Sooners' secondary is just fine, thank you
Safeties Wolfe and Holmes pass their first big tests of year
Sooners' secondary is just fine, thank you

By Scott Wright

Published: September 9, 2007

NORMAN — Against a team that ran the ball as often as Miami did Saturday, it might seem disturbing for Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables that two defensive backs led the Sooners in tackles, rather than the players up front with the primary task of stopping the run.

Safeties D.J. Wolfe and Lendy Holmes led the way with eight and seven stops, respectively. But negating any concern in that department is the fact that Venables' defensive backs combined for 5.5 tackles for losses.

"We came out and tried to make them one-dimensional,” said OU safety Nic Harris, who had 2.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. "We wanted to take away the run game where they had no choice but to pass it.

"We took care of the run.”

Miami's top two backs, Javarris James and Graig Cooper combined for more than 200 yards on 26 attempts a week ago, but had 54 yards on the same number of carries Saturday.

"They really made a bunch of good, sound, quality tackles,” Venables said of his secondary. "When you don't make those plays, nothing's any good.”

Tackling was key, especially compared to a year ago, when poor tackling was at the heart of the Sooners' early defensive struggles. Venables overhauled his secondary after three games and things began to turn around.

No need to change anything this year. Wolfe passed his first big test at strong safety. Same with Holmes at free safety.

"If we missed the tackle, the safeties were right there,” said OU linebacker Ryan Reynolds, who was third on the team with six tackles. "Everybody was working together well.”

Reynolds and Harris combined for one of the biggest stops of the day in the first half, before the score got out of hand. Both players flew into the backfield to stop James for a one-yard loss on third-and-1 near midfield, forcing a Miami punt.

"We focused all week on hitting them in the mouth, playing hard,” said cornerback Reggie Smith. "We were trying to show everybody — since (the television broadcast) was nationwide — that we're a good defense and a team to be reckoned with.

"I think we can be something special. We weren't affected by the atmosphere, just came out and played hard, made plays when we needed to.”

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