Tag: 2023 Oklahoma Sooners

Gavin Freeman included in College Sports Wire’s top Big 12 performers from week 1

After his scintillating punt return for a touchdown, Gavin Freeman was named to College Sports Wire’s top Big 12 performers from week 1.

It was an electric start to the season for [autotag]Gavin Freeman[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners. On the whole, OU did what they wanted to do against Arkansas State in every phase of the game, scoring 73 points, pitching a shutout on defense, and getting a big special teams play.

That big special teams play was Gavin Freeman’s 82-yard punt return for a touchdown on his first touch of the season. He was named to College Sports Wire’s top Big 12 performers from week one for his performance.

Freeman showed how electric he can be for the Oklahoma special teams in Week 1. Not a bad start for the sophomore who scored two touchdowns with the first coming on a punt return in the first quarter. – Patrick Conn, College Sports Wire

Freeman’s efforts also earned him co-Big 12 special teamer of the week.

The former walk-on had a big offseason, impressing the coaching staff and strength and conditioning staff. And he’s been able to take the work he’s done since winter workouts and put it to work for him and the Sooners on the field.

In addition to his electric punt return for a score, Freeman saw an increased workload due to the injury to Drake Stoops. He added four catches for 19 yards and another touchdown on the day.

Because of his speed and work with the ball in his hands, Freeman will continue to earn opportunities as both a wide receiver and as a return man. Week one was just a taste of what’s coming for his career in Norman.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

‘It felt surreal’: Peyton Bowen makes impact in front of Sooners faithful, expects challenge vs. SMU

The first game for the Sooners saw a lot of players get their first action including five-star Peyton Bowen.

The [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] are just a few days off from their blowout win versus the [autotag]Arkansas State Red Wolves[/autotag]. During that game, 87 players earned snaps.

One of those players was highly-touted freshman [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag]. Bowen looked solid. He finished second on the team with three tackles. He showed quick instincts and power once he arrived at the ball.

Bowen told reporters it was great to get game one under his belt.

“It felt surreal,” Bowen said. “The whole Walk of Champions, running out of the tunnel, all of it felt crazy. All in all it kind of felt smooth. I didn’t feel like any of that nervousness. It just felt like it was just football, the game I love.”

You could tell he looked comfortable when he was in the game. He played early, rotating with the starters, which shows the staff expects him to make an immediate impact this season.

While the Arkansas State win was nice, Bowen said the [autotag]SMU Mustangs[/autotag] bring their own challenge.

“Really explosive,” Bowen said. “They have fast receivers. They recruited great in the transfer portal, so they’ve got guys like Miami (Hurricanes) transfer running back (Jaylon) Knighton. Their receivers are fast and twitchy. They can make plays. They’re going to take shots. They’re going to give us 50/50 balls, but in my eyes, we’ve got to make those plays.”

This upcoming game will be a challenge for Oklahoma. It’s also the first big test for the defense in 2023. SMU brings in one of the best offenses the Oklahoma Sooners will see all year.

With everything Peyton Bowen’s done since arriving in Norman, he looks more than up for the challenge.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Jeff Lebby has seen ‘real growth’ in his offense’s situational execution

Jeff Lebby thinks there’s been real growth with Oklahoma’s situational execution.

We are ten days until the start of the [autotag]2023 Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] football season. While the Sooners offense has question marks, it is expected to be great once again.

Will they be elite like we’ve seen in the past? Probably not. It really depends on what weapons step up at wide receiver.

Offensive Coordinator [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] told reporters he’s seen some improvement this offseason.

“There’s been a lot of good,” Lebby said. “There’s been plenty that we’re continuing to work through and fix and just continuing to create depth at every single position. I do like where we are at. I like our guy’s attitude, effort, and toughness. We’ve got to continue to get better. I think our guys understand that as we work toward next Saturday.”

Lebby helped lead the 13th-best offense in the nation a year ago. It was an offense that played extremely fast, almost to the detriment of the team. Another thing they’ve really emphasized this offseason is situational football.

“It’s still a work in progress,” Lebby said. “I think as you stand here right now, we’re ten days away from game day, you always want more. I think that’s the natural part of coaching, but at the same time, there has been real growth.”

That now has to translate to owning the football field on game days. It’s something that hindered this team a year ago and resulted in so many close losses.

It’s been a big topic not just offensively this offseason but for the entire team to improve in their situational football execution. That will hopefully help them come out on the other side of those close games in 2023.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1366]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

247Sports predicts the Oklahoma Sooners 2023 record

The Sooners have to show improvement in year two under head coach Brent Venables and 247Sports thinks they will in 2023.

