Oklahoma Sooners

Every Thursday, SoonerNation releases the Sooner Intel, a sneak peek inside Oklahoma Sooners football recruiting with news and notes on the latest happenings around the program. Talk about it on our forum. A few things discussed in this week's update:

• View a list of OU's weekend visitors on our forum
• The Sooners are back in the mix for a four-star California cornerback
• Florida defensive back target ready for OU official visit

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ESPN 150 defensive lineman Maquedius Bain (Davie, Fla./University School) has completed his first goal of winning a state championship.

Now the 6-foot-3, 300-pound senior has to figure out his recruitment. He’ll take one big step in that direction with a visit to LSU this weekend.

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There is one glaring hole in Oklahoma’s defensive recruiting for the 2013 class. But it’s a big one. The Sooners are faring well or at least decently at every other spot, but OU is lacking defensive tackles.

Worse than lacking at them is the fact OU has been involved in several tight battles at the position only to have never come out on top.

With less than two months until national signing day, here is a position-by-position breakdown of OU defensive targets.

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Oklahoma has played bridesmaid for several top ESPN 150 recruits in the last few months. But on many of them, the Sooners were considered longshots.

But Dallas Kimball defensive tackle Justin Manning? He was thought to be a shoo-in ever since he was offered this spring. A no-brainer. If anybody was going to be a Sooner commit for the 2013 class, it was going to be Manning.

That’s the luck the Sooners are having right now on the recruiting trail as Manning, ranked No. 88 in the ESPN 150 and No. 8 at defensive tackle, chose Texas A&M over OU and TCU at a ceremony at Dallas Kimball on Thursday afternoon.

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Every Thursday, SoonerNation releases the Sooner Intel, a sneak peek inside Oklahoma Sooners football recruiting with news and notes on the latest happenings around the program. Talk about it on our forum. A few things discussed in this week's update:

• It's decision day for DT target Justin Manning
• Has OU fallen behind on recruiting an ESPN 150 LB?

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ESPN 150 defensive lineman Maquedius Bain (Davie, Fla./University School) raved about his trip to Oklahoma after his high school clinched a berth in the Class 3A championship game Friday.

“The Oklahoma visit was just tremendous,” Bain said. “Right away I felt like it was a place I could succeed at. The coaches and players were very easy to talk to and they answered my questions.

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It feels like the Sooners have been playing catchup for most of the year on the recruiting trail. The OU coaches have preached patience with the class offers, and it has put OU in a tough spot.

This time, though, it wasn’t OU’s fault. With the Sooners playing Saturday at TCU, they couldn’t utilize the first week of in-home visits, so they will have to make up some ground.

OU will get started in a hurry. Three big names scheduled to have in-home visits are ESPN 150 defensive tackle Maquedius Bain (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./University School), ESPN 150 safety Tahaan Goodman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Ranch Cucamonga) and ESPN 300 athlete and Florida State commit Adrian Baker (Hollywood, Fla./Chaminade-Madonna).

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Every Thursday (or Friday this week because of the holiday), SoonerNation releases the Sooner Intel, a sneak peek inside Oklahoma Sooners football recruiting with news and notes on the latest happenings around the program. Talk about it on our forum. A few things discussed in this week's update:

• Bain excited to see Oklahoma City, OU
• One recruit considered switching his commitment to OU after a recent visit

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Last year was considered a down year for OU’s home game Thanksgiving weekend. It was the coldest game of the season. It was against Iowa State. Not much was expected.

But even that weekend provided some fireworks. Eventual defensive end signee Michael Onuoha was on an unofficial visit. ESPN 150 running back Keith Ford (Cypress, Texas/Ranch) was there, as was ESPN 150 defensive tackle Justin Manning (Dallas/Kimball).

But this year's Thanksgiving weekend game is Bedlam, with rival Oklahoma State coming to town. And there are plenty of top-ranked recruits making the trip. Here are five OU fans should keep tabs on:

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Each week, "Breaking down the board" will take a deeper, position-by-position look at the prospects Oklahoma is target. SoonerNation will rank five players at each position with No. 1 being the player who should be OU’s top priority of the five recruits listed.

To be clear, this ranking has nothing to do with the Sooners' actual recruiting board/priority list. It's simply our ranking list compiled of the recruits at the position who have expressed legitimate interest in the Sooners and who could be the best fits for OU’s system.

Today we look at Oklahoma's defensive tackle board:

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ESPN 150 defensive tackle Maquedius Bain (Davie, Fla./University School) has rescheduled his official visit to Oklahoma on Nov. 23, according to his high school coach, Roger Harriott.

Bain, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound senior, will also take an official to LSU in November.

“Maquedius is taking his test this weekend and that was what was keeping him from taking his official visits,” Harriott said. “So he’s going to Oklahoma on the 23rd and I believe he’s heading to LSU on the 16th.”

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When Oklahoma signed just one defensive tackle for the Class of 2012 -- Jordan Wade, originally a 2011 commitment who didn't qualify -- there wasn't panic. The rationale was the Sooners were loaded at the spot and some of the younger players would emerge.

One-fourth of the way through the 2012 season and nobody has emerged among that younger group. And OU is still without a defensive tackle commit.

It it time to panic for OU fans? No, not yet. The Sooners might still be waiting on that first pledge but that doesn’t mean defensive tackles coach Jackie Shipp isn’t doing his job.

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ESPN 150 defensive lineman Maquedius Bain (Davie, Fla./University School) will be taking a trip to Norman, Okla., this weekend to visit the Sooners pending some ACT paperwork.

"I just needed to get a couple of things in hand and I'll be visiting Oklahoma this weekend," Bain said. "They reached out to me back in July and I'm looking forward to the visit."

The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Bain, who committed to Florida State as a junior and re-opened his recruitment earlier in the year, appears to be leaning towards a future playing outside of the Sunshine State.

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