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Asked for a moment, just one memorable moment, Lendy Holmes does not hesitate.

Now a sophomore, his mind returns to his redshirt freshman season. It was fourth-and-12, TCU was the opponent, first game of the season, and here comes the ball.

“I could have easily had a first down or easily had a touchdown if I would have just concentrated on the ball instead of thinking about that touchdown before I caught it,� he said. “I wish I could have that moment back, but you can’t. You’ve got to move on from it and learn from your mistakes.�

Of the moment, Holmes also says, “It haunts me.�

But perhaps not too much.

If it bothered him too much, what happened the rest of last season might have really gotten to him. And if it bothered him too much, what happened the rest of the season and then in the spring, when he had to make the move from receiver to cornerback, certainly would have been too much to handle.

But it didn’t, and it wasn’t and, these days, all Holmes has been hearing lately are compliments.

A safety and receiver by trade, yet one who did a little of just about everything at Dallas’ South Oak Cliff High School — returned punts, punted, kicked, played quarterback — Holmes emerged after his redshirt year looking to make a difference as a receiver and return man last season. But things didn’t work out so well for a whole bunch of Sooners last season, particularly early.

Holmes was one of them.

Ultimately, he caught two passes for 19 yards, both against Texas A&M, and never really settled down as a returner. Of the punts he fielded and did not fair catch, he returned seven for 41 yards. But most memorable were his bobbles.

“I was too anxious. I was just ready to run,� he said. “Sometimes I wasn’t thinking about catching the ball, I was just ready to go. I was just ready to get out there and show what I could do.

“But I know there’s more to it. There’s more technique to it. There’s a difference between catching the ball in high school and catching the ball in college.�

They say the biggest difference between one level and the next is the speed of the game. Holmes found out firsthand.

Of course, those who work at it, tend to be rewarded and Holmes is on the right track.
Along the way, from failed return man to budding cornerback, Holmes never broke stride.

“He’s not a guy who’s weak spirited. He doesn’t get down,� Sooner coach Bob Stoops said. “He’s kind of a scrapper. He’s got a lot of fight in him.�

Holmes is happy in his new role, yet also second team, even as the guy in front of him, D.J. Wolfe, may be on the hot seat after a couple of blown assignments early this season.

Here’s what Holmes knows. His time will come.

“Like right now, the anxiousness that I’ve been feeling has gone away,� he said. “I’m a patient guy. And there are people that have been here before me and I understand that. I’m just waiting for my time to come and my number to be called.�

And whether Wolfe works out or not, it will likely be this season.

“(Lendy) continues to learn and he continues to work and he’ll be a guy that contributes quite a bit before the season’s over,� secondary coach Bobby Jack Wright said.

And Wright’s not the only one who feels that way.

“He’s handled the switch in a real easy way and he’s playing well,� Stoops said. “So he continues to make improvement and I’m sure he’ll be a factor as the year goes along.�

Holmes is counting on another moment.

“Now I just want to get in the game and catch that interception,� he said, “and take it to the house.�

His time’s coming.

Editor's Note: Read this and much more in the Weel Two issue of Sooner Spectator.