True freshman Malcolm Jones was the Gatorade high school player of the year at Oaks Christian last year, so he didn’t know what to expect when he took his first live hits as a college player.
It didn’t take long for him to find out. He was among the handful of players selected for the Oklahoma drill — a one-on-one tackle drill — that kicked off the first practice in full pads.
“It was the first hit of the football season so I had to make it a good one,” Jones said. “My blood was pumping and I was ready for it.”
Jones, who got plenty of carries during practice and took several hits, said the biggest difference was the speed of the game but that he didn’t take any hits that surprised him.
“But we weren’t really going full contact,” he said. “I’m still waiting to see if I get rocked really hard. Hopefully I don’t.”