OU's Calmus, Williams An Unprecedented 1-2 Punch

Dec 28, 2001

DALLAS - Oklahoma's Roy Williams is the do-everything safety who lines up on the fat part of the field, ready to spring into the backfield or drop back and cover any receiver.

Rocky Calmus is the linebacker found on opposite side, daring offenses to challenge him instead. While his tackles might not draw oohs and aahs, teams rarely get their highlights by running his way.

Quite a pair, eh? Well, according to those who vote on college football awards, there's never been a combination like them, at least not in the past 15 years.

Williams and Calmus are the first teammates to be selected the nation's best defensive back and linebacker in the same season in the history of those honors. The Jim Thorpe Award won by Williams began in 1986 and the Butkus Award won by Calmus started in '85.

Oh, there's one more honor found on their resume: The Bronko Nagurski Award for top defensive player. Calmus was a finalist. Williams was the winner.

"Those guys don't need a whole lot of coaching. We show them where we want them to be in a scheme and let them go make plays," said Mike Stoops, Oklahoma's co-defensive coordinator.

"They're the heart and soul of our team and have been for the past couple years. I don't think there's any question they've been the backbone who have carried the load. Those two make everyone around them better."

The dynamic duo will play their final game together Tuesday in the Cotton Bowl, when the No. 10 Sooners (10-2) take on Arkansas (7-4).

It's certainly the last game at OU for Calmus, a senior, while Williams, a junior, will decide in a few weeks whether he'll return next season.

"I don't know what I'll do," Williams said Friday. "I'm going to sit down with my family, my coaches and some of my teammates and we're going to talk about it. I haven't even decided on a day when I'm going to do it."

With Williams and Calmus leading the way, the Sooners' defense has been even better this season than last, when Oklahoma won the national championship by beating Florida State 13-2 in the Orange Bowl. OU's lone touchdown in the game was set up by a fumble that Calmus caused and Williams recovered.

This year's bowl game provides a return to the stadium where earlier this season Williams made another memorable play, one that underscores his versatility and ability to change a game on any snap.

In the fourth quarter of the annual grudge match against Texas, with the Longhorns backed up to their goal line, the 6-foot-1, 221-pound Williams vaulted over a fullback and hit quarterback Chris Simms from behind while he was throwing. The ball flopped into the arms of linebacker Teddy Lehman and he scooted into the end zone for the game-sealing touchdown.

"It was a cool play at the time, but you can't keep thinking about it," said Williams, who was seventh in Heisman Trophy voting, the highest by a non-quarterback. "It seems like a blur now."

Williams made 101 tackles this season with five interceptions and three fumble recoveries. He had 27 passes broken up, two sacks and 10 tackles for losses.

Calmus was equally disruptive. He had 117 tackles, putting him over 110 for the third straight year, and 15 were for losses. He broke up eight passes, recovered two fumbles and made one interception.

"Rocky has made big play after big play, exceptional plays, for three years," said Brent Venables, Oklahoma's other co-defensive coordinator. "He's unbelievably consistent."

Venables said Mr. Consistency and Mr. Excitement are so outstanding that opposing offensive coordinators must think the Sooners "have 12 or 13 guys out there a lot of times."

Arkansas coach Houston Nutt won't disagree.

"They're awesome," Nutt said. "They play the game the way you want it played - extremely hard.

"The one thing we can't do is say, `OK, there's Rocky, so we can't run there,' because they don't have any weaknesses. You can go through all 11 of them and there's not a guy you can pick on."

By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU's Calmus, Williams An Unprecedented 1-2 Punch

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