The Sports Journal

• Football: It’s hard to say that this year’s team was anything but disappointing. The year began with thoughts that OSU had a realistic chance to go on the road and beat Georgia (now in the top 5 in the nation), maybe contend for the Big12 South, maybe even go to a BCS bowl. It didn’t work out that way. Sure, the Pokes could’ve been in a three-way tie for the South if they’d beaten OU, which they didn’t, but that possibility was only the result of a weak year for Oklahoma and Texas. The Cowboys lost games they should have won to Texas A&M and Texas, and finished the regular season with the exact record (6-6) as last year. To be fair, they had injury issues, but great teams can overcome that, and sadly, we didn’t. I still think the program is headed in the right direction overall, but this can’t be a banner year for recruiting.
• Men’s Basketball: Well, the team’s off to a 2-3 start, so it’d be easy to pick on them, but I’ll choose not to. Yes, the loss to North Texas was embarrassing, and yes, I was frustrated that the Cowboys weren’t at least more competitive in Maui. But it’s still a young team, and they all at least seem to care. Last year, egos dominated the Pokes, and a promising team fell apart as the year went along. This year should be different. The Cowboys are taking their lumps now, but hopefully they’re learning from their mistakes and will grow as the season goes on. This squad still shows a lot of promise, and while there’s going to be more frustrations along the way, I’m not giving up on them yet.
• Women’s Basketball: Finally, we come to my favorite OSU sports team (I don’t think I could have pictured myself saying that about women’s basketball five years ago, but now I really mean it). This is an incredibly fun team to watch. Andrea Riley is an exciting dynamo at point guard that seemingly cannot be stopped. Maria Cordero and Danielle Green are good scoring threats, Shaunte Smith dominates the glass for rebounds, and Taylor Hardeman is a great 3-point shooter. That’s all before you even get to freshman guard Kristin Hernandez, who showed her potential by scoring 25 points in the first game of the year. The team has already picked up some huge road victories, and they’re looking really impressive. And they’ll need to be impressive, because the Big 12 is tough . It’ll be hard for any team to make it through that conference, but keep in mind that OSU barely lost to Texas A&M in both games last year, and the Aggies won the Big 12. So the Cowgirls are close to being where they need to be, talent-wise. Most importantly, they play great together as a team (certainly better than any other team on campus). My prediction? The Cowgirls head back to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

As with the NFL, I’m just going to give some quick final thoughts on a few notable MLB teams.

• The New York Yankees: The Yankees have had an eventful off-season, with Joe Torre leaving and seemingly Alex Rodriguez as well. But everything seems to be working out fairly well for the Yanks, as they made a good replacement hire in Joe Girardi, and A-Rod is now set to resign with New York. Still, pitching depth could be an issue: if Andy Pettitte retires, that starting rotation becomes quite young and inexperienced. The bullpen needs some work in setting up Mariano Rivera, too. The Yankee line-up will again be fierce next year, but you have to wonder if they’ll have enough pitching to get past a team like Boston in the playoffs. My prediction? The Yankees make the Wild Card again next year, and lose to the Red Sox in the ALCS.
• The Colorado Rockies: Even though they lost to Boston in the postseason, the Rockies’ playoff run was the stuff of magic. Following it up will be a tough task. In many ways, the Rocks may have overachieved, and they’ll need to add some pieces just to make the playoffs again, given their tough division that keeps getting better. They’re wisely trying to sign superstar Matt Holiday to an extension, and they now look close to a deal to resign catcher Yorvit Torrealba, which is good. But second baseman Kaz Matsui will almost surely leave, so Colorado will have to replace him and starter Josh Fogg. Another bullpen arm couldn’t hurt either. So far, the Rockies’ off-season has been uneventful, and unless they make some nice moves, my prediction might be that they can’t quite live up to this year’s success and barely miss the playoffs in 2008.
• The Atlanta Braves: Once again, we’re putting my favorite team in here. The Braves haven’t made the playoffs two years in a row after winning 14 straight division titles, but there’s still a lot of good pieces here. Mark Teixeira will be with the team at least one more year, and Tom Glavine will return to Atlanta to help the rotation. The big question mark it what the Braves will do in center field, since they don’t Andruw Jones they won’t be resigning him. If they find a good replacement (I was hoping for Aaron Rowand, but I doubt that happens), then I like the look of this team: a potent lineup, good rotation (albeit a risky one, with age and injury history), and a solid bullpen. Still, the Mets and Phillies are two teams that will be tough to get past for the Braves to get back in the playoffs. My prediction? Atlanta misses the postseason next year, but is back in 2009.

