Oliver has firm grip on stardom
Sophomore DT among tonight’s Outland finalists
After watching Houston All-America defensive tackle Ed Oliver on game film, Geoff Collins had flashbacks to his time in the Southeastern Conference.
“The thing that differentiates the SEC from every other league in college football is the elite defensive tackles,” said Collins, who just completed his first season as coach at Temple after stops as an assistant at Mississippi State, Florida and Alabama. “Elite defensive tackles can change the game. That’s why the SEC historically has been so dominant.
“I think Ed is that kind of player and has that kind of presence. He has the ability to change the football game from that position. If you can do that, you’re a special player;
you’re a dynamic player.”
Only a sophomore, Oliver has distinguished himself as one of the nation’s top defensive players. He’s a finalist for the Outland Trophy, awarded to the top interior lineman, which will be presented Thursday night at the ESPN College Football Awards Show in Atlanta.
Oliver also was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as college football’s top defensive player. It was won by North Carolina State senior defensive end Bradley Chubb on Monday night.
“As far as being a lineman, that’s the most prestigious award you can win in my book,” Oliver said of the Outland Trophy.
For American Athletic Conferences coaches who had to game-plan weekly to stop the 6-3, 290-pound Oliver, the evaluations are nearly all the same: explosive off the line, physical, aggressive, nonstop motor, almost impossible to block.
Those same coaches named Oliver the AAC Defensive Player of the Year at the end of the regular season.
“He’s probably the most impactful player in our league just for the attention that he demands,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell said.
“I’ve always thought he is one of the better defensive linemen in the country,” South Florida coach Charlie Strong said.
“He’ll be a great player in the NFL,” East Carolina coach Scottie Montgomery said. “He’ll be a Pro Bowler.”
How dominant Oliver has been is even more impressive given he plays the nose spot in a three-man front, which does not usually lend itself to stat-stuffing opportunities, and he has constantly faced double- and triple team blocking.
Even so, Oliver has 69 tackles with 14½ tackles for loss, 5½ sacks, seven quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles heading into the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl against Fresno State. His numbers are slightly lower this season (he had 23 tackles for loss as a freshman), a product of teams focusing more on him and his missing one game (due to Hurricane Harvey) and three quarters of another with an MCL injury that limited him for more than a month.
“I just hate I got hurt,” Oliver said. “I feel like I could have put a little more on tape.”
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo saw enough of Oliver in 2016 but got a refresher course in the final game of this season when Oliver posted a career-high 14 tackles, including two sacks and 3½ tackles for loss.
“I forget a lot of things, but you don’t forget a nose guard that had double-digit tackles,” Niumatalolo said of seeing Oliver as a freshman. “Sometimes it’s hard for a linebacker to get double-digit tackles. To have a nose guard get that many tackles, he was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nose guard play with that type of effort and that type of athleticism.”
While at Texas, Strong recruited Oliver out of Westfield High School, as did every other major college program in the nation. A five-star prospect who could have gone anywhere, Oliver chose to stay close to home and join his older brother Marcus and become UH’s highestrated recruit in the modern recruiting era.
“We knew he was going to be an outstanding football player,” Strong said.
Outside family, UH defensive line coach A.J. Blum might know Oliver better than anybody. Blum was Oliver’s position coach at Westfield and first saw him playing “backyard football” as a seventh-grader. “He wanted to run the ball and wanted to tackle anybody that had the ball,” Blum said. “He stood out from the beginning.”
What makes Oliver so special, opposing coaches say, doesn’t end with his ability to shed blocks and explode into the backfield to make a play. There are times, they say, when Oliver is blocked at the line of scrimmage, only to make a play somewhere else with relentless pursuit.
“He makes plays sideline-to-sideline,” Norvell said. “You have to account for him on every play.”
While Oliver has made strides in his development over his first two seasons, many believe he is just scratching the surface. He is projected as a top-five pick in a few 2019 NFL mock drafts — if he decides to leave school early, as many expect he’ll do.
“One of his best attributes is his brain,” Montgomery said. “The development of him has been a critical component to why he’s a great player not only in high school but in college. I like to judge those guys up front not only by how hard they play but how smart they play.”