Oklahoma defense improving in middle

By Scott Wright

Published: April 1, 2007

NORMAN — One thing the Oklahoma defense lacked last season was an impact player in the middle.

The Sooners had good players up the middle, but not big-time playmakers, guys who made opposing offensive coordinators take note of where they were all the time.

Two players getting their first taste of playing time — defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and linebacker Mike Reed — showed the potential to be those impact players in the middle Saturday.

The defense made big plays and kept consistent pressure on the quarterbacks, something not seen as regularly in the first open scrimmage. The defense had five sacks and four interceptions, while Reed and McCoy were causing constant problems in the middle of the field.

Reed, a junior-college transfer, finished with six tackles, including a couple of bone-jarring hits on ball carriers, while McCoy, a redshirt freshman, had five tackles and 1½ sacks.

"Gerald's a really good player, and he is just getting better and better,” head coach Bob Stoops said. "He's gonna be another guy that didn't play last year that's gonna make a big impact.”

McCoy also chased down running back Mossis Madu from behind for lost yardage, showing the key to his success — quickness.

The redshirt freshman from Oklahoma City admits he's probably the weakest of OU's defensive tackles, but he also believes he's the quickest.

"Coach (Jackie Shipp) teaches us that the offensive linemen have to come to us,” McCoy said. "So we get off the ball as quick as we can and they can't get their hands on us.

"If they can't touch us, how are they gonna stop us?” He just tells us, ‘Jump the ball, play your technique and get in the backfield.'”

While McCoy had last season to learn the defense, Reed is getting a crash course this spring.

"If I would have come in the summer, it would've been a lot tougher for me, because I wouldn't have gotten the look that I'm getting in spring practice,” said Reed, a junior from Yuba (Calif.) Community College.

"I'm just trying to get the defense down in my mind and trying to stop thinking so much. I'm used to just running around and hitting every gap. In this defense, we have certain gaps, certain calls and certain formations.”

The 6-foot-1 Reed has a thick body, weighing 250 pounds, but defensive coordinator Brent Venables says his weight hasn't hindered his athletic ability.

"Of his struggles on the field, I don't think any of it is physical,” Venables said. "He's still trying to improve his body, but that hasn't inhibited him from making plays.

"Right now, he's learning terminology and the understanding of the defense. Physically, he's ready to go.”