From the minute he announced for Oklahoma at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January 2018, the expectations for defensive back Brendan Radley-Hiles have been off the charts.
Some of that is because of how big of a star he was in high school and what fans thought he could do as a Sooner.
The hype was extreme, but the production in 2018 left a lot to be desired. He knew it and was determined to make 2019 better.
Bookie made that first step with a two-turnover evening in OU’s 70-14 victory against visiting South Dakota on Saturday evening.
Radley-Hiles recovered a fumble in the second quarter to give OU its first takeaway of the season, and then really got the crowd going with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown in the initial minute of the second half.
“It just makes us hungrier,” Radley-Hiles said. “You get one, you have to make sure you get another one the next game. I feel that Coach Grinch emphasized it a lot this week in practice. So we went out and made sure we got one. We’ll make sure we get it again in the further weeks that we keep going on.”
The Sooners did a lot of things right in their opening-week victory but not getting a turnover stung. Preached for months and months by first-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch about how two takeaways per game equals nine wins, OU laid a goose egg last week.
OU couldn’t quite make up the difference Saturday, but a three-turnover effort is yet another sign of the Sooners defense making strides and figuring out what the Speed D really means.
“That’s something that has to continue to play the type of defense that we want to play around here,” Grinch said. “You kind of rip the band-aid off type of deal. You get one and you see how it stalls the drive and how it impacts in terms of getting the ball back to the offense. What you hope is that it becomes infectious.
“It’s something that we’ve seen in practice. I think the buy-in’s been good in terms of the guys wanting to do it, but certainly you gotta do it when you perform on Saturday nights.”
Nobody is calling this a redemption season for OU’s defense, but you can sense how badly last year’s players want to show what this year can be about.
For the second consecutive week, someone who was often criticized in 2018 came to play early and often and made plays. In OU’s win vs. Houston, it was linebacker Kenneth Murray. Bookie delivered the goods vs. the Coyotes.
“We feed off each other,” Radley-Hiles said. “When I see K-9 make a play like that, it strikes a fire in my heart, to make sure I can go out there and make those types of plays. I feed off of it myself, and I speak for our defense as well.”
OU had two sacks (Jalen Redmond, DaShaun White) and Jaden Davis added his first-career interception as well.
Radley-Hiles wasn’t the only one in 2018 who might have been this close to making a special play happen, and those missed opportunities became magnified the more the Sooner defense struggled during the second half of the season.
It’s understandable that fans are going to want to see it in bigger games. Getting three turnovers against FCS South Dakota is one thing, doing it vs. Texas and other top-tier opponents would be another.
But after not accomplishing their goal vs. the Cougars, the defense was fired up and hoping they can carry that momentum into UCLA and beyond.
“It was electrifying, man. Just getting up from the fumble recovery, seeing everybody’s fist go up, was a great experience,” Radley-Hiles said. “You just feel really proud of yourself, proud of your team. I was looking for Grinch, to give him the ball, but I kind of like took off in the wrong direction. So the second time, I tried to make sure I could get him the ball.”
