What the ‘Iowa Wave’ means to Riley
NORMAN — Since he arrived in Oklahoma, coach Lincoln Riley has been very involved with the patients at The Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital in Bethany.
So when he saw the ESPN GameDay story on Iowa’s tradition of waving to the children in the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital last weekend, Riley got a little emotional.
“The Iowa Wave is one of the best things I’ve ever seen,” Riley tweeted after watching Tom Rinaldi’s story on GameDay last week. “Can’t lose sight of the impact we can have & what’s really important.”
The tradition is a new one, with 70,000 fans at Kinnick Stadium turning to wave at the children’s hospital that overlooks the field at the end of the first quarter.
“I’ve always been drawn to kids, to young people and I have a soft spot in my heart for ones who have especially gone through tough things, them and their families,” Riley said. “One of the great things about this job, not just here but other places, that it sometimes provides you an opportunity to help and to support. Any time I’ve gotten a chance to do it, I’ve always jumped at it.”
The wave is especially important to Iowa coach
Kirk Ferentz, whose granddaughter died in 2014, shortly after she was born very prematurely. Earlier this year, Ferentz and his wife Mary donated $1 million to the children’s hospital.
LB depth depleted with Bolton’s injury
Though linebacker Curtis Bolton wasn’t a starter, his injury creates a couple problems for OU.
Bolton was one of the more versatile players in the group and could be used in virtually any spot.
With his injury, OU is down to four true scholarship linebackers. Ricky DeBerry, who hasn’t played this season, was moved from linebacker to H-back.
Redshirt freshman
Jon-Michael Terry figures to get more playing time with Bolton’s injury, and he’s listed behind Kenneth Murray at middle linebacker. Mark Jackson, a defensive end, is Ogbonnia Okoronkwo’s backup at jack and Caleb Kelly’s backup at strongside linebacker.
“Jon-Michael Terry has been really making some
progress after missing a lot of time in camp with that injury,” Riley said. “Mark Jackson is a guy that has really come along and has taken some strides early in the year. It’s going to make those guys’ roles certainly more important for us. Some of them will have to do a little bit of double duty as well.”
Adams, Sermon top OU running backs in new depth chart
Ahead of OU’s game against Iowa State, the Sooners released an updated depth chart.
Not much has changed, but there was one noticeable thing missing — an "or" next to freshman Trey
Sermon’s name.
For the first four games of the season, an "or" proceeded every running back listed, but it appears there’s finally some separation.
Abdul Adams and Sermon were listed in the top two spots with an "or" following Adams’ name. With that tweak to the depth chart, it appears Marcelias Sutton and Rodney Anderson are vying for the third string spot.
"I would say up to this point Trey and Abdul have been the most versatile, and that’s why they play the most," Riley said earlier this week.
On the other side of the ball, there was a shake up in the safety positions. Freshman Robert Barnes is healthy after getting banged up against Ohio State. In that game, he was redshirt senior Will Johnson’s backup at free safety. But after getting healthy, he’s listed on the depth chart as senior Steven Parker’s backup at strong safety.
Extra point
Legendary Sooners head coach Barry Switzer turned 80 on Wednesday.