How Oklahoma DB Key Lawrence Makes Both the Offense and the Defense Better
NORMAN — One reason Oklahoma hasn’t committed many turnovers so far this season is because the OU offense is tested in practice by defensive ballhawks like Key Lawrence.
“He's done a good job of flying around and making plays,” said Sooners offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, “whether it was spring ball or fall camp.”
Lawrence, who transferred last year from Tennessee and worked his way around the secondary and eventually became a playmaker late in the season, was at it again Saturday at Nebraska as he ripped the football away from a Cornhusker runner (he almost scooped it up but couldn’t quite find the handle) and also ended a Husker possession with an end zone interception.
He was also third on the team with six tackles and broke up a pass as well.
And he didn’t even start the game.
“I was pleased with how he played,” said defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “You know, he made some … big plays for us and played well. And that's a really competitive situation.”
With Billy Bowman starting at one safety and Justin Broiles back for his sixth season, snaps are hard to come by. And the emergence of sophomore Damond Harmon has made things even more competitive. That trio started in Lincoln while Lawrence came off the bench.
“When you have competition at positions, that helps everybody. That's win-win.”
Aside from the cheetah position and depending on the front, Roof and safeties coach Brandon Hall are going to have to find ways to get at least four players snaps at two or three positions.
“There are gonna be some wrinkles and tweak your game plan each and every week,” Roof said last week.
Lawrence doesn’t seem to have a preference.
“It’s just football,” Lawrence said last week. “Football is football no matter where you go. The whole thing that’s different is the fact that I’m lining up at different places no matter what the offense does.”
And when he does, good things usually happen for the Sooner defense.
Making just two starts at strong safety and two at corner last year, Lawrence was seventh on the team with 47 tackles and forced two fumbles against Iowa State and another key fumble at Kansas.
The OU offense, meanwhile, didn’t commit a turnover in its first two games and on Saturday had only one unforced giveaway by the backups.
Lawrence and his attention to detaching the ball from ballcarriers has put the Oklahoma offense to the test.
“We always talk about iron sharpening iron,” Lebby said, “you know, finding ways to take care of the football in practice. If you're not getting a chance to take care of it in a stressful situation, then to me, it's really hard to create really good habits.
“Just his energy — it's something that we see every single day, for sure. … So having those guys worked for getting the football is a huge deal and that's that's why taking care of it's been been good so far.”
