Why Alex Grinch didn’t mind D.J. Graham’s interception
Grinch loved Graham’s INT even though it meant bad field position
NORMAN — Forcing turnovers has been the biggest part of Alex Grinch's identity since he was hired as OU's defensive coordinator in January 2019.
So when Sooners' cornerback D.J. Graham skied into the air and — somehow — reached out with his right hand and pulled the football back into his body before hitting the turf to complete a fourth-quarter interception in Saturday's game against Nebraska, Grinch wasn't about to try to convince anyone Graham should've done anything different.
The play cost the Sooners some field position. OU would've had the ball at their own 24 had Adrian Martinez's pass fallen incomplete instead of being picked off. Instead, the Sooners started at the 3, went three-and-out, and the Cornhuskers started their next drive at the OU 38.
“I like takeaways too much to tell them to put it on the ground,” Grinch said. “But in that particular situation, a guy goes to make a play, we're excited for him."
Heading into Saturday's home game against West Virginia, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on ABC, Grinch won't ask his players to change their approach.
The significant difference in field position is why Sooners coach Lincoln Riley discussed challenging the play before he was told by officials it had been “100% confirmed” by replay officials.
“Yeah, I was hoping it would have gone down,” Riley said. “But what a play. Just a phenomenal play. He's got great ball skills.”
Since the start of the 2016 season, OU has 48 interceptions.
Graham's pick Saturday was the eighth of those to come on fourth down, including Graham's other career interception — a late-third quarter pick of Baylor's Charlie Brewer last season.
On that one, though, Graham was able to return the interception three yards past the line of scrimmage.
Of the eight, three have cost the Sooners more than a couple yards.
Both of the others came in 2019. Brendan Radley-Hiles picked off TCU's Max Duggan at the Sooners' 32, an eight-yard difference. A week later, Parnell Motley picked off Oklahoma
State’s Dru Brown at the OU 31, a 17-yard difference.
But neither of those came near the end zone, and both came on what proved to be the opponent’s final possession of the game.
Grinch, though, doesn’t want to dampen his players’ enthusiasm for going after takeaways, giving them more to think about in a defense predicated on being quick and decisive.
He also doesn’t want to take the chance of a disastrous result.
“From an instinct standpoint, you’re going after the football,” Grinch said. “Sometimes you can make a point in terms of, you know, bat the ball down and those things and then you can end up batting it up. Even some Hail Mary situations, we talk about guys going up and attacking the football and going to catch it so you eliminate the tip that can sometimes happen.
“It’s a two-way street.”
Graham said he might’ve batted it down had the throw come in lower and given him a chance to swat the ball cleanly and decisively to the ground instead of having to extend behind his body and potentially give another Huskers player another chance at a catch.
“With a jump ball like that, I think my instincts took over,” Graham said. “I was just deciding if I should go up with two hands or one hand.”
If Graham went up with two hands, it’s unlikely he’s able to come down with the interception.
The Sooners now have 21 takeaways in the last nine games, dating back to midway through last season. It’s OU’s most in a nine-game span since 2015 and the most consecutive games forcing a turnover since a 10-game streak that started in 2015 and extended through the first two games of 2016.
Just four plays before Graham’s jawdropping interception, Nebraska receiver Zavier Betts ran past Graham to complete a 55-yard reception.
“He had one to make up for,” Grinch said. “And let’s be real frank on that. But he did.”