Oklahoma football: Motley, Mann have both been been clutch
Oklahoma football is still searching for consistency on defense but has found a couple of reliable playmakers along the way.
The Sooners’ defense has taken a beating in the past two weeks, both physically against tough opponents Iowa State and Army and in the media.
Pundits and armchair coaches alike have all taken their shots at Mike Stoops’ bunch for missed tackles against the Cyclones and an inability to get off the field last week at home against the Black Knights.
Some of those criticisms are of course valid. The Sooners are surrendering an average of 380 yards per game. The defense was on the field for more than 40 minutes last week as it struggled to stop Army’s triple option.
Still, overlooked in all of this is the emergence of a pair of clutch players who have stepped up when the Sooners needed them most in the past two weeks.
After giving ground for most of the day, the Oklahoma defense has taken matters into its own hands on the final drive of both the Army and Iowa State games. To put it more succinctly, defensive end Kenneth Mann and cornerback Parnell Motley have made key, clutch plays to put games away.
Against Iowa State with the Sooners up 10 in the waning moments, Mann broke through the Cyclone’s pass protection and got directly in the face of Cyclones’ quarterback Zeb Noland. Noland’s errant throw was jumped by Motley, who pulled the ball in to bring the offense back out in victory formation and seal a 37-27 win.
It was redepmtion for Motley, who had been beaten in several one-on-one situations against Iowa State’s Hakeem Butler earlier in the game.
Up seven in overtime against Army the Sooners’ duo made an eerily-similar play. Mann shook off an uncalled hold from an Army offensive lineman and bore down on Army quarterback Kelvin Hopkins. Motley broke on the floating pass for the interception, setting off collective sigh of relief from the crowd in attendance at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
Mann’s big play came after a clutch interception of his own in the fourth quarter. Army had the ball with the game tied at 21-21 and after dominating the time of possession all day could very well have been on their way to run out the clock and attempt a game-winning field goal when Mann picked off a pass batted up in the air by Dillion Faamatau.
Mann drew a double team on the play, allowing the rest of the Oklahoma pass rushers one-on-one opportunities. Despite being at least seven yards away from the quarterback and seemingly out of the play, he had the awareness to get under the batted ball and give the Sooners a chance to win it in regulation.
Next. Oklahoma Football: Close call against Army means the defense still a work in progress. dark
There is no doubt the Oklahoma defense needs to improve going forward starting this week against a Baylor squad that put up 41 on them a year ago. After that they still face a suddenly-scary Texas team, a TCU squad that gave Ohio State all it wanted, West Virginia and the never-easy-to-defend Texas Tech.
Still, it’s encouraging to see a pair of juniors stepping into the moment rather than shying away from it in clutch situations.