OU football: Five players Sooners need to especially account for this season
By Chip Rouse
Kansas State defensive back D.J. Reed, jersey No. 2
Playing at Kansas State is never easy, yet the Sooners have won there in six consecutive trips.
If Oklahoma is to make it seven consecutive wins on the road against K-State this season, the Sooner offense will have to be better than the Kansas State defense, which is always a challenge when you go against a fundamentally sound, highly disciplined Bill Snyder team.
When Baker Mayfield goes to the air in this game, which you can expect him to do a lot, given the Wildcats’ historic strength against teams that run the ball, he needs to be especially mindful of where K-State sophomore D.J. Reed is in the secondary.
In his freshman campaign a year ago, Reed was all over the field, finishing second on the team with 75 tackles. More importantly, he led the Big 12 with 19 passes defended and three interceptions, which earned him the designation as Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year. The Big 12 coaches voted him to the All-Big 12 First Team, the first K-State defensive back to earn that distinction in his very first collegiate season since Nigel Malone in 2011
Reed is on the 2017 preseason watch list for three national awards: the Bednarik Award, the Nagusrski Trophy and the Jim Thorpe Award.
Definitely a player to account for when these two team get together in what could be one of the more pivotal games of the season for the Sooners.