The news that the Oklahoma Sooners’ All-World senior linebacker Travis Lewis will miss the next eight weeks with a broken toe has sent the college football world into a tizzy. And if you have any co-workers who are OU fans, don’t be shocked if they head home sick for the afternoon.
When you lose the cornerstone of your defense and your team’s emotional leader, it’s never really a good thing. Make no mistake: this is a tough blow for the Sooners, the consensus preseason No. 1 team in the nation.
Is it a death blow to OU’s national championship hopes? Not at all.
First, a little background. Since the start of fall camp, coach Bob Stoops and defensive coordinator Brent Venables have been experimenting with sophomore Corey Nelson at the “Royback” position – a hyrbid linebacker/safety role in the Sooners’ base defense named after Roy Williams. In turn, they shifted Tony Jefferson, the Royback incumbent, to deep safety. The move forced defensive back Javon Harris, the expected starter at safety, to the sidelines.
The motivation behind the move: getting Nelson on the field. Stoops raved about the sophomore linebacker earlier this year, declaring him the best player on the defense in spring drills. Coming out of high school, Nelson was expected to be the heir apparent to Lewis at the key weakside spot. Apparently it had become clear to the coaching staff that it would be worth shifting some personnel around to get Nelson in the lineup.
With Lewis out, Nelson rotates back to the weakside position, a spot where he contributed last year as a true freshman backing up Lewis. Jefferson will move from the deep safety spot back to Royback, where he played well enough to earn Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year honors in 2010. Harris slides back in at deep safety, a spot where he acquitted himself well last season on the occasions when Jonathan Nelson was hurt.
The bigger issue for OU’s defense won’t be talent, but leadership. Last season, the defense hit its stride once veteran middle linebacker Austin Box returned to the lineup in midseason. Box was productive, but his greatest contributions may have come from “quarterbacking” the defense – calling signals, making sure players were properly aligned and the like. Box’s untimely passing combined with Lewis’ absence will leave the defense looking for someone to fill that role early in the season.
While losing Lewis undoubtedly hurts, it’s better for it to happen now than the first quarter of a trip to Tallahassee on Sept. 17 or in the middle of the Red River Shootout. The coaching staff has ample time to prepare the team for life without Lewis. There’s even a bye week before the Florida State game to work out the kinks.
Stoops and the Sooners won a Big 12 title in 2006 tossing their starting quarterback off the team before the season and losing one of the best running backs in recent memory halfway through the year. OU made it to the national championship game in 2008 after starting four different players at middle linebacker for the year. OU won eight games in 2009 with a MASH unit of a roster.
Injuries happen, and the Sooners have a pretty good track record of making due.
