Making Finley disappear

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Published: October 7, 2007

By halftime, Texas tight end Jermichael Finley had already doubled the receiving output of his career best game with 135 yards on three catches.
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But after finding space in the middle of Oklahoma's defense for big plays in the first half, he was held to one catch for 14 yards in the second.

"We just changed up our coverage a little more,” OU coach Bob Stoops said.

Those changes primarily consisted of using a defensive back rather than a linebacker to cover Finley. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound sophomore with sprinter's speed had his most success against the coverage of linebackers Ryan Reynolds and Curtis Lofton.

"If you look at what he's done this year, they hadn't run vertical nearly as much,” OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. "And they did it out of some different sets.”

Venables credited his defense's ability to stop the run for allowing him to shift the coverage.

By Scott Wright

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Comments

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I suppose we should not be too harsh on defensive coachs not being able to keep yards and points down as they did years ago. The college game is getting more and more like the pro game every year with its ultra sophisticated offensive schemes. I hope OU learned at Colorado they will have to play 60 full minutes against everyone left on the schedule, which they certainly did Saturday. A great win and congratulations to all of the OU people.
Tom, Overland Park - Oct 8, 2007 7:54 AM
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Mack the Hack said OU didn't do anything different in the 2nd half. I thought McCoy was the one with the concussion last week?
Roger, Keller - Oct 7, 2007 1:02 PM
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I have to agree, it was brilliant coaching by Venables to assign a back to Finley after he lit up the secondary for 135 yards. Good job coach!
Jason, Seattle - Oct 7, 2007 11:59 AM
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