re kind of get a little bit more feel to you. It kind of took me a few series to kind of get it really down. I haven’t been getting too many reps so it was kind of, ‘Let’s just play some ball,’ and I’m good at that, so I was out there with all the guys and just playing Mike backer.”

Venables said Stutsman’s versatility was the key to making the whole thing work.

“He’s one of the few guys that can play multiple positions at a pretty high level,” Venables said.

Though Stutsman went through warmups ahead of last week’s Bedlam loss, he said that was for show.

He hemmed and hawed a bit when asked how close he was to playing against Oklahoma State, but finally gave himself up.

“There was no way,” he said. “I tried, did everything I could, but it just wasn’t happening.”

Against West Virginia, he didn’t look too bothered by the ankle.

He was knocked to the ground while making a tackle on the Sooners’ goal-line stand late in the second quarter, but quickly popped back to his feet, hobbled a couple steps and then sprinted to the sidelines.

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“Danny’s a warrior,” Roof said. “He loves to play, he loves his teammates, he loves to compete. … It was great to have him out there. He did a great job leading our guys when he wasn’t on the field the last couple of weeks; that’s who he is.”

Stutsman finished with a team-high eight tackles while Lewis finished just behind with seven.

The Sooners held West Virginia to just 330 total yards, its lowest total since the fourth game of the season.

“I think I saw the hard work that all the guys put into it this week,” Stutsman said. “I knew we put in the time, put in the preparation so we can have that confidence on Saturday night.”

OU vs. BYU

KICKOFF: 11 a.m. Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah (ESPN)

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Danny Stutsman gave OU football defense 'real emotional lift' vs. WVU