In the weeks since Oklahoma's season-opening loss to BYU, the Sooners coaching staff has, perhaps surprisingly, been complimentary of the team's embattled offensive line, at least, long as you don't mind that they're the sort of tepid compliments you might reserve for your mother-in-law's hospitality.Still, considering that the group forced Sam Bradford to become the first Heisman winner to switch positions from quarterback to pinata, any sort of praise is probably a victory.
"I think it needs to continue to improve and work for improvement," head coach Bob Stoops gushed this week. "We need to be more disciplined in our assignments. It's been positive in the last couple of games but I still think it can be better. So am I pleased? No. I'm pleased that it is better than that first game but we still have to keep pushing for more."
"We're slightly better," offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson beamed at a press conference this week.
Gentlemen, get a room.
Of course, their uneasiness is understandable.
Against BYU, the front five committed eight penalties, turned Bradford into the football equivalent of the ball on a tee-ball tee, and turned running lanes into cul-de-sacs. And this was against a team that isn't an elite pass rush unit, even if they played one on national television. Four weeks into the season, the Cougars are 78th in the nation in pass sacks and were blitzed for 54 points by ACC also-ran Florida State, which makes all those Sam Bradford shaped impressions BYU left on the Cowboys Stadium turf all the more worrisome.
So, while the top storylines of the week have been about the Sooner quarterbacks, for Oklahoma, the real stars of the show will be those in charge of keeping the quarterback from getting turned into a human pretzel.
Protect backup-turned-starter Landry Jones, and the Sooners may be national title contenders again. Play like they did in Week 1, and Jones better hope his mustache is superglued on.
"We think that there is a lot of talent and potential there," Wilson said about his embattled line after the team's Week 2 win over Idaho State. "We had some competition and I think [the BYU game] was a little tight and we didn't play some guys, so we wanted to foster that. So we played some young guys and I thought that it went OK."
Since that opening loss, Oklahoma has changed lines up front like a hockey team, trotting out line combinations in the low double digits.
Results, like the coach's compliments, have been positive, if not exactly exclamation points, despite a pair of blowout shutouts.
On the plus side, the Sooners didn't allow a sack against Tulsa, even though the Golden Hurricane entered the Week 3 game with 10 sacks, then the most in the nation. On the flip side, in its first series against Idaho State, the offensive line could push the Sooners into the end zone from the 2-yard line against the Vandals. On four plays.
But for the Sooners it's a matter of growth, not talent. Oklahoma seemingly grows offensive linemen the way most of the Midwest grows corn. But this group is largely inexperienced, certainly compared to last year's unit.
By the end of last season, Oklahoma's offensive line had started 170 games combined and was something more of a tidal wave in a crimson and cream jersey than an offensive line. They finished third in the nation in sacks allowed, permitting just 13 in 14 games. More impressively, the two teams ahead, Army and Navy, finished 117th and 118th in passing offense. Oklahoma, of course, took to the skies often enough they had their own tail number.
But Phil Loadholt, Duke Robinson and Jon Cooper all moved on to the NFL in April and Brandon Cooper graduated. Only Trent Williams remained after surprisingly turning down early entry, but even he couldn't keep Coleby Clawson from dribbling Bradford off the Dallas turf.
So, over the past four weeks, Stoops tinkered with the structure of his offense line. In the days before Saturday night's tilt with Miami, two freshmen had moved atop the depth chart. Ben Habern took over at center, with Brody Eldridge moving to tight end, and Tyler Evans, a 6-foot-5 Missouri mountain who grew up baling hay, stepped in at right guard.
"It is going to remain competitive really every week because certain guys need to continue to play well," Stoops said about his line rotation. "If you are not, we need to put someone else in there. It is going to remain competitive, as well as through practice through the week."
Miami, of course, has punishing quarterbacks in its DNA, even if the Hurricanes have yet to materialize as an elite pass rush. Miami is, however, averaging just under seven tackles-for-loss a game, a number even more impressive considering the difficult schedule the Hurricanes have played to start the season.
So for offensive line, it's a second chance to make a first impression, and another chance to become a BCS contender yet again.
"We want to take that next step against a good opponent," defensive end Auston English said. "They were the hottest team up until last week, but the weather obviously put a damper on that. They have great skill and execute well. It's going to take all four quarters to beat them."
If they do, compliment the offensive line. Only this time, coach Stoops, you should mean it.
