Knee injury shelves OU defensive end Auston English
OU football

By Jake Trotter
Published: November 4, 2008

NORMAN — Just when Oklahoma was finally replacing one defensive star, the Sooners lost another.

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Coach Bob Stoops said Monday that defensive end Auston English will be out at least until Bedlam on Nov. 29 after suffering a sprained knee against Nebraska.

"He’s been a great leader for us,” Stoops said. "A tough player. An excellent player.”

The Sooners already lost middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds to a season-ending knee injury last month.

"We’re disappointed for Auston,” Stoops said. "But you have to go on.”

The Sooners will go with redshirt freshman Frank Alexander in place of English in the starting lineup.

Alexander, who missed five games because of a stab wound to his arm, is coming off his best career game, recording two tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery against Nebraska.

"Frank is doing a really good job getting to the quarterback and disrupting him,” Stoops said. "Frank has played great for us. He’ll just have to maintain it and hopefully improve.

"I believe he will.”

English, meanwhile, will try to return from injury for the second straight year.

In 2007, he missed three games late in the season due to a hairline fracture in his ankle.

He also missed two weeks of preseason practice this fall, recovering from an emergency appendectomy.


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