Oklahoma's Future Looks Bright as Young Defenders Are Coming of Age

Along the defensive line, at linebacker and in the secondary, the Sooners showed talent and depth last week, and now need to keep it going at Auburn.

Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Lewis Carter (20) pressures Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NORMAN — More signs surfaced on Saturday that Brent Venables hired the right defensive coordinator in Zac Alley.

Namely, all the young players who got on the field for the Sooners against Tennessee and had absolutely fabulous performances.

From sophomore linebacker Lewis Carter to redshirt sophomore linebacker Kip Lewis to cheetah linebacker Sammy Omosigho to freshman cornerback Eli Bowen, the Sooners’ defense — a trickle of football prowess only a few years ago — is now a rushing red river, strong with current and deep with talent.

Josh Heupel and the mighty Tennessee offense tested the waters, and the Vols nearly got swept under.

“I told our guys the plan for the week is, they try to gas you and tire you out and run you ragged and get you on busts and mental things,” Alley said. “I said, ‘We’re not going to let them do that.’ The plan from the jump was, we were going to roll 2-3 deep at every position, and I told the coaches be ready to play more guys and get them in the game. That was the plan for the week.”

Lewis was his usual self, a guided missile leaving only orange and white wreckage in his path and finishing with seven tackles. 

Carter was a blunt instrument of destruction with six tackles — all solo, with two tackles for loss. At times he looked like the best player on the field — and at times, he has been, especially on special teams.

Omosigho was called on in the second quarter to fill in for senior Kendel Dolby, who was lost for the season with a severe ankle injury, and finished with four tackles.

And Bowen was inserted late and responded almost flawlessly, delivering two solo tackles and a pass breakup. 

Others, like defensive tackles Jayden Jackson (three tackles) and David Stone (one solo tackle, a TFL) and even regular starter Peyton Bowen (seven tackles), a sophomore, made a big impact last week — and will need to do so again this week as the No. 21-ranked Sooners hit the road for the first time at Auburn.

“You love that you saw some young guys, freshmen that haven’t played maybe, come in,” Alley said. “Jaydan Hardy comes in (in the fourth quarter), first play is a tackle for a loss (it was marked a 1-yard gain, and Hardy also made a tackle on the next play, which was negated by penalty). 

“Just awesome,” Alley continued. “You feel more comfortable as you move forward that you have an opportunity to play young guys early in the year that you know at some point you’re going to have to count on in big-time situations later on.”

Start with the cheetah, where Alley said the team will need Dolby’s leadership moving forward.

“They love Dolby,” Alley said. “He’s such a great spirit. Ultra competitor. And I just hate it for him. I love that kid so much. It’s just sad to see. As a senior, you hate that. We’ve got some other good players that are gonna step up to play that position that are younger guys that have to be ready to go and we’re gonna need them.”

“I’ve said it before, I’d take 100 Kendall Dolbys on my team,” said senior safety Billy Bowman. “But losing him hurts. But the good thing is, though, we have depth now. So we have guys who can step up, like you said, show off the talent. We have young guys who will get prepared this weekend and be ready to go to.” 

Some of those snaps could go to the younger Bowen, who certainly held his own against the Vols’ big, fast and talented receivers. 

“I think he’s a heck of a player, man,” Alley said. “I think he’s going to have a bigger role as the season goes on, as guys get tired and hurt and banged up. He’s going to have to be a guy who steps up and plays. But man, talk about a ballplayer. He don’t panic. He’s ready for his moment. He gets in there, and he played great.”

“Eli got in and did well,” Venables concurred. “He probably should have played a little more. … He's done well. Whatever opportunity he's got, he's done a nice job. He plays with fantastic technique and he's a highly skilled guy.”

“If everybody goes back and watches that, you'll see Eli,” Bowman said. “Eli is, he's that guy. Eli, ever since he got here, you know, he's been great fundamentally with his footwork, with his eyes, everything. You know, he might be small in size, but he don't play like it. He has no fear. And he'll go out there, and if you want to test him, try it. But it might not work out.” 

Omosigho is fourth on the team with 16 tackles and has two quarterback hurries. As long as Dasan McCullough remains on the injured list, it’ll be Omosigho who gets the bulk of the cheetah snaps. And although he hates how it has unfolded, he’s perfectly fine with taking on a bigger role.

“Shout out to my brother Kendel,” Omosigho said. “All my prayers go to him. That’s my brother right there, that’s my boy. Next man up. We got standards that don’t change for anybody. Coach V always makes the reference of a baseball plate being 17 inches and you don’t want to change the 17 inches for anybody. So you have to make sure that the standard — whoever’s in, whoever’s playing — you have to make sure the standard’s the standard.”

“Sammy’s a dude,” McKinzie said. “That’s my little brother. I took him and Lewis under my wing since they’ve been here and they’ve improved every week. That sucks for Kendel. I love that dude to death. But Sammy’s always been there. Sammy’s a guy who can play ball. He’s played a lot and he’s ready. The moment isn’t too big for Sammy at all.” 

Carter’s emergence alongside McKinzie has taken some of the pressure off Lewis and Danny Stutsman to have to play all the big snaps. Carter is sixth on the team with 12 total tackles to go with his two TFLs, forced fumble and recovered fumble.

He said the other linebackers have been holding him and Omosigho “to a higher standard … just pushing us and letting us know we are next up. We have to hold up to that standard. We have to be ready to play as well.”

Tennessee came into last week with just two three-and-out possessions all season, but Alley’s defense forced two of those in the first quarter alone — one keyed by a 7-yard loss on a big third-down hit by Carter.

“That first big hit, it got me going a little bit,” Omosigho said. “Lewis, that’s my brother, that’s my roommate. That’s my brother and watching him succeed is like watching myself succeed.”

“You saw on Saturday, you get that dude going to the right space, he can make plays,” said linebacker Kobie McKinzie. “Simple. He’s a really, really good ball player. Athletic. Fast. And he can put the lid on you for sure.” 

Same for Omosigho, who delivered some thunder to Tennessee ballcarriers a few times.

“It’s real fun,” Carter said of his roommate’s emergence at cheetah. “That’s my guy. Watching him grow and watching the time we took to grow together, going out there and see him sprout and make plays. That’s what we’ve been working for.”

Having so many guys all over the field on every level making impact plays is exactly what old-school OU fans have been wanting to see for at least the last 15 years. Venables was here the last time Sooner defense resembled this, so he knows. And so does Alley.

“That shows with the depth of guys,” Venables said. “We played a lot of good players, young players rather early in that game to try to counteract Tennessee's philosophy of playing fast and getting a lot of snaps. So I thought that was a great strategy on the defensive staff's part.”