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NORMAN — During his time at Oklahoma, coach Bob Stoops has thrived on recruiting quarterbacks, then moving those players to other positions.

Derrick Strait (cornerback), Brandon Everage (safety), Chris Messner (offensive tackle) and Joe Jon Finley (tight end) were all high school quarterbacks who prospered at other positions in college.

Stoops and other OU coaches have said before that quarterbacks often bring positive intangibles and savvy to a team.

Now, the Sooners are counting on redshirt freshman Austin Box, a prep quarterback out of Enid, to become the next success story by making an impact in the starting lineup at outside linebacker.

"He's got football sense,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. "He's used to a lot of verbiage. He has good football intelligence.”

In his senior year of high school, Box threw for almost 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns and led the Plainsmen to the Class 6A state championship game, despite battling a dislocated elbow injury for much of the season.

The two-way starter was also an outstanding free safety and was named the 2006 All-State Defensive Player of the Year by The Oklahoman.

But instead of relishing in his high school achievements, Box left Enid early and enrolled at OU during the winter to participate in spring practice.

Not only did he have to acclimate to college life, Box also had to adapt to a position switch from quarterback and free safety to outside linebacker.

"It was pretty overwhelming,” Box said. "The off-season workouts were tough because I haven't worked that hard in the weight room my entire life. I had a lot of adjustments to make.”

And even though he redshirted last fall, Box doesn't regret his decision to enroll early. In fact, he said that's one of the big reasons why at the moment he's on top of the depth chart.

"It paid off a lot,” Box said. "A lot of people said coming in early and redshirting wasted my senior year of high school. But I don't see it that way. Being here that extra semester made that world of difference and I'm much further along now then I would have been.”

The coaches have noticed his progress, too.

"It's been night and day,” Venables said. "He didn't know what left and right meant a year ago. He has a much better understanding of the defense. Coming in early has meant a lot for him.”

Box, along with fellow redshirt freshman Travis Lewis, are vying for the starting weak-side linebacker spot, left vacant when last year's starter, Ryan Reynolds, slid over to the middle this spring. Their play could be critical to a defense that will be replacing five starters next season.

And whereas Lewis is a more explosive athlete, the 6-foot-1, 237-pound Box has capitalized off his knowledge of the defense to earn the starting position heading into OU's first scrimmage March 29.

Box credits his experience at quarterback in helping him pick up Venables' system in just one year.

"Everything starts with the quarterback where you have so much knowledge of the game,” Box said. "Really, it translates the same with any position. You can't just know your position. You have to know what everyone else is doing as well.”