Young OSU Defense Shows Improvement in Spring

Originally Published: Apr 18, 2010 9:1 PM CDT

Curt Hill
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

STILLWATER, Oklahoma – Oklahoma State played through the rain and even some thunder during its spring game on Saturday.

On the first play of the game, safety Markelle Martin sent a loud crack through Boone Pickens Stadium when he tackled running back Travis Miller for a loss on a screen pass. The hit sent Miller to the sideline and showed the potential of a young safety.

“Markelle has come up with a few of those in the last couple of games and should be a really good player for us as he starts to mature,” head coach Mike Gundy said.

Martin is one of several players that will have step up for a defense that lost eight starters. While the final spring game score of 55-39 may not show it, the coaches believe the young unit has performed well this spring.

“Defensively, there is a little bit of a handicap with the way the point system is,” Gundy said. “Overall, I thought the players competed well. I think defensively our young players stepped up and made some plays.”

“I think we had a nice spring and we got a lot accomplished,” defensive coordinator Bill Young said. “We had some goals and we didn't reach them all, but we're on our way. We had a lot of shoes to fill, and we put some younger players in there.”

Young made sure that every player received several repetitions and that showed in the final stat column. The leading tackler was walk-on Jerry Reagan, who had seven tackles and a pass break-up. While last season’s unit featured big name players like Perrish Cox and Andre Sexton, Young knows this year’s squad must rely on everybody.

“We really have just a strong unit, and I don't anybody is just a superstar,” Young said. “We've got a bunch of guys that really care about each other and play hard together.”

One of the biggest question marks on defense heading into spring was at linebacker, where the Cowboys must replace all three starters. Joe Mitchell and Tolu Moala stepped up in the spring game, as each registered six tackles. Orie Lemon, a 2008 starter that suffered a season-ending knee injury last year, did not play, but should be a leader at the position.

“Orie Lemon is going to be really tough,” Young said. “We didn't play him tonight, which that was by design. But he will get a lot of reps against Washington State.”

Young added that he was impressed by the progression of senior linebacker Justin Gent, who was listed as a starter on the spring depth chart.

The secondary will also be young this season with the loss of three starters from the 2009 squad. Young believes the Cowboys’ new spread offense will help their learning curve.

“It will help us against teams that pass the ball and run particular plays like the fire screen,” Young said. “It will help us tackle in the open field, it puts a lot of pressure on you as a defense, it stretches you vertically and horizontally. There's a bunch of positives from it.”

The defense will continue to prepare for the season against the offense in the summer before kicking off the season against Washington State on September 4.