OU football coach Brent Venables raves about defensive depth during bye week
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NORMAN — Brent Venables has an embarrassment of riches.
“Competitive depth” was one of the OU football coach’s favorite buzz words during the first three seasons of his tenure. The Sooners have surpassed that in Year 4, not only fielding one of the nation’s best units statistically, but one that is capable of playing reserves in high-pressure situations.
“The players have done a great job with the work they’ve put in, being prepared at a high level so they can be prepared to get in the game,” Venables said. “Sometimes if you’re not the starter all year, you get your opportunity to get in the game and you’re not as sharp or emotionally invested.”
Last week, with linebacker and leader of the defense Kobie McKinzie sidelined with a groin injury and defensive end R Mason Thomas exiting with an injury in the first quarter, OU smothered Tennessee on the road. Owen Heinecke filled in for McKinzie, earning SEC defensive player of the week honors, and Danny Okoye helped anchor the edge without Thomas.
The Sooners forced three turnovers and limited the Volunteers to 18 points below their season scoring average.
Venables sought to build a roster with competitive depth to push his starters. What he has now is a unit that can play deep into its depth chart.
“Guys like (Marvin Jones Jr.), (PJ Adebawore) have been program guys,” Okoye said. “And Taylor Wein, he’s been playing like crazy. You’ve seen the progression that he’s made just by prioritizing the investment. I’m trying to do the same thing.”
OU, which was ranked No. 12 in the College Football Playoff committee’s initial rankings Tuesday, is firmly in the hunt. During the bye week, the Sooners held a career day for players to survey options after football and practiced Wednesday before having the weekend off.
While OU isn’t focused too much on the rankings, it’s motivation within the walls of the facility.
“I feel like that’s what you have to do if you want to actually have a chance to be locked in when the moment arises,” Okoye said. “The only way to actually do it is to believe that you can do it and I see that in our team and the guys around me in the locker room every day.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Brent Venables raves about OU football defensive depth during bye week
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