Sooners answer without question

As of the middle of Saturday afternoon, Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables had heard enough queries about the strength of this year's Sooners defense. <br/><br/>"I'm done answering

Sunday, October 10th 2004, 3:33 pm

By: News On 6

As of the middle of Saturday afternoon, Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables had heard enough queries about the strength of this year's Sooners defense.

"I'm done answering any damn questions about, you know: 'All of a sudden you can play defense now,' " an edgy Venables said. "This wasn't the first rodeo for any of these guys on the field and certainly our coaching staff. And there's a lot of guys who understand how to play basic, fundamental, technique-sound football. And that's what it comes down to.

"This wasn't the invention of the wheel or anything else. It's 11 guys playing together. All of a sudden we don't go from being the Bad News Bears to being the Pittsburgh Steel Curtain. I don't know who has the questions, but we don't have questions."

Few could after OU held the nation's No. 1 rushing offense (with a 353.5-yard average) to 154 total yards. That's 32.5 yards fewer than Cedric Benson's nation-leading average at kickoff. Benson gained only 92 yards on 23 carries in the 12-0 Sooners victory.

"It's a good feeling to go out there and shut down the leading rusher in the nation," said tackle Lynn McGruder, who had two tackles for losses. "You can't beat that.

"But I just hope everything is out of the way after this game as far as the D-line, and people saying we can't handle the run and they're going to run all over us and stuff. I just want to get that out of the way. We're men first, and you can't have any disrespect when they say they're going to do something to you. You have to be a man and take charge."

As strong as OU proved up the middle, the Sooners also brought telling pressure from the outside.

One of the big moments was a combination blitz early in the fourth quarter. Texas was facing a third-and-six at the OU 32 when cornerback Chijioke Onyenegecha and safety Brodney Pool both came running.

UT quarterback Vince Young looked to pass, but Pool leaped high and Young pulled the ball down. Onyenegecha then got him for a 6-yard loss. The Longhorns, knocked out of field-goal range, punted, and OU answered by driving 80 yards for the game's only touchdown.

"We worked on corner blitzes all week," Onyenegecha said. "I mean we prepped. Every day in practice was like a game, we were working so hard.

"Coach Venables really prepared us and got on us real good and kept us focused. We focused on stripping the ball, ripping it out, everyone flying to the ball. I guess it worked."

Ask Texas.