The Oklahoma Sooners are preparing for their biggest game of the 2024 season so far. OU is undefeated at 3-0 with wins over Temple, Houston, and Tulane. Brent Venables’ team now faces the challenge of the 3-0 Tennessee Volunteers, who have been one of the best teams in college football softball far this year.
It’s the SEC opener for both teams and Oklahoma’s first-conference game in their new league. A “College GameDay” audience and the drama that comes with Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel’s return to Norman makes this one of the biggest games of the college football season.
In games like these, your best players have to be at their best in order to come away with a win. In Oklahoma’s case, that burden may fall on senior linebacker Danny Stutsman more than anyone else.
As the Sooners transition from an offensive-minded team to a defensive-minded one, Stutsman has emerged as the heart of the defense, right in the middle of the field. But it’s his versatility that helps unlock this unit and could give Heupel and the Volunteers some unexpected problems.
Brent Venables and defensive coordinator Zac Alley run a version of the 4-3 defense, but Venables has long been putting his own spin on it. OU’s base set includes four down linemen, two cornerbacks, two safeties, two inside linebackers and a “cheetah” player.
The cheetah position is a hallmark of Venables’ defenses going back to his time at Clemson and is a combination of the linebacker and defensive back positions. Essentially, it allows OU to play both base and “nickel” defenses without having to sub in another defensive back. The cheetah has skills of both a linebacker and a defensive back, and we’re seeing the benefits of that position with starter Kendel Dolby, who was excellent in the first two weeks before he missed the Tulane game with an injury.
Dolby’s absence against the Green Wave forced multiple players to step up, but one player who doesn’t even play the cheetah position also stepped up in a big way.
That, of course, would be Stutsman, who led the team with 12 tackles, well on his way to having an All-American season. He surpassed 300 career total tackles in the game, highlighting what has been a phenomenal in Norman.
Stutsman is one of the best defensive players that OU has had in a long time, but he’s also one of the most versatile. Back in 2022, Venables’ first season as OU’s head coach, the defense struggled mightily and the Sooners went 6-7. Stutsman was a sophomore, trying to learn Venables’ defense on the fly, but being asked to do a lot at linebacker. Venables clearly saw Stutsman’s potential, and now it’s being realized.
Last season, the Sooners improved on defense and improved as a team, going 10-3. However, when Stutsman wasn’t on the field, there was a drop-off in the level of play at linebacker and Oklahoma lost games to Kansas and Oklahoma State.
This season, two factors have kept the Sooners playing at a high level, no matter where Stutsman lines up. He typically plays the Mike (middle) linebacker position for Alley, while Kip Lewis has been starting at Will (weakside) linebacker. The cheetah position, mostly occupied by Dolby, serves as the Sam (strongside) linebacker in a lot of base formations.
But Stutsman is able to play both Mike and Will positions, allowing Alley to be much more versatile with his personnel. The biggest thing it allows Alley to do is shift Stutsman to the weakside and insert Kobie McKinzie into the game at middle linebacker. McKinzie is a thumper coming downhill for the Sooners, and is excellent against the run. He’s a different player than Lewis, but both use their skills effectively.
McKinzie and Lewis are also a formidable duo inside if Stutsman is out of the game, pointing to the recruiting and development that the Sooners have going on at the linebacker position. Reserve linebackers Lewis Carter and Jaren Kanak are also home-grown players. Samuel Omosigho’s emergence to backup Dolby at cheetah has been a revelation this season. Omosigho was really good in the win over TUlane. There’s been less of a drop-off for Oklahoma when Stutsman out of the game than there has been at any point over the last two seasons.
As the Vols bring a high-powered offense to Norman on Saturday night, look for Stutsman to line up in multiple positions. It’ll be a chess match between Heupel and his offensive coordinator Joey Halzle (another former OU quarterback) and the duo of Venables and Alley all game long. Stutsman might give Oklahoma the chess piece they need to win the game.
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Publish date : 2024-09-19 00:21:00
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