As the semester comes to a close, so will this project. I’ve learned a lot, but now it’s time to wrap things up, and I’ll do so by giving some quick final thoughts on each of the categories that I’ve been covering with this Web site, starting with the NFL.

• The New England Patriots: They’re insanely good. They clinched their division if Week 12, before even playing their game. Tom Brady is already a lock for MVP, and he and Randy Moss are both going to break the single-season record for touchdowns at their respective positions. Obviously, the Pats are the favorite to win it all, and they should be: they might just be the greatest football team ever. Yet I’m not quite willing to anoint them the champs yet. The Eagles, who were 24-point underdogs, showed Sunday that New England has some vulnerabilities after all. If the Steelers get hot, or Indianapolis gets healthy, then either team could exploit those weaknesses even better than Philly did. My prediction? New England goes undefeated in the regular season, but loses to the Colts in the AFC Championship Game.
• Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers: Favre, the ageless wonder, has turned the Packers into one of the favorites to come out of the NFC and to the Super Bowl. The team’s defense has drastically improved over the past two years, and the emergence of Ryan Grant gives green bay a credible running threat to complement the skilled wide receiving corps. But the real story here remains Favre. The quarterback almost retired last year, but came back for one more tour of duty, and he’s been brilliant. Now he’s already saying he wants to come back next year too, and he might as well the way he’s been playing. He’s broken some career passing records this season, and has a couple more on his radar. I think he’s now only behind John Elway and maybe Dan Marino for greatest QB ever. My prediction? He leads the Packers to the Super Bowl this year for the third time in his career.
• The Denver Broncos: The Broncos are my favorite team, so I’m including them even though they don’t really fit in with these other two titans. It’s been an up and down year for Denver, who won some close games early, then got blown out in a few and looked dead in the water, only to get on a roll and find themselves back in the race for the AFC West division title. Last week, they blew a big lead late in the game and lost in OT to Chicago, a game that really, really should have been a victory. Meanwhile, the Chargers won a took a 1-game lead in the division. Wide receiver Javon Walker is almost healthy again, and would be a nice gain for an ever-improving passing game with young quarterback Jay Cutler at the helm. Still, Denver looks like they’re a couple pieces away from being a serious contender, even if they do find a way into the playoffs this year. My prediction? The Broncos miss the postseason this year, but make it to the playoffs next year and are a Super Bowl contender the year after that.

The following story appeared in the November 15th edition of The O’Colly. Normally, I’d give you a link to the Web site now, but due to an internal feud, the paper’s content is not currently available online. Lucky for you that I’m posting it here.

On an April afternoon in 1901, a crowd of puzzled spectators would look upon something they’d never seen before.

It was the annual Field Day, a day of athletic competition at Oklahoma A&M begun in 1898 that featured running and biking contests. The day was highly anticipated for the student body, but onlookers weren’t prepared for the final event.

A group of Aggie women were playing basketball.

Women had never before participated in Field Day events, yet here they were on an outdoor basketball court of dirt.

Basketball itself was still a novelty, an innovation of Dr. James Naismith less than a decade old. Many of the people in Stillwater that day had never seen the game before.

The crowd’s confusion would turn to enjoyment as it watched the women play. The A&M sophomores beat the juniors by a score of 10-9.

The conclusion by most spectators was that basketball was a woman’s game. Six years would pass before the first men’s team was formed in 1907.

The phenomenon would only grow from that first April afternoon, as the women of OAM started a tradition of female athletics older than statehood itself.

Basketball would become a regular sport, played in the autumn and winter. The women mostly competed against each other or high school girls, and they maintained a solid fan base as they honed their skills at the young game, as reported in a 1902 edition of The College Paper:

“The basket ball game between the college and high school ladies, which was played on October 11, was well attended and much enthusiasm was displayed on both sides.

“The game was characterized by the number of fouls on both sides, but with more practice the teams will have less of this. The playing of the college team was all that could be expected, and we feel sure that before long it will make an excellent showing.”

Sexism still dominated many people’s views of the women’s attempts to legitimize their sport. The women were still judged as much by their domestic skills as their athletic ability, stitching their own uniforms—black dresses with crimson trim.

In the winter of 1904, the basketball team played Kingfisher in Oklahoma A&M’s first female sports game against another college, but the preview in the Stillwater Democrat read:

“The college basketball team will pull hair with the Kingfisher team at this place next Wednesday. Everybody should turn out and see the girls scratch.”

