Staying Powers
OU’s Ben Powers says lessons from his father will help him when he faces Alabama.
When Ben Powers was in fourth or fifth grade, he can’t remember which, the lesson on toughness began from his father.
“He’d be telling me to crush their teeth in,” Powers said. “I’m serious.”
Powers relayed that story earlier this month after earning consensus All-American status as a senior on Oklahoma’s offensive line.
Powers didn’t have a Division I offer coming out of high school, but decided to aim higher than the Division II programs that were willing to give him a shot.
He went to junior college at Butler Community College in Kansas, and went from thinking he was going to redshirt to earning the starting right tackle spot in two weeks during preseason camp. By the time his season ended, Powers had not only earned a Division I chance but got an offer from Oklahoma.
Going into Saturday’s Orange Bowl against Alabama (7 p.m., ESPN), Powers said the lessons his father instilled in him
have helped him prepare for moments like the ones he’ll surely face against the Crimson Tide.
Todd Powers got those lessons from his father, Bob.
Bob Powers grew up in South Jersey, coming to Kansas after being recruited to play for Ralph Miller’s Wichita State basketball squad. Bob Powers played on the Shockers’ 1965 Final Four team.
“I grew up idolizing my dad,” Todd said.
When Todd was 12, he was playing in a basketball game when a more mature boy roughed him up a bit.
“Gave me what I found out later was whisker burn,” Todd said. “He was very aggressive with me and I was just a kid. I didn’t even know what facial hair was but the other guy was already grown up at 12 and he was beating the hell out of me.”
When Todd walked off the court, there was his 6-foot-9 dad waiting.
“You know, if you elbow that guy right in the mouth, he wouldn’t treat you like that anymore,” Bob told his son.
At the time, Todd didn’t understand what his father meant.
“But one of the things I found out in regards to competition that I wanted to instill in my kids is that 95 percent of the people on this planet are going to run when faced with physical confrontation,” Todd said. “What I was trying to convey to Ben and what I learned is that mentality that you have to have when you compete. What you’re trying to do is not necessarily crush the other person’s teeth in but you want to jar them emotionally and do it from a physical standpoint that they’re like, ‘Do I really want to be here?’”
Todd started seeing the fruits of those lessons when Ben was in high school and facing one of Wichita’s top defensive linemen.
The defender got to pick which side he played and after two plays lined up across from Ben, he stayed on the other side for the rest of the game.
But it wasn’t until Ben was in junior college that the lessons really hit home.
During a game against Hutchinson Community College, Todd looked down into the end zone and saw his son surrounded by the opposing defense, his head bobbing rhythmically.
“Anytime he’s on the field and his head is bobbing up and down, he’s saying something,” Todd said. “I knew at that point that he got in their heads.”
Ben said his father’s message leading up to the Orange Bowl would be similar to the message he delivered in basketball but, “I think there’s going to be a lot more language in it.”
Powers said he’s looking forward to facing a defensive line like Alabama’s, which is widely considered one of the best in college football.
Don’t expect Powers to be anything close to intimidated, though.
“What motivates me is I love taking a grown man’s dreams and crushing it,” he said before the season at Big 12 Media Days.
Powers hopes to do some of that in the Orange Bowl.