System, growth point to big things for Murray
NORMAN — The change in Kenneth Murray was evident on the second play of Oklahoma' s win over Houston.
Cougars quarterback D'Eriq King threw a quick screen to Marquez Stevenson coming back toward King f rom the outside.
Stevenson was brought down almost immediately for a 3-yard gain after a quick reaction from Murray.
“In years past, he's too flat and that guy cuts back inside him and he goes for a gain,” former Oklahoma linebacker and current Sooners radio analyst Teddy Lehman said.
“Instead, he had a much better pursuit angle and was able to make a play. Even though he was flying to the outside, his angle was a lot better and he was able to make a play.”
Murray finished with a team-high 13 tackles—as many as any two of his teammates combined — in the win. It was the fourth-highest tackle total of Murray's career but it was more about how he reached the number than the raw statistics.
He'll get a chance to show that improvement off once more when the Sooners host South Dakota on Saturday (6:30 p.m., pay-per-view).
Murray said there were plenty of changes from last season.
“Couple of them I really don' t want to get into ,” Murray said, before providing at least a glimpse of what had changed. “Overall, I just felt so prepared. I felt like my preparation going into that game was really good. I feel like coach (Brian) Odom put me in a position to play fast. Coach (Alex) Grinch put us in a position to play fast.”
Grinch, Oklahoma's firstyear defensive coordinator, uses a one-gap scheme that gives the defensive linemen responsibility for one gap each instead of asking them to lineup head-on with an offensive line man and then having to make a quick read and move the lineman to make a play.
While Gr inch' s defense helps the defensive linemen make more plays, it also helps linebackers — particularly on the inside like Murray — play faster. Instead of having to wait to see what his linemen are doing — and sometimes dealing with a freed up offensive linemen of his own — Murray can be on the play much quicker.
“He' s a big, aggressive dude that can flat-out run and you've taken all the roadblocks out of his way to where he can just find the ball, go sideline to sideline and make plays,” Lehman said.
Both Grinch and Lincoln Riley, when asked this week about Murray's transformation came back to the same word — confidence.
“He looked like a confident football player,” Grinch said. “He played exceptionally well. He's a guy that we need to. He's a guy that's earned the right to. He has a unique skill set from a size and speed standpoint. The good Lord didn't make a lot like that.”
Part of that, Riley said, is attributable to natural growth over the course of a career, especially since Murray didn't play middle linebacker until he arrived in Norman.
“But I do also think that some of that comes from what we're doing schematically,” Riley said. “The way he's being coached, he's in a good place mentally.
“You love the way he flew around during the game, and he played very well mentally as well.”