The women had more to deal with than sexism. The early basketball games were often played outdoors, including the game against Kingfisher, which was set at the College Athletics Grounds on a chilly November afternoon.

But the Aggie women won in spite of it all, triumphing 18-4 and founding a winning tradition.

Decades later, what these women started would grow exponentially.

In 1972, Congress would pass Title IX legislation, prohibiting gender discrimination at any educational institution receiving federal funding. For the first time, universities had to include women’s sports teams.

At Oklahoma State, many female sports teams were started around this time, including golf, tennis, field hockey, gymnastics and track teams.

The forerunner to them all, however, was women’s basketball. Long before legislation compelled that everyone be allowed the opportunity to compete, a small group of women set out to show their own athletic talent.

Their efforts on a court of dirt more than 100 years ago sparked a legacy of determination that lives on and grows stronger everyday.

Two huge stories out of the baseball world today, involving perhaps the two greatest active career players in the game: Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. Both are free agents, but after today’s news, it’s clear their careers are going in opposite directions.

Barry Bonds, the aging home run king, was officially indicted today by a federal grand jury on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Essentially, the feds think Bonds lied when he claimed under oath that he never knowingly took steroids. It’s just an indictment, but this is still big. The government has been investigating Bonds for the last four years, and many people, myself included, didn’t believe this day would actually come. It will be interesting to see if this development, plus the coming release of the Mitchell investigation, leads commissioner Bud Selig to take action against Bonds, be it a suspension, a ban from the sport or the dreaded asterisk. I imagine this will be a very slowly developing story (after all, it took us four years to get to this point), but the situation obviously bears close watching.

Alex Rodriguez, meanwhile, is on the verge of signing a big contract with the New York Yankees, the same team he opted out from just a couple of weeks ago. Initial reports have this new deal coming in at 10 years, $275 million, but perhaps the most interesting part of the story is how this all went down. A-Rod’s agent, the infamous Scott Boras, has guided some of the biggest deals in the history of the sports, but he seemed to finally miscalculate with this situation, apparently overestimating A-Rod’s demand on the open market. With a sudden lack of suitors, Rodriguez was forced to humbly go back to the Yankees without Boras and take a deal worth about $21 million less than he could’ve made if he’d just done an extension with the Yanks without opting out. Still, a deal is in place, and it looks like the best player in baseball will remain a Yankee.

So, one star’s future is reassured, while another’s past is called into doubt. Quite the day.

It promises to be a big off-season in Major League Baseball, with Alex Rodriguez negotiating another record-breaking deal, the possibility of young superstars like Miguel Cabrera being traded and the upcoming release of the findings from the Mitchell investigation, which will implicate many players for using performance-enhancing substances.

So far, as is often the case, New York and Los Angeles have dominated the off-season talk, with Joe Torre leaving the Bronx and eventually signing with the Dodgers, and the Yankees hiring Joe Girardi as his replacement.

However, there have been a couple of trades already that have gone a little under the radar, and both could be very significant next season.

The Detroit Tigers trade two prospects to the Atlanta Braves for shortstop Edgar Renteria.

For Detroit: This looks like a great deal for the Tigers. They gave up a couple prospects, but no one they can’t live without. In landing Renteria, they get a proven shortstop that allows them to move Carlos Guillen to first base. Renteria’s first foray into the American League with the Red Sox was a disaster, but he comes into Detroit with a lot less pressure, and that alone could be a difference maker. If they can resign Gary Sheffield to keep a big power threat in the lineup and improve their bullpen depth, the Tigers looked poised to make a run next year.
For Atlanta: This isn’t a bad deal for Atlanta either, since trading Renteria frees up room for the talented Yunel Escobar, much younger and much cheaper than Renteria, to start next year. I do think they might have been able to get a little more in return for Renteria, but they unload some salary, perhaps freeing up enough money to sign Tom Glavine and other targets, and get some nice prospects in the process.

The Philadelphia Phillies trade Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary and Mike Costanzo to the Houston Astros for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett.

