Mann now an every-down player

NORMAN — A year ago, Oklahoma defensive lineman Kenneth Mann wouldn’t have seen the field in a game like Army.

Pass-rushing chances were virtually non-existent as the Black Knights largely stayed out of thirdand-long situations, keeping more everything manageable.

But Saturday night, in the two critical times late when then Sooners needed — desperately — to make a play defensively, it was Mann who came up big.

First, with a little more than two minutes remaining, Mann intercepted Black Knights’ quarterback Kelvin Hopkins to give the Sooners the ball.

“Whenever you get momentum plays like that, it just crushes the other team — demoralizes them,” defensive lineman Amani Bledsoe said. “It was definitely huge for us to build off that and keep the energy in the stadium alive.”

The Sooners quickly drove nearly 50 yards, but Austin Seibert’s field goal miss as time expired sent the game into overtime.

Then in overtime, when the Sooners finally did get a pass-rush chance. Mann got to Hopkins and tipped the ball, which was eventually intercepted by Parnell Motley to end the game.

It was what Mann did early in the game that stood out.

On the game’s first drive, Mann had five tackles — one unassisted — and all but one for a 3-yard gain or less.

Mann’s focus in the offseason was becoming an every-down type of player after playing in 21 games over the last two seasons, though most came on either special teams (2016) or as a situational

pass rusher (last season).

“It’s definitely a different feeling,” Mann said recently. “It’s a good feeling. It’s what I wanted. It’s what I worked for. It’s a great feeling to be in this position.”

Against Army, he finished with 11 tackles, in a game where a year ago he might not have been on the field for 11 plays.

“That game probably for him more than any game didn’t line up for him because he’s a little more of an edge guy as far as his body type,” Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said.

“But he got in there and fought the entire night.

“You just feel more comfortable with him right now in there every single down, whereas in the past, kind of like Ogbo (Okoronkwo) in his early years, it was kind of like pass rush or third-down guy, situational guy, twominute guy and there others were just not quite there yet. It’s there now.”

Through four games, Mann is fourth on the Sooners with 23 tackles, plus a team-high three quarterback hurries.

“He can do it all,” defensive coordinator

Mike Stoops said. “He’s the prototypical defensive end. He moves inside and uses his athletic ability when he does. He’s just a very hard worker and very skilled.

“You can see the experience.”

Bledsoe said he noticed a change in Mann that started gradually after the Rose Bowl loss but that he became more and more of as the season drew closer.

“You just noticed his confidence emerge,” Bledsoe said. “There was a lot of growth in his confidence and in his game.

“It’s starting to show.”