Oklahoma Sooner Football Articles and Notes

K. Clayton served with municipal warrant; failure to pay citation: For the third time in as many weeks, Oklahoma had a football player served with a municipal warrant by Norman police. This time, outside linebacker Keenan Clayton was detained Tuesday for failing to pay a Feb. 21 citation for driving without proof of insurance. According to Norman municipal court records, Clayton didn't pay the ticket or appear before authorities to set a court date, prompting police to issue the warrant March 9 and suspend Clayton's driver's license. (The Oklahoman)

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Labels: Arrested, Keenan Clayton, Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma Sooner Football Articles and Notes

Clayton and McCoy suffer minor injuries: Strongside linebacker Keenan Clayton is currently out of action with a high ankle sprain. He said the plan was to be able to return by the April 11 Red/White Game, but acknowledged there was caution in hurrying back too soon and suffering a setback. Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is practicing with a bandage covering six stitches over his right eye, the result of an after-dark jaunt from his house to his truck -- having just stepped out of the shower, with feet wet and a towel around his waist. "Foolish me, I wasn't thinking, 'Your feet are still wet,' " he said. (Tulsa World) ALSO: Jameel Owens returned to practice Wednesday after missing the first two weeks of the spring with a sprained ankle.

Sooners likely back indoors: Before the break, the Sooners had to move their first scheduled scrimmage indoors and scale back the contact, due to weather. Saturday, the same thing may happen to OU's second scheduled scrimmage, as inclement weather is expected to hit the state this weekend. "If it's too bad to be outside, we may have to go indoors and simulate a scrimmage again," said Stoops, whose team practiced Wednesday for the first time since returning from spring break. (The Oklahoman)

Jarvis Jones makes most of second chance: Tulsa World

Labels: Gerald McCoy, Keenan Clayton, Oklahoma Sooners, Spring Practice

Oklahoma Sooner Football Articles and Notes

Keenan Clayton named Co-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week: Oklahoma strong side linebacker Keenan Clayton has been named the Co-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. The junior had a career-high 14 tackles in the Sooners' 49-17 win at Baylor last Saturday. After starting two games at strong safety in 2006, Clayton had worked in a back-up role until earning a starting linebacker job this season. The change has been good for the junior from Sulphur Springs, Texas. He currently ranks No. 3 on the team in tackles with 40 and is tied for the top spot in tackles for loss with six and in fumbles forced with two, Prior to this season, Clayton's career high for tackles was four, which he accomplished twice. He has exceeded that figure in four of the five games thus far in 2008 and has averaged 10.3 stops over the last three games. (SoonerSports PR)

Labels: Big XII, Keenan Clayton, Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma Sooner Football Articles and Notes

Clayton continues to impress: Converted safety Keenan Clayton continued to make his push at strongside linebacker Saturday by playing, according to Stoops, every snap of the scrimmage. "Keenan Clayton did an excellent job," the coach said. "He's turning into a really solid player." Clayton made four tackles, picked up one of OU's six sacks and created one of the Sooners' three defensive touchdowns. (Tulsa World)

Small crowd: The official attendance for yesterday's Red/White game was 23,306.

Coach Stoops impressed with corners play: Cornerback Brian Jackson and safety Sam Proctor also broke up a pair of passes and the offense’s lack of big plays. "I thought their positioning was great. I thought the corners were excellent," OU coach Bob Stoops said. "Guys like Sam Proctor had big days that really showed. They were in position all day and that’s pleasing to see as a coach." (Norman Transcript)

Injury Report: Players who missed the scrimmage: Cornerback Quinton Carter (hamstring), defensive end Auston English (shoulder), linebacker Austin Box (elbow), wide receivers Ryan Broyles (collarbone) and Adron Tennell (knee), offensive tackle Duke Robinson (ankle), safety Nic Harris (shoulder), defensive end John Williams (heel) and tailbacks DeMarco Murray (knee) and Chris Brown (knee). (The Oklahoman)