For Philadelphia: Lidge is the key player in this deal. Just two years ago, he was probably the best reliever in baseball, proving himself as a dominant closer for the Astros. Then, he gave up a game-winning monster home run to Albert Pujols in Game 6 of the 2005 NLCS, and he hasn’t been the same since. Still, it’s not like the talent isn’t still there. He still throws hard and has the stuff to be dominant again, and while Philly is certainly a hitters’ park, the change of scenery could do him well. Considering the upside, Philly didn’t have to give up too terribly much to get him. Just as importantly, gaining Lidge means the Phillies can move incumbent closer and former starter Brett Myers back to the rotation, which is a better addition than anyone they’d get on a weak free agent market. And though he was little more than a throw-in, the backup Bruntlett gives them good infield depth, as he can play shortstop, third base and probably even second base. Really good deal for Philadelphia.
For Houston: You can make the case that the Astros have given up too soon on former All-Star Lidge, and that the value they got in return isn’t equal to that of the pitcher they gave up. Geary is a weak middle reliever, and Constanzo is a good but not spectacular third-base prospect. Bourn is the significant addition. He has great speed and can play all three outfield spots. He could develop into a nice lead-off hitter, but it’s too soon to tell. As one analyst said, we don’t know yet which speedster path he’ll follow, whether he’ll be the next Willy Taveras (an emerging star for the Rockies), or the next Joey Gathright (a bust for the Devil Rays and Royals). I like his potential, but I think Houston could have waited a little longer and gotten more from Lidge. There’s also the matter of who will close now for the Astros with Lidge gone. Former set-up man/closer Dan Wheeler was also traded away, going to Tampa Bay last July. Chad Qualls is probably the best bet in Houston now, but while he was a good middle reliever, I’m not sure he has great closer stuff.

Coming off its biggest win of the season, the Oklahoma State equestrian team will have another big challenge Saturday as the Cowgirls host Texas A&M at 11 a.m. at Animal Science Arena in the final home show of the semester.

Texas A&M is the Cowgirls’ biggest rival, and junior Charlotte Collingsworth said the team is looking forward to the competition.

“We’re all really excited about this,” Collingsworth said “There’s always a big rivalry against Texas A&M, and with the way the team’s going now, this is going to be a good chance to show off how much we’ve learned.

Senior Samantha Davidson said there’s a Bedlam-like atmosphere whenever the two teams face off.

“I guess because both teams have been such a powerhouse within equestrian, it’s just a really big rivalry,” Davidson said. “They’re always very good and have a lot of great riders; they’ve just always been one of the toughest competitors we’ll show against.”

There will be much at stake when the conference foes face off Saturday, as both teams will look to remain undefeated. Texas A&M (5-0) is coming a victory over SMU, and OSU (3-0) dominated defending national champions South Carolina 16-3 two weeks ago.

Associate head coach Suzanne Flag said the Cowgirls will try to approach the show like any other in order to stay in touch with what they need to do to win.

“We try to keep it more as a business as usual type of thing, because I think it’s easy to get distracted by the rivalry,” Flag said. “It is a great rivalry that Texas A&M and us have, but we’re trying to stay focused on what their job is out there.”

Davidson said the beating South Carolina has given OSU an attitude boost going into A&M.

“It gives us a lot of confidence and kind of pushes us to keep the streak alive,” she said. “On the same note, A&M looks at us being undefeated now and that we did beat the defending national champions, so they are definitely going to be more prepared.”

But though the Cowgirls have had a lot of success so far, they’re not letting it go to their heads.

“We’re undefeated to this point, and not only are we undefeated, but we’ve been winning by some fairly large margins,” Flag said. “It’s been a confidence boost, but it’s not giving them overconfidence; they’re still here working hard everyday to continue to get better, even with that success.”

The past two weeks, the Cowgirls have focused on preparing for the different things the horses may throw at them, riding as many of the horses as they can and learning each one’s quirks and responses.

The onset of colder weather also poses a unique challenge for riders.

“When it’s colder, [the horses] are more excited,” Davidson said. “We just have to warm them up a little longer just to get some of the edge off of them.

“Also, it’s really cold for us. We just layer on the coats, then when it’s our turn to show, take them off and show for that couple of minutes, then layer back up.”

So far, the Cowgirls have overcome whatever challenges have come their way, riding through strong winds and swirling dirt against Baylor and putting up with some difficult horses against South Carolina.

Now, they’ll face the challenge of a rival just as hungry to win as they are, but they remain confident in their ability.

“We just really need to bring our ‘A’ game and show the best that we can, because the Aggies definitely will,” Davidson said. “So we just have to prove that we truly are the better team. These are our horses, this is our home, so we just have to make that known, and hopefully it will come out like South Carolina.”

