Sooners trying to find pass rush that vanished

By Jake Trotter

Published: October 3, 2007

But OU never got one.

Instead, the Buffaloes overcame a 17-point second-half deficit to upend the Sooners.

Saturday, the defensive front will have a chance at redemption against Texas' offensive line, another unit coming off its worst outing of the year.

"Our performance kind of speaks for itself,” said defensive end Auston English. "It wasn't good enough since we lost.”

OU leads the Big 12 with 18 sacks.

Twelve different Sooners have sacks, including English who leads the league with four.

Against the Buffs, OU had two sacks, but none after leading 24-7.

With time to throw, quarterback Cody Hawkins rallied CU to a 27-24 victory.

"We have to look at what we messed up here,” said English, who had just one tackle and no sacks at Colorado. "We had Sunday to think about it, now we got to move on. It's a big week. I'm just glad we have a game to play.”

Kansas State, meanwhile, showed how defensive pressure can alter a game.

The Wildcats sacked quarterback Colt McCoy twice and forced him to throw a career-high four interceptions. They knocked McCoy out of the game in the fourth quarter when he showed symptoms of a concussion.

"All four turnovers, Colt was either hit or the ball was tipped,” Texas coach Mack Brown said. "Quarterbacks get credit for those, but we've got to do a better job of protecting. That's some the offensive line, some the tights and some the running backs.”

McCoy said Monday he'll play against OU, but will be behind a battered line that lost all of its interior starting linemen from last year, all now in the NFL.

Right tackle Adam Ulatoski, who returned against Kansas State from an elbow injury, limped off the field Saturday with an apparent sprained ankle.

Left guard Charlie Tanner also is nursing an ankle injury.

But the Longhorns still have 6-foot-6, 305-pound left tackle Tony Hills, a three-year starter who will be protecting McCoy's blindside.

"You never want to see your quarterback get hit like he did,” Hills said. "That's one thing we addressed, I addressed to them, as an offensive line we have to do a better job of keeping him up.

"If you watch Colt, when he's had time to go through his reads and see what's going on, he's thrown strikes to receivers, backs, tight ends.”

That's why it'll be critical that OU put pressure on McCoy, to keep him from finding open receivers.

OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables said making Texas one dimensional will be the key, something the Sooner defense couldn't achieve in the second half at Colorado.

"When they're able to have balance, that makes it (easier to protect the quarterback),” he said. "It starts by being able to stop the run.”

Staff writer John Helsley contributed to this story

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