Defense shines early
The Sooners held their first fall scrimmage Tuesday night and the defense had a solid night against Oklahoma’s explosive offense.
NORMAN — A couple days after rain forced OU to change its schedule, the Sooners finally got out on Owen Field for their first scrimmage of the fall on Tuesday night.
The scrimmage, closed to the media, went on for about an hour and 20 minutes. Afterwards, the school sent out a release with a couple of details about the event.
Three quarterbacks — redshirt senior Baker Mayfield and sophomores Kyler Murray and Austin Kendall — took snaps in the scrimmage.
The defense got off to a solid start, holding the offense scoreless until the fifth possession when Mayfield connected with Mark Andrews for a 35-yard touchdown.
The defense forced three three-and-outs in the first six possessions.
Austin Seibert went 3-of-3 on field goals, scoring on 25-yard, 32-yard and 29-yard attempts.
Sophomore running back Abdul Adams rattled off a 50-yard run.
Sophomore cornerback Parnell Motley nearly nabbed an interception, knocking down Mayfield's pass on third-and-goal from the 8-yard-line.
OU ended the scrimmage with a forced fumble by the defense.
The Sooners will take the field again on Saturday for their second scrimmage of the fall.
Three Sooners selected to preseason All-America team
A week after ranking OU No. 6 in its preseason poll, Sports Illustrated released its Preseason All-America team.
Led by quarterback Mayfield, three OU football players made the cut. Both Mayfield and redshirt junior offensive tackle Orlando Brown were named to the first team while senior cornerback Jordan Thomas earned a spot on the second team defense.
Mayfield’s honor comes a day after he was named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award watch list. The award is given annually to college football’s top offensive player who was either born in Texas, graduated from a high school in Texas or played at a junior college or four-year university in the state.
Oklahoma State also had a couple players honored by Sports Illustrated in wide receiver James Washington, who was on its preseason All-America first team.
Quotable
In the middle of Orlando Brown’s interview after Monday’s practice, a fluorescent spider crawled on his knee braces laying on the ground. The offensive tackle jumped, but it turns out spiders aren’t his main phobia.
“I’m not really scared of insects or anything, but my dad played in Baltimore and we lived downtown, so we stayed right across from a restaurant on the water by a trash can. You can imagine all the mice that we would have.
“But man, I’m just terrified of mice. I don’t do mice.
I can do insects though. Cockroaches, honestly, not a problem. But mice? I’m not a fan.”