• Sooner linebacker

just needs to find

some consistency

Every time Mike Reed has stepped onto Owen Field, he’s made an impression. All of Oklahoma’s scrimmages since the spring have featured at least one moment where Reed announces his presence.

That loud crack when he connects with a ball carrier causes idle chatter to cease and eyes to become focused on the only thing that could have caused that noise.

“When I get into an 11-on-11 scrimmage, I’m going to go downhill and hit everything I see,” Reed said.

That’s what a coach wants from any linebacker. There’s a certain veracity required from the position. It’s not enough to be big and fast. He has to be both and be able to use those traits to his advantage.

Reed has them at 6-1, 250 pounds.

But knowing how to use them is the question he and defensive coordinator Brent Venables ponder every day.

Reed made five tackles and recorded a sack in last Saturday’s scrimmage. Coaches, from Venables all the way up to Sooner coach Bob Stoops, said it was an impressive performance by the junior college transfer.

But OU is looking for great performances out of the middle linebacker.

“Some of his earlier practices and some of the mini scrimmages we’ve had haven’t been what they’ve needed to be,” Stoops said of Reed’s performance leading up to the scrimmage. “We need to see that. It’s good for Mike to step up and show he can make improvement and he can do it. He has to get more consistent with it.”

Consistency is the key word among the OU coaching staff. The locker room is full of guys that can make a great play here or there. But the difference between the guys on the field and the guys on the sideline is usually more than speed or strength.

Each guy has to know his job on every play. What gap does he have to fill on a run play? What does he do against this alignment? Who is he covering on a pass play? How do you take on a 300-pound offensive lineman, but still keep your arm free to make a tackle?

Those questions have to be answered without a speck of doubt. It has to become instinctual.