Bad News out of Norman

What was once a position of major strength for the Sooners is growing increasingly thin.

Freshman sensation Tom Wort suffered a knee injury during a scrimmage tonight. Although details are scarce at the moment, coach Bob Stoops didn't sound optimistic following practice.

In the short term, this is yet another blow to the middle linebacker spot for the Sooners. With Mike Balogun's status with the NCAA looking dire, Wort was expected to provide depth behind likely starter Ryan Reynolds, who's coming off his second major knee injury. Sophomore Austin Box filled in admirably at middle linebacker late in 2008, but he has had plenty of injury problems of his own throughout his time as a Sooner.

In the longer term, let's hope this doesn't hinder Wort's development. The freshman early enrollee wasn't being pushed into action out of necessity; the coaching staff had raved about Wort's ability ever since he set foot on campus in the spring. He continued to wreak havoc all over the field in fall camp, looking like he would turn out to be just too good to keep on the sidelines this year.