Broyles Finalists Include Venables

NORMAN | Oklahoma associate head coach Brent Venables has been named as one of five finalists for the 11th Frank Broyles Award. The honor is presented annually to the top assistant coach in college football.

Venables, who also is defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Sooners, is in his eighth season at OU.

The other finalists are Ohio State passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels; Virginia Tech defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Bud Foster; Arkansas defensive coordinator Reggie Herring and Louisville offensive coordinator Paul Petrino.

The winner of the 2006 Broyles Award will be announced Tuesday, Jan. 16, in Little Rock, Ark., at a banquet presented by The Rotary Club of Little Rock.

No. 8 Oklahoma's defense was far from ranking with the elite after a 34-33 loss at Oregon in the Sooners' third game of the season. Then, defensive coordinator Brent Venables popped the hood and went to work, producing a remarkable in-season turnaround.

Look at OU (10-2) now, riding a seven-game winning streak and getting ready to face No. 19 Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 2, in Kansas City, Mo.

After that Oregon game, OU ranked 97th nationally in total defense, and now it ranks 14th (273.08 yards per game). The Sooners were ranked 89th in passing defense, and now they're 27th (174.25 ypg). They were No. 82 in pass efficiency defense, and now they're No. 11 with a rating of 102.38. They were 75th in scoring defense and 94th in rushing defense; now they're 18th (16.0 ppg) and 19th (99.0 ypg).

Oklahoma had to have that turnaround, especially after star tailback Adrian Peterson went out with a broken collarbone, making it all the more important that the defense step up. The 2004 Heisman Trophy runner-up wasn't available for six victories in the current seven-game streak.

This defensive excellence is something the Sooners' faithful have come to expect from Venables, who has coached three first-team All-Americans and 10 players who went on to the NFL, since he arrived in Norman in 1999. In 2005, the OU defense ranked fourth nationally against the rush and 13th in total defense. In 2004, it ranked 11th nationally in scoring and rushing defense and 13th in total defense.

In 2003, OU was No. 1 nationally in total defense, No. 2 in pass efficiency defense, No. 3 in scoring defense, No. 5 in turnover margin and No. 19 in rushing defense. 2002 and 2001 featured more of the same.

Currently, the Sooners lead the Big 12 in total defense, pass efficiency defense and scoring defense, and they're second in rushing defense and pass defense. Only 16 defenses have a better efficiency on third down than OU's 31.3 percent.

Senior linebacker Rufus Alexander is the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year who averages a team-best 7.92 tackles per game, including 4.58 solo stops. Senior defensive end C.J. Ah You was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2005. They follow Venables pupils like Rocky Calmus, the 2001 Butkus Award winner and 2000 finalist, Teddy Lehman, the 2003 Butkus Award winner and 2002 finalist, and Lance Mitchell, a 2004 Butkus Award finalist.

Broyles Award panelists include Arkansas Athletic Director and former Coach Frank Broyles, former Georgia Coach Vince Dooley, former Washington Coach Don James, former Syracuse Coach Dick MacPherson, former Baylor Coach Grant Teaff, former Brigham Young Coach LaVell Edwards, former Iowa Coach Hayden Fry, former Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer and former Tennessee and Pittsburgh Coach Johnny Majors.

Mark Mangino won the award in 2000 when he was offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. He now serves as the head coach at Kansas.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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