Thomas needs to maintain confidence
The last time Oklahoma took the field, cornerback Jordan Thomas had a rough day.
Thomas was burned a few times in the Sooners’ 49-41 win over Baylor before having to be carried off the field with an apparent ankle injury.
Thomas is expected to return Saturday when Oklahoma hosts Iowa State (11 a.m., Fox).
Defensive coordinator Mike Stoops isn’t worried about Thomas moving forward.
“That happens,” Stoops said. “We’re gonna need him. He’ll bounce back. He’s a great competitor, and he knows how to play. He’s played a lot of football. You know you’re gonna get contested in this league. You need to be prepared.”
Stoops said Thomas needed to keep confidence after allowing a receiver to make a play.
“You just got to go back, look at your technique, look where you’re at mentally and understand that we got a lot of big games coming up and a lot of talented quarterbacks and receivers,” Stoops said. “You’ve got to meet those challenges head on.” Mann breaking through In his third season in Norman, redshirt sophomore defensive line Kenneth Mann is finally having an impact.
Mann has 10 total tackles and 2.5 sacks in three games this season, sitting out only the game at Ohio State.
The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Mann redshirted in 2015 before playing in eight games last season, almost all on special teams. He had just two tackles before this season.
Mann said his first two seasons were difficult after he arrived expecting to play right away.
“Things got to a low point, I’m not going to lie,” Mann said. “But I always knew I needed to work. I knew it was something I had to do.”
It took Mann two seasons to catch on after arriving not in a position to compete for playing time.
“When I got here, I was behind,” he said. “I wasn’t where I needed to be. I knew that. I wanted to change that during the offseason, and it’s starting to show on the field.” Sooners remain No. 3 Oklahoma’s bye week didn’t have any effect on the Sooners’ ranking.
OU remained in the No. 3 spot behind No. 1 Alabama and Clemson in the latest Associated Press poll, released Sunday.
There was no change in the top four, with Penn State remaining behind the Sooners.
Three other Big 12 teams remained in the poll, with TCU moving up one spot to No. 8, Oklahoma State remaining at No. 15 and West Virginia remaining at No. 23.
Ohio State, which the Sooners beat Sept. 9 in Columbus, moved up one spot to No. 10.