How Oklahoma DB Key Lawrence Continues to Hone His Own 'Peanut Punch'

Lawrence now has six forced fumbles in just two-plus seasons with the Sooners, including one big one last week.

NORMAN — Like many college football players, Oklahoma’s Key Lawrence studies NFL players.

Lawrence just happens to want to emulate Peanut.

Specifically, Charles Tillman.

Nicknamed “Peanut” by his grandmother, Tillman himself emulated a Lawrence from an earlier era — Giants legend Lawrence Taylor and his signature chop to force fumbles.

Tillman took what LT perfected and elevated it to suit his game — and nicknamed it the “Peanut Punch.”

Which circles the conversation back to Key Lawrence, the Sooners’ fumble-forcing phenom who refuses to let opposing ballcarriers keep their grip on the football. His swat — er, downward “punch” — on SMU’s Jaylan Knighton in last Saturday’s win over the Mustangs was the sixth forced fumble of his OU career — two full seasons plus two full games, so far.

“Great job chasing the ball,” said defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “Championship strain. Strain is a big deal and we've got to play with strain. And you take that one off the tape and you show it. Okay, here's what it looks like punching the ball. Finishing the play. Those types of things. So yeah it was a big play in the game. Anytime you get a takeaway the momentum — but if you looked at it it was contact with the ball and then it was population at the ball. We had a guy keep it in bounds and then another guy there to get on in.”

So what’s Lawrence’s secret sauce for getting the football out?

“Just practice,” he said.

Come on. Everyone practices. But clearly — the Sooners recovered just four fumbles last year, among the worst in the nation — not everyone has Lawrence’s gift for separating man from ball.

“It's just practice, man,” he insisted. “I just try to master the ‘Peanut Punch.’ That's what I try to do.”

It helps that Lawrence is 6-foot-1 and 203 pounds. He has long, powerful arms, so he can reach and pull and strip the football out. He also delivers his own punch, a heavy “thud” impact, when he hits someone.

But more than any of that, Lawrence just has a mindset that the ball belongs to him — and he’s taking it back.

Therein lies his gift.

“Honestly, that's something that we work every day at practice,” Lawrence said. “Literally on Tuesdays, we work on a stiff-arm drill, and I see this man literally switch the ball in his hands. So the first thing I thought was ‘attack. This is his most vulnerable point.' And then I just tried to get the ball out through there. So that's how that happened.”

Lawrence had three forced fumbles in 2021, and knocked out two last year. He’ll likely finish with multiple punchouts this year as he’s playing better football than ever.

And there’s a reason for that.

“This is my first time ever, like in high school or college, having a coach two years in a row,” Lawrence said. “So I feel a lot more comfortable. I feel a lot more confident, and I can just fly around. So I think that helped us a lot.”

At Ensworth High School in Nashville, there were changes each of his three years, as he played for Ricky Bowers as a sophomore, Jeremy Garrett as a junior and Roc Batten as a senior.

Lawrence attended Tennessee as a college freshman in 2020 (he played in 10 games), and in 2021, he transferred to OU, where he played for Lincoln Riley, Alex Grinch and Roy Manning. Then last year, Brent Venables, Ted Roof and Jay Valai came to town.

Finally, 2023 has brought Lawrence some familiarity.

“He’s not worried about external factors,” Venables said. “He’s just worried about being a great teammate, doing his job, playing at a high level, letting the game come to him. He’s playing aggressively and just playing with a lot of confidence and he’s having some fun. I don’t want to speak for him on every one of those, but I’m around him every day in the back-seven meeting and on the practice field, so I see it.”

Lawrence hasn’t started yet, but he played 41 snaps against SMU and 23 against Arkansas State.

According to Pro Football Focus, Lawrence’s run defense grade of 90.6 versus SMU led the team, as did his tackling grade 84.0. Overall, he posted a defensive grade of 63.9 against the Mustangs. The week before against Arkansas State, his PFF grade ranked third on the team in run defense with a 79.5.

Reggie Pearson and Billy Bowman got the starting safety roles over the first two games, but Lawrence and freshman Peyton Bowen have gotten extensive action — and everyone has showed both consistency and big-play ability.

The Sooners’ depth and talent at the two safety spots has shown up over the first two weeks.

“It does, of course,” Lawrence said. “I don't even know how to explain it. We just love rooting for each other. It's a real brotherhood. Whoever's out there, we're just going to cheer them on regardless because we're all capable of doing the same things.”

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