OU secondary: The pieces of the puzzle

Published: November 22, 2006

Three crucial changes in the Oklahoma secondary brought the Sooners from the bottom of the Big 12 to the top of the conference in pass defense.

On Sept. 16 at Oregon, Marcus Walker was inserted at the field cornerback position, which covers the wide side of the field. Walker, a junior, had played sparingly in his first two years because of injuries and a partial redshirt season.

"He's really hungry," said OU defensive backs coach Bobby Jack Wright. "He's had to spend a lot of time sitting and watching. That's been hard on him and it's really been frustrating for him.

"Now he's finally got his opportunity to play and he's really making the most of it."

The challenge early in the season for Wright was finding the best collection of players and getting them in the right spots. Smith was obviously one of those players, but it took a couple of position changes to get him where they needed him.

He played both cornerback positions before returning to strong safety — where he played last season as a freshman — on Sept. 23 against Middle Tennessee State.

Freshman Keenan Clayton and senior Jason Carter hadn't given the coaches what was expected at the position and Smith was the answer.

"To put him back to strong safety gave us the opportunity to get our best guys on the field," Wright said. "It also puts a heck of a good player in the middle of the football field.

"The comfort level back there kind of rose a little bit."

Holmes moved to cornerback from receiver last spring and he's still learning the technique and the details of the position.

But he's a gamer. When the lights come on, he becomes a different player.

"He's a competitor," Wright said. "He's not afraid to mix it up with people. He's got a lot of confidence in himself, which is a good quality to have. And he's a guy that loves to play."

He looked lost early in the season, but as the game began to make sense, he began to excel.

And it came at just the right time, when the Sooner secondary needed the final piece to complete the puzzle.

By Scott Wright