And if they ride to the best of that ability, the Cowgirls know they can come out with another big victory.

“We just need to ride how we’ve been riding, and I think we’re going to be fine,” Collingsworth said.

Going into the Texas game, coach Mike Gundy said he thought his offensive line was only playing average, despite having paved the way for the No. 1 rushing offense in the Big 12.

Gundy said the o-line would face a much tougher test that would show just how good the group was when they went up against the Longhorns.

The line proved up to the challenge for the most part, giving the Oklahoma State playmakers enough protection to rack up nearly 600 yards of total offense this past Saturday.

“I thought they played well,” offensive coordinator Larry Fedora said of the linemen. “With the guys they were matched up against, I thought they did a really good job and put us in a position to win the football game.”

The line allowed only one sack, which Fedora said was the result of sophomore quarterback Zac Robinson’s missed assignment, and it was the first time Robinson was sacked since Troy in his first career start.

Yet the results weren’t entirely positive for the o-line. While the line gave Robinson the protection necessary for him to break the OSU single-game passing mark, running the ball was more of a challenge for the Pokes in the second half.

The Cowboys came into the game averaging 256.6 yards per game on the ground, but Texas held them to nearly 100 fewer yards as OSU finished with 164 rushing yards, the team’s lowest total since the season opener against Georgia.

“In the fourth quarter we weren’t effective running the football, and we needed to be in that situation,” Fedora said. “I think we kind of got wore down in a way, but I also think that Texas is good, and they stepped up, and they made the plays in the fourth quarter when they needed to, and we didn’t.”

Despite most of the line having to play nearly the entire game, senior lineman David Koenig said Texas, not fatigue, was the cause of the Pokes’ second half rushing struggles.

“We came out in the second half recharged and ready to go,” Koenig said. “But they made a couple of adjustments with their down linemen. We still did everything we could, but the unblocked guys were coming in and making the tackle.”

The offensive line will face another stiff challenge this Saturday against No. 4 Kansas, who has the No. 2 rushing defense in the Big 12, allowing just 77.7 yards per game and 2.8 yards per carry.

The Kansas defensive linemen are smaller than those of Texas or Texas A&M, Gundy said, but they make up for it with speed and rarely make mistakes.

“They’re not as big and physical, but those guys are playing hard,” Gundy said. “We try to get guys out of position all the time, and I don’t see them out of position a whole lot on defense.”

Leading the way for KU is senior defensive tackle James McClinton, who was placed on the watch list for the Lombardi Award, given to the nation’s top defensive lineman.

“In my opinion, he’s probably one of the best players in the Big 12,” Koenig said of McClinton. “He’s impressive: his quickness, his strength, his power and his relentless effort. He’s not going to quit. He’s going to come off [the block], and he’s going to make tackles.”

Fedora agreed that McClinton will pose a significant challenge for the offensive line.

“He’s a handful,” Fedora said. “He’s probably the best inside guy we’ve played up to this point. The lights come on for him and he plays extremely hard.”

Nevertheless, Fedora said he expects a strong outing from his line because of the confidence the Cowboy offense takes into every game.

“Our guys expect to move the ball; they expect to score points,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who we face, and it doesn’t matter what the stats are. They know that this defense hasn’t faced us yet. Something is going to give, and hopefully it’s them and not us.”

The Cowgirl basketball team picked up another exhibition victory Tuesday night, beating East Central 101-33 in Gallagher-Iba Arena, but the script wasn’t quite the same in the Cowgirls’ second exhibition game as in the first.

While the Cowgirls had built a 23-point lead barely 10 minutes into their first game, they only led by six halfway through the first period against the Tigers.

“It was kind of disappointing at the beginning of the game,” sophomore guard Andrea Riley said. “We could tell that we were going to start out bad because we weren’t really focused in warm-ups.”

Late in the half, the Cowgirls finally picked up steam as they went on a 19-5 run, keyed by a pair of three-point baskets from freshman guard Kristin Hernandez, and closed the half leading East Central 41-19.

“We were in it for about 15 minutes or so,” East Central coach Kent Franz said. “But then their athleticism, their talent, their depth, their energy, all those things just took their toll on us. It started snowballing, and we couldn’t find a way to stop it.”

Hernandez, who scored just two points against the Oklahoma Flyers on Friday, would finish the game with 23 points to lead all Cowgirls.

“The kid can really score,” coach Kurt Budke said. “I’m really encouraged by seeing the young lady go for 23 tonight. She’s got a great future here.”