Fan calls first offensive touchdown in scrimmage: [Shae] Farmer is the Carrollton, Ga., resident who won an auction to call four plays during Saturday's scrimmage. He didn't know exactly what play he wanted to call, but Farmer knew he wanted tight end Jermaine Gresham going deep. So the call came down from the coaches' box for a play-action pass. Quarterback Sam Bradford laid the ball out perfectly for Gresham to run under it and the tight end beat two defenders to the goal line for the first offensive touchdown of the game. In fact, it was the only offensive touchdown until a pair of scores in the final three minutes of the game. Farmer and his wife, Kimberly, had no interest in attending Saturday's game, though they planned to come to Norman at some point, maybe this fall. After hearing about the SoonerSports.com auction, the two decided to post a bid, joking with each other about how funny it would be if they won. And they did. But the $2,900 he paid to call four plays was only part of the battle. They still had to get to Oklahoma, a 13-hour drive from their Georgia home. "I crossed into Oklahoma state lines for the first time (Friday)," Farmer said. "This stadium is gorgeous. It's unreal. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to even get over here and see something like this. You see it on TV, then you get here and it's everything you thought it could be. "It's well worth it." (The Oklahoman)

Defense impressive in spring game: SoonerSports.com

Coach for one play, that's all he needed: Norman Transcript

Stoops says experiment with no-huddle is 'still a work in progress': The Oklahoman

Bradford relives Tech game, saves touchdown with tackle: The Oklahoman

Coaches were correct -- Defense didn't miss a beat: The Oklahoman

Grading the Red-White game: The Oklahoman

Franks anchors strong OU defense: Tulsa World

No QB fuss -- Sam's the man: Tulsa World

Sooner thrill -- Calling TD play: Tulsa World

Oklahoma's defense supplies big plays in spring game: Dallas Morning News

Labels: Defense, Injuries, Keenan Clayton, Oklahoma Sooners, Red White Game

Oklahoma Sooner Football Articles and Notes

OU coaching staff pleased with Clayton progression: On Saturday, in Oklahoma's first open scrimmage of spring practice, [Keenan] Clayton displayed an array of skills as the Sooners' new strong-side linebacker, and the onetime strong safety looked like a natural. "Today was a really good day," said linebackers coach and defensive coordinator Brent Venables. "I'm so happy for him, because I think from a positive standpoint, he needed that positive kind of day, where you can get a lot of sugar. We'll find the things we can get better at, but he's a guy that needs the confidence, and today was a good day." OU's strong-side linebacker has often been an either-or position: he's either on the field in running-down situations, or he's off the field in passing-down situations. Clayton may be the rare player who can bridge the gap and be an every-down performer. "He's coming along like we hoped he would," head coach Bob Stoops said. "He still has a ways to go, but he's showing great signs. It's kind of what I say all the time, it just takes some guys a little longer to really get comfortable. He's an athletic, solid player that's starting to show that and make the kind of plays we expect him to make."(Tulsa World)

EMQB Interview: D.J. Wolfe: Every Morning Quarterback Blog

Former football star follows his heart: Norman Transcript

Labels: Keenan Clayton, Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma Sooner Football Articles and Notes

Title changes for co-coordinators: Jay Norvell was hired as OU's co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. But his title at OU has changed to "assistant offensive coordinator." Likewise, Bobby Jack Wright's title has changed from co-defensive coordinator to "assistant defensive coordinator." The change is in title only -- everyone's jobs have remained the same. The reason for the alteration was to keep the titles "defined" for OU's primary coordinators -- offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and defensive coordinator Brent Venables. (The Oklahoman)

Sooners at linebacker: The first two spring practices had junior-to-be Ryan Reynolds replacing Curtis Lofton at middle linebacker. Taking Reynolds' place on the weak side is redshirt freshman Austin Box, and stepping in for departed senior Lewis Baker is converted safety Keenan Clayton. Their backups are Brandon Crow in the middle, Travis Lewis at weakside and Lamont Robinson at strongside. (Tulsa World)

Clayton on the switch to linebacker: Telling The Oklahoman... "I was kind of blindsided by the switch," [Keenan] Clayton said. "But coach Venables knows what he's doing. "I feel real good, real natural here." (The Oklahoman)

Coaches say Bradford is better: Tulsa World

Labels: Keenan Clayton, Linebacker, Oklahoma Sooners