OU's Wilson isn't tipping his hand

NORMAN - Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson rode out the preseason, poker face intact, revealing little if anything about how he’ll attack enemy defenses.

Closed practices and scrimmages served his hand well.

Begging for a glimpse into Wilson’s first Sooner offense? Seeking the goods on his formation of choice - spread, power-I or some sort of hybrid scheme?

Ante up for a ticket Saturday. Wilson won’t show until forced.

And yet, he can’t hide all. There are ways to peek, starting with his past, which just might reveal a lot about what’s tucked up Wilson’s sleeve.

“I’ve never been around a person who’s as smart as Coach Wilson,” said Kevin Johns, the wide receivers coach at Northwestern, where Wilson was offensive coordinator from 1999-2001.

Johns served as an offensive graduate assistant at Northwestern during that same span, a time when Wilson was bucking the Big Ten tradition with a spread attack. Lacking all the components to succeed by plowing away at the league’s big boys, Wilson helped work the Wildcats into a contender - no small task - by unconventional Midwestern means.

“Kevin’s one of those kind of guys who when you’re having a conversation with him, he’s always three or four steps ahead,” Johns said. “He’s just as smart of a guy and as good an X and O guy as I’ve ever been around.”

Rooted in the run

So what does Johns expect this fall from Wilson, given this Sooner team’s particular dynamic: unexpected transition at quarterback, a Heisman-caliber running back, a bevy of skilled receivers and an inexperienced and thin offensive line?

“Kevin’s a smash-mouth, get-after-them coordinator,” Johns said. “That’s who he is. If you know Coach Wilson, he’s going to find a way to pound the football.”

That should be good news to Sooner fans craving heavy doses of Adrian Peterson.

But can that be accomplished from the spread?

Contrary to popular perception, yes.

“You’re going to spread it to run it,” said OU offensive line coach James Patton, who also coached with Wilson at Northwestern.

Deeper in Wilson’s past, his preference was to load up and run the tailback from the Power-I. And his offenses did it successfully at Miami (Ohio).

Expect some of that from these Sooners.

At Northwestern, Wilson shifted to the spread by necessity.

“We didn’t have the fullbacks or tight ends to line up and hammer people, not in that league,” Wilson said.

This OU team faces similar concerns, compounded by an unproven offensive line that will feature four sophomore starters. The tight ends have progressed as blockers. But the search for a fullback to replace powerful J.D. Runnels carried all the way to last week, when Matt Clapp was finally identified atop the depth chart for those plays - however many or few - the Sooners operate from the I.

Expect some spread, too, from these Sooners.

“When we first did it,” at Northwestern, Johns said, “we had a special running back in Damian Anderson. We made no bones about it, we were spreading the field so we could run the football.”

In 2000, Anderson rushed for a Big Ten record 193.6 yards a game and was named All-American. He finished his career as the No. 6 rusher in Big Ten history. That Wildcats team set 25 school records for offense.

On the run

The parallels linking these Sooners to Wilson’s Wildcats extend beyond a go-to running back.

There are similarities at quarterback, where Paul Thompson isn’t viewed as a conventional pocket passer, but an athletic guy who can make positive plays with his legs running and passing.

“That’s the exact type of quarterback Zac Kustok was in 2000 and 2001 for us,” Johns said. “If you look at our playbook, you would be amazed at how few drop-back passes we had that year.

“There were some screens, some quick passes, play-action, sprintout passes. A little of everything. We didn’t try to put a lot on our quarterback’s shoulders, just get him on the outside a little bit.”

Kustok thrived in Wilson’s system. He was solid in 2000, when Northwestern finished as Co-Big Ten champs. Then in 2001, with Anderson gone to the NFL, Kustok led the Big Ten in total offense and was a finalist for the Unitas Award. He was named team Most Valuable Player after producing a school-record 3,272 yards of total offense, including 2,692 passing while completing 57.2 percent of attempts with 20 touchdowns.

Coaches have talked about putting Thompson in the best position to succeed, which may be on the edge pressuring defenses with the option of running or throwing short passes.

Wilson warns against dismissing Thompson’s ability as a drop-back passer. And Thompson will have no shortage of receiving targets, whether proven playmakers like Malcolm Kelly and Juaquin Iglesias, or promising youngsters like Manuel Johnson, Quentin Chaney, Jermaine Gresham and others.

There may also be something to glean from the recent move to give cornerback Reggie Smith some snaps at wide receiver. Smith excites coaches because of his abilities after the catch, which may hint at some of those quick passes Johns referred to.

“We’re all about moving the ball,” Thompson said.

So, what then?

OU’s offense is still taking shape.

That will continue through the season’s early games, perhaps more than usual due to the offense’s overriding youth. The two-deep features but two seniors and 17 players are freshmen or sophomores.

“We were kind of figuring it out along the way,” Johns said of that first year at Northwestern.” Coach Wilson always said, ‘We’re on chapter one of this offense.’”

Now Wilson may be combining offenses.

“Will we be in I? Yes. Will we be in that all the time? No,” Wilson said. “But I do think we have a chance to do that. We have an athletic quarterback, we’ll take advantage of that sometimes. We’ve worked a lot in our throw game, be it moving the pocket, play-action, drop back, quick game, screens...”

“We’re kind of running a normal offense. But as you get in games, maybe it starts moving one way or another.”