Our Eddie Radosevich is already in Atlanta for the 2019 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Bob Przybylo is making his way out to Atlanta tonight. Carey Murdock is back in the studios and was telecommuting into Ed Orgeron and Oklahoma's arrival press conferences Monday afternoon.
So filling in for Bob today is Carey Murdock with his version of the Take 3.
I think Bob usually does something about the matchup. Bob, you weren't here! (And neither was I).
Suspensions are official. So how do the Sooners overcome?
It’s officially official. Lincoln Riley confirmed starting defensive end Ronnie Perkins, backup running back Rhamondre Stevenson and freshman wideout Trejan Bridges will not play for the Sooners in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
“Everyone did travel. The availability of the three guys that you mentioned, the three guys that have been in question, those guys won’t play,” said Riley to a reporter that didn’t specifically mention those three players by name.
When asked to clarify if he specifically meant those three players Riley confirmed.
“They will not play.”
It puts an end to a saga barely a week old, but which developed many twists and turns along the way. Why were these players suspended? What did they do?
“I don’t air guys’ dirty laundry out. You guys know me well enough,” Riley said. “They get that enough in this world. They won’t be available to play.”
As for the biggest loss, Perkins nudges out Stevenson and it shouldn’t even be a debate. Perkins led the team in sacks, he was second on the team in tackles for a loss. He made this defensive front more fierce up front.
After spending last season looking for any kind of pass rush game-in and game-out, the Sooners are missing their best at making a quarterback uncomfortable when they need him most.
“We’re not a one-man show up front. We haven’t been all year. Ronnie’s been a good player for us, but we’ve got a lot of good players up there,” clapped back Riley to the notion this defense is now defenseless. “We’ve recruited a lot of good players, we’ve developed a lot of players. Our production, if you look at the front, has been pretty even across the board and we’ve gotten it from a lot of different players.”
Those players?
Nik Bonitto, a redshirt freshman outside linebacker who wasn’t even the starter at the beginning of the season, but has put together an impressive season with 3.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss. His five quarterback hurries were just one behind Perkins’ 6.
Jalen Redmond, another redshirt freshman with 5.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss is a youngster who has finished strong this season.
And David Ugwoegbu might be the breakout player Oklahoma needs on the edge. The true freshman has a sack and 4 tackles for loss since being asked to help Bonitto replace injured starter John Michael-Terry.
And don’t forget true freshman Marcus Stripling who could serve directly as Perkins’ replacement at times. Even in limited action, Stripling made his presence felt. He finished the regular season with just a sack and a tackle for loss, but his ceiling is very high.
“There are several games where you can go back and look, we had several games where we had a ton of sacks or a ton of pressures and rarely were they coming from just one person,” said Riley. “It’s no different than a guy getting hurt on the first play of the game. This way, you are able to prepare for it a little bit. I’m not going to go into great detail of what our plan is, but I’m confident in the guys that we have and the pressure that we’ve been able to force this year.”
Safety maybe the biggest concern?
Alex Grinch has had few bodies to rotate with his starters at the safety position. And Grinch has been asked about safety backups more than any other position this season.
OU's defensive coordinator just never found anyone he was willing to put on the field other than starters Delarrin Turner-Yell and Pat Fields.
When forced, Grinch eventually went with redshirt sophomore Justin Broiles.
It appears Grinch will be forced into a corner Saturday against LSU.
“He got hurt in practice,” said Riley of Turner-Yell’s status. “Right now our expectation is that he will not play. But we’ll see how the week goes on.”
But is Broiles the play-and-play solution for this situation? Could it a younger player like true freshmen Jeremiah Criddell or Woodi Washington be ready to make the jump?
“We have a lot of guys that are (able to replace Turner-Yell). Coach Grinch has done an outstanding job of developing those guys,” said Riley. “We’ve had a lot of bumps and bruises throughout the year. We’ve played a lot of different lineups. As we’ve talked about so much, especially at the beginning of the year, it seemed like a hot topic when we were playing so many different players.
“Times like this is when those things matter, when they show up. Justin has had a very strong year for us but we have a lot of players who have as well. We’ll put the best ones out there. We know we have guys who are experienced and ready to play well.”
Finally time to shine for T.J. Pledger?
T.J. Pledger has had a strange season. He underwent surgery to his arm early this season but quickly rehabbed his way back onto the field.
But since his return, he’s only seen spot duty as a running back. He’s been a steady figure on kickoff returns and even had some big returns foiled by penalties.
With Rhamondre Stevenson out, it could be time for Pledger to show everyone what he’s really about as a runner.
“T.J. is going to get some opportunities,” said Riley. “He was a guy who we obviously felt like, coming into the season … I remember it felt a lot like Rodney Anderson when we still had Samaje and Joe. It was like, man, these two guys are pretty good and this guy is practicing so well, Rodney at the time, and we had to find ways to get him involved.”
Riley even pointed back to that injury that really helped steal part of this season from his highly recruited running back.
“T.J. was practicing so well. We were going to have to find ways to keep getting him involved because he’s just getting better and better,” Riley said. “He got injured as well and missed the first half of the season. He’s come back and has done a lot of work behind the scenes. I have a lot of confidence in him. I know he’ll be ready.”
Pledger will get his time. It’ll be up to him to shine.
Suspended players won’t be sitting at home twiddling their thumbs
Riley said on Monday that his suspended players did travel with the team and will be a big part of their bowl preparations even though they won’t be able to play.
Welcome to the Peach Bowl scout team Ronnie Perkins!
“They give us great preparation on both sides of the ball. Having good players on any part of your football team, anywhere, can be an advantage. Those guys won’t play for us on Saturday but they can do a lot of things offensively, defensively, special teams,” Riley explained. “They’ve got to find a way to help this time win. It won’t be on Saturday, but they can certainly help us here through the week.”