The Cowgirls opened the second half the way they were expected to open the game—in dominating fashion—outscoring the Tigers 34-4 in the first 11 minutes of the period. OSU would outscore East Central 60-14 in the half.

The Cowgirls would break 100 points for the game, despite the team having scored just 22 with seven minutes left in the first half, when Hernandez stole the ball and converted a last-second layup.

“There were when six seconds left when I looked at the clock when I stole it,” Hernandez said. “I usually don’t even hear anything, but I heard it this time—[the crowd] erupted when I hit the layup.”

Budke said he was pleased with the team’s overall effort, especially the Cowgirl’s play in the second half.

“I thought it was little bit better tonight [than Friday],” Budke said. “I thought we did a good job of responding the last five minutes of the first half and carried it over into the second half, as far as intensity, picking up our pressure, picking up our toughness.”

Riley had another strong outing for the Cowgirls, scoring 22 points and picking up six assists and three steals.

The Cowgirls had one player return to the starting lineup from injury Tuesday only to have another sit the game out. Senior guard Danielle Green started the game after missing Friday’s exhibition with an ankle injury. Green scored 12 points in her debut and grabbed seven rebounds.

“Danielle was a little rusty because she hadn’t played in a long time,” Riley said. “To have her back was really fun, ‘cause I missed her Friday. I’ve been playing with her for a year, and she’s one of the most exciting players on the team.”

Senior center Maria Cordero did not play against East Central, however, sitting out the game due to a “coach’s decision,” Budke said. He said Cordero would play Friday.

Junior guard Taylor Hardeman turned 21 years old Tuesday and celebrated her birthday by scoring eight points, including two big three-pointers late in the first half, to go with four rebounds and three assists.

The Cowgirls will kick off their regular season schedule this Friday when they host the Air Force Academy at 6:00 at Gallagher-Iba.

After a trying season, Rodrick Johnson will be back where he belongs Saturday—starting at middle linebacker.

Johnson, a senior, played linebacker in each of his first three seasons at Oklahoma State. He was the team’s third-leading tackler in each of the last two years.

Yet coming into the 2007 season, OSU coaches were faced with a lack of depth at defensive end and a wealth of talent at linebacker. They decided to ask Johnson, the natural choice due to his bigger size, to switch positions.

After starting 10 games at middle linebacker just a year earlier, Johnson was to move to end and become a backup.

He admits he wasn’t thrilled about the idea.

“My first thought was ‘No, I don’t want to do it,’” Johnson said. “But you’ve got to think about the team; you’ve got to put the team ahead of you. That’s where they really needed me at that time.

“Wherever they need me, that’s where they’re going to get me.”

Despite his willingness to make the change, Johnson said he never quite felt at home at defensive end.

“I never actually got comfortable because I never got to play as much as I wanted to play,” he said. “Once you start learning the plays and the techniques, it comes naturally to you, but there’s still that factor that you question if you doing it right. I played it to the best of my ability, and coaches really appreciated my efforts.”

Now, however, things have changed. The wealth the Cowboys had at linebacker was all but obliterated by the end of the Kansas State game.

Sophomore Chris Collins has missed more than a month with a toe injury, and sophomore Patrick Lavine and senior Jeremy Nethon both went down against the Wildcats.

Suddenly, Johnson was need more at linebacker again than defensive end, and last week he made the switch back to his old position.

Defensive coordinator Tim Beckman said that Johnson looked good at linebacker in practice during the bye week.

“He’s doing a good job,” Beckman said. “He’s a guy that’s played the position, and he had a good week of practice last week.”

While Johnson has experience, there have been a few new things for him to learn since returning to his old spot on the field.

“It’s a crunch course for him,” Beckman said. “The big thing for him is terms, learning the terms that are quite a bit different from last year. But it’s football. He’s picked it up extremely fast because he’s played so much.”

Johnson said the extra week of practice helped him to learn the differences since he last played linebacker, and now he’s catching on quickly

“The gaps and stuff are a little bit different, but pretty much, it’s still the same,” he said. “I’m just getting back to being comfortable standing up instead of having my hand down, working off the ends.”

Collins and Lavine have both practiced this week, and one or both could rotate in and play Saturday. Still, Johnson is expected to start at middle linebacker, and Beckman said he’d like to see him play at least 35-40 snaps.

Regardless of how much he plays, Johnson said he’s just happy to be back in familiar territory.

“It feels normal there,” Johnson said. “It feels like home.”