Oklahoma DB Justin Broiles Blocking Out Outside Noise Amidst Sooners' Rough Patch
NORMAN – Oklahoma is undergoing one of the program’s toughest stretches of football since the turn of the century.
After a high-flying, physical start to the season that saw the Sooners cruise to a 3-0 mark with three blowout wins, the team has fallen apart in recent weeks with three consecutive losses – the last two by a total margin of 104-24.
In times as difficult as these, the importance for players to find a way to ignore the loud criticism surrounding the team becomes paramount.
“Stay focused. Stay focused. Block out the outside noise. Stay focused,” senior defensive back Justin Broiles said after practice on Monday night.
“I mean, nobody’s exempt from people’s opinions, people’s comments. So I mean, once you understand that, then you’ll realize you just block it out. … It doesn’t bother me, not one bit.”
Broiles is in a unique position when discussing such a thing as shutting out harsh judgment from the general public.
Perhaps no player in recent memory has taken it more on the chin from fans than Broiles, who has often taken heaps of criticism thrown his way despite his veteran, team leader status on the roster.
“I’m not sure why he’s a lightning rod, why anybody would spend one ounce of energy being emotionally mad about a player that loves this university and has committed every ounce of who he is, every fiber of his body to helping this place be great,” head coach Brent Venables said this week. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s behind that. That’s kind of disturbing, but it is what it is.”
“Justin is terrific. He loves his team, loves his teammates, loves his coaches. He values his opportunity. He’s got a thankful spirit every day. He comes with a workman-like attitude, a blue-collar work ethic. He takes every moment ... where something isn’t going right he takes it on his own shoulders. He bears that burden even when it’s not his fault. He just cares. He cares as much as any player I’ve been around.”
Justin Broiles
BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
A team captain for last week’s Red River Showdown, Broiles stressed this week a firm belief in the talent that Oklahoma has on the defensive side of the ball, pointing to the issues as being a product of simple mistakes and not of talent level.
“One hundred percent of it is execution,” Broiles said. “We all know our scheme, we all know our job. In the moment, we just gotta go execute. That’s it. Don’t make it no more than what it is, no less that what it is. Go out there and play fast, whatever we call.”
“We’ve just got to execute. We’ve got to put more time in and study and execute so we can know our job and execute at a high level. It’s that simple. When we don’t play our best, we don’t execute. When we play our best, we execute. So what we’ve got to do is execute, understand the scheme, study the scheme and go on about our day. We should be alright.”
With 50 career games under his belt, Broiles has seen the highs and lows that come with playing major college football both from a team standpoint and a personal one.
Throughout the trials and tribulations of his career, his commitment to the Sooners has certainly never wavered – and he points to these moments where that gets tested more than ever.
“I mean, buy-in gets tested the week of the very first loss,” Broiles said. “Personally, that’s what it is. Buy-in is tested all the way through summer, winter, you know? When the vision gets blurry that’s when you find out who is really bought in, and this team is bought in all the way.”
As Oklahoma looks to turn things around against college football's surprise team in Kansas on Saturday, Broiles foresees the Sooners playing with the same intensity and effort as always, citing what he saw in the aftermath of last weekend’s debacle against Texas as a reason for hope.
“I mean, just the eagerness to get back to work,” Broiles said. “We’ve got no sad faces in the locker room. We all knew we lost. We all felt it. We all knew like, 'Hey, let’s get to the film room. Let’s learn from it.' Everybody gotta stomach it. It is what it is, it’s time to get back to work. There’s no need to dwell on it.”
Oklahoma returns to action against the Jayhawks on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
