Sooners Wary of Deep Trouble

When defensive linemen and linebackers have an off day, it rarely makes the highlight films. Cornerbacks aren’t as fortunate.

“With cornerbacks,” Andre Woolfolk said, “we’re the last ones that people see chasing the guy into the end zone.”

Woolfolk and his teammates in the Oklahoma secondary suffered that indignity twice this season, when Texas A&M; and Oklahoma State connected on long touchdown passes and handed the Sooners their only two defeats.

The big plays were featured on sportscasts across the nation and jolted a team that had regained prominence on the strength of a grudging defense.

With No. 8 Oklahoma facing No. 7 Washington State in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, the matchups raise suspicions that the Sooners will be vulnerable to Cougar quarterback Jason Gesser and his talented receivers.

“I’m sure they’ll test us deep,” said Mike Stoops, co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach. “We have to be smart and know they’re going to attack what they think is our weakness.”

Stoops and his older brother, Bob, the head coach, get credit for reviving the Sooner defense after their arrival in 1999.

Before going to Norman, Bob was the defensive coordinator at Florida. Mike held the same position at Kansas State.

They began by installing a scheme that relies on zone coverage and blitzing from all angles. A dozen Oklahoma players recorded multiple sacks this season, among them nickel back Brandon Shelby, who had four despite not starting a game.

“Everybody has an important role,” defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson said. “That’s what makes this defense fun.”

But the transformation wasn’t simply Xs and O’s, said Woolfolk, who was around for the coaching change as a freshman. Stoops, he said, “came in with confidence and swagger.”

Suddenly, the Sooners were shutting down opponents. They won the national championship by suffocating Florida State in the 2001 Orange Bowl, 13-2, and followed that with a 10-3 victory over Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl last season.

Along the way, safety Roy Williams and linebacker Rocky Calmus became stars and eventually landed in the NFL.

This season, tackle Tommie Harris and linebacker Teddy Lehman have taken their places as All-Americans. The Sooners rank sixth in the nation in scoring defense, surrendering 15.5 points a game, and set a team record for interception return yards.

“They swarm,” Gesser said. “They have a lot of speed and aggressiveness. They’re phenomenal, really.”

All of which made the breakdowns against Texas A&M; and Oklahoma State surprising.

The Aggies defeated Oklahoma, 30-26, by completing four touchdown pass plays, three of them going for 40 yards or more. The Cowboys also had four touchdown pass plays, two of them going for 41 and 60 yards, on the way to a 38-28 victory.

This was a Sooner defense that had shut out Tulsa and bounced back to hold Colorado to seven points in the Big 12 championship game.

Some players said they benefited from watching films of the losses because they learned from their mistakes. Lehman found it hard to take. “It was embarrassing,” the linebacker said.

The Sooners would like to believe they simply grew overconfident.

The defensive backs were jumping on short routes too quickly, susceptible to pump fakes and out-and-up routes.

“You get to the point where you don’t want any balls caught on your side of the field,” Woolfolk said. “You want to make every play.”

The senior smiles a little sheepishly at the thought.

“You can’t make every play,” he said.

Now comes a matchup with Washington State and the talented Gesser, who threw for 3,169 yards this season and proved that he and his receivers can go deep.

Jerome Riley averages almost 17 yards a reception and had touchdown catches of 30 or more yards against Nevada, Cal and Arizona State. Devard Darling burned Idaho and Oregon for scores of 40 or more yards.

Gesser sees the possibility of similar success in the Rose Bowl. “If we control their front seven, they’ll be vulnerable in the secondary,” he said.

And if Oklahoma becomes preoccupied with stopping the pass, the Cougars have a running threat in Jermaine Green, who averaged 5.5 yards a carry.

“They’ve got talent,” Woolfolk said. “This is going to be our biggest challenge.”

But Mike Stoops swears his defense will stick to its premise of playing zone most of the time, albeit an aggressive zone that allows the secondary to blitz and take chances.

“That’s the system,” he said. “Find the fastest guys and utilize their speed by moving them around.”

Controlling the Cougars also will depend on playing a little smarter and pressuring Gesser, who suffered a leg injury late in the season and might not be fully recovered.

A strong rush would be welcomed by Woolfolk. The 6-foot-1 speedster is known for his ability to close on the ball and could be a first-round NFL draft pick come April.

But, given his experiences this season, he’d just as soon not make any highlight shows on New Year’s Day.

“All you have to do is play good,” he said, “and you won’t get talked about.”

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Times staff writer Robyn Norwood contributed to this report.

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Strength vs. Strength

A look at Washington State’s offense and Oklahoma’s defense and how each fared during the season:

*--* Wash. St Oklahoma 34.8 Avg. Pts 15.5 139.7 Rush Yds 115.9 297.2 Pass Yds 181.2 436.8 Total Yds 297.0 The Pitfalls How the Sooner defense did in their two losses: vs. Texas A&M; (30-26) Rush Yds....188 Pass Yds....217 vs. Oklahoma State (38-28) Rush Yds....149 Pass Yds....357

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