• Keith takes off too as offensive line loses players

By John Shinn

Transcript Sports Writer

Oklahoma’s on-again, off-again relationship with offensive tackles Akim Millington and Brandon Keith reached a conclusion Wednesday. They are no longer part of the team.

“They’ve been back and forth, so that’s it.” OU coach Bob Stoops said following Wednesday’s practice. “There’s nothing else to talk about.”

Millington, a 6-5, 306-pound redshirt sophomore from Wheaton, Ill., was expected to start in the Sooners’ season-opener against TCU last Saturday. But he shocked the program when he abruptly quit four days before the Sooners’ 17-10 loss.

Keith’s status had been up in the air for quite some time. A junior college transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Keith went through spring practice, but left the team on Aug. 5 after just one preseason practice. He did enroll in school and began practicing again two weeks ago.

Offensive line coach Kevin Wilson said the coaching staff tried to bring both back into the fold.

“We had extended the opportunities and wanted them to, they just don’t want to,” he said “There were no penalties; they had to earn their spot back. There’s nothing else to say about it. We tried, and tried hard.”

Since school has already started both Millington and Keith will have to sit out this season and next season if they decide to transfer to another Division I school.

They would have to transfer to a Division I-AA school or lower to avoid not having to sit out that length of time.

Wilson believes there’s nothing left to do but move forward, but finding some offensive linemen will be critical in the upcoming recruiting class.

“We’ll move on,” he said. “We’ll get our numbers right, recruit as many as we can, look for some mid-year guys. If anybody’s got any eligibility, give us a call.”

John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com