The [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] and the [autotag]Arkansas State Red Wolves[/autotag] are set to battle it out on the gridiron on Saturday. This offseason has been one that has felt like a century, but game week is finally here.
The Sooners coming off a 6-7 season, have a lot of questions to answer. The offense was really good a year ago but lost three key players in [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag], [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag] and [autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag].
While they were really good offensively, they weren’t great. They struggled in key situations like third and fourth down, in the red zone, and late in games.
Offensive Coordinator [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] told reporters at Monday’s press conference, the Sooners feel they can play multiple players at each wide receiver position.
“The receiver spot, we talked a little bit about it last week, but I think we’ve got a chance of seeing six or seven guys,” Lebby said. “I think that’s something we are incredibly excited about is that we’ve really got a chance at playing multiple guys, which, again, was not the case as we stood here a year ago.”
The depth this season has been a common theme for coaches on both sides of the ball. It’s been mentioned almost intentionally that there wasn’t much depth a season ago, which will change this season.
But it doesn’t matter how much depth you have at the wide receiver position if your quarterback doesn’t play well. Lebby said even though he and [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] had experience together going into last season, they both learned a lot about one another.
“I think he understands now more than ever maybe why I’m calling the play that I’m calling and the intent of it,” Lebby said. “I think that’s a huge deal as you go try to attack defense and situationally understand why I’m calling things.”
That growth will be key for this season. We’ll have our first chance to see it on display inside Gaylord Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
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