“Right at the end he kind of tapered off and got a little overwhelmed and Travis Lewis stepped up,” Venables said. “The rest is well documented.”

Lewis’ emergence has been one of the best stories in the Big 12 this season. Balogun’s pretty much went on hold.

Once the season begins everything becomes focused on the starters. Practice snaps dwindle for those further down the depth chart. Balogun’s did.

“It took some time for me to learn the ins and outs of the defense,” he said. “As the weeks went on, I’ve been really investing time at getting into the playbook and starting from square one as the season progressed.”

OU needs the progression to continue.

One of the biggest reasons the Sooners dominated Missouri in both the regular season and Big 12 championship last season was Lofton’s play at middle linebacker. He had 27 tackles, returned a fumble he forced for a touchdown and intercepted a pass.

“It’s the nature of the system,” Venables said. “For you to defend Missouri well, that position needs to play well. It’ll be a long, long night if that position and the other outside position that’s in the core a lot, the (weakside) linebacker, if those people don’t play well. It’ll be a very miserable night.”

No one is asking Balogun to play at Lofton’s level. In fact, the Sooners are also exploring options similar to the Kansas game when it moved strong safety Nic Harris to linebacker. But there will be much put on Balogun’s shoulders.

He played well against Oklahoma State. If Venables is concerned, he’s hiding it well.

“You can formulate the game plan around what he can do,” Venables said. “He’s got pop, he’s got explosion, he can cover, he’s a good blitzer. He works really hard and has been willing to commit time on his own to get himself right. I’m excited for him.”

John Shinn

366-3536

jshinn@normantranscript.com