The [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] are fresh off a 6-7 season in year one of the Brent Venables era. Safe to say things didn’t go how many expected but there is a lot of optimism for year two.

The Sooners received one of the easier schedules on paper for their last season in the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag]. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy. No one in the country thought the [autotag]TCU Horned Frogs[/autotag] would be as good as they were a year ago.

The Frogs would make the national championship game and be the first Big 12 team to win a playoff game.

Given the schedule, the Sooners have a chance to have significant improvement from their 6-7 a year ago and contend for the Big 12 title.

247Sports’ Cody Nagel gave his record prediction for every team in the Big 12 in 2023 and has the Sooners going 9-3.

Now it’s unclear who he has Oklahoma losing to. He doesn’t break down the games to let us know who the losses are against, but he has three of Oklahoma’s opponents losing three or fewer games. Those three teams are Texas, TCU, and Oklahoma State.

While 9-3 will show progress, some will still feel it’s not good enough. The standard is different at the University of Oklahoma. The place that invented winning seven national titles and 50 conference championships.

However, 9-3 would show the program is heading in the right direction in year two of the Brent Venables era.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Oklahoma Sooners at No. 20 in preseason AP Top 25

The Oklahoma Sooners come in at No. 20 in the first AP Top 25 for the 2023 college football season. How’d the rest of the poll turn out?

Less than three weeks from the start of the 2023 college football season, we have both preseason polls.

The Oklahoma Sooners came in at No. 19 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. They’re in a similar spot in the preseason AP Top 25, coming in at No. 20.

After a 6-7 season, one could argue they should be lower, but that goes to show the respect the coaches and the Associated Press have for the University of Oklahoma and its coaching staff.

There’s a belief Brent Venables and his staff will put together a much better season in 2023, and that’s reflected in having the Sooners inside the top 25. Will they get back into Big 12 title contention? That remains to be seen, but they’ll be a much better this year because they’ll have a much better defense.

Here’s a look at the AP Top 25

‘Understands what it takes to play at a high level’: Expectations high for Jalil Farooq in 2023

After a strong season in 2022, the Oklahoma Sooners need Jalil Farooq to take another step in 2023. And he’s got the skill to do it.

The Oklahoma Sooners only constant at wide receiver over the last several years was [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag]. He immediately earned a role as a true freshman in 2020 and proceeded to lead the Sooners in receiving yards each of his three seasons in Norman.

Now with the Denver Broncos, Marvin Mims experience and production needs to be replaced heading into 2023.

One of the players expected to take on a more significant role in 2023 is Jalil Farooq.

In 2022, Farooq got his first significant taste of playing time as a college football player. And after a strong season, where he finished third in total yards with 606 yards and five touchdowns, the expectations are going to another level.

“Yeah, that’s one of the guys in the room that’s had some production and has played quite a bit. So we’re looking for him to take great strides,” Jeff Lebby said at OU Football media day. “You know, he’s lived it. He understands what it takes to play at a high level every single week. Now he needs to go do it. Him as much as anybody else, needs to put together three great weeks of fall camp, continuing to create trust continuing to create consistency. Inside the building every single day but a guy, when he had the ball in his hands, he did great things with it, so we’re looking for him to take that and run with it.”

Farooq was a multipurpose weapon for the Sooners in his first extended role with the Sooners. After a strong performance in the Alamo Bowl against Oregon at the end of the 2021 season, Farooq earned a starting job last offseason.

With the loss of Mims, Oklahoma needs someone to lead the way for the wide receiver group, and Farooq’s going to have a great opportunity to do that in 2023.

His ability to run a full route tree and win at every level of the defense will help unlock the Sooners’ passing game. He’s a strong runner, showing off an ability to break tackles as well as make people miss in the open field.

Farooq has the size, speed, and route-running ability to have a big-time season for Oklahoma. As the Sooners open fall camp this week, the next few weeks will serve as the springboard for what should be a career year for Jalil Farooq.

Here’s a look at the best photos from OU Football’s 2023 Media Day.

R Mason Thomas brings the ‘mamba mentality’ to the defensive end room

R Mason Thomas looks to have a breakthrough year and he got a big endorsement from his position coach.

There are a few bright spots when you have your worst season in over two decades. One of those bright spots was the flashes you saw from true freshman [autotag]R Mason Thomas[/autotag].

You look at his numbers, and nothing jumps out at you, but he has unique athleticism and twitchiness at the edge position. He was ultimately just too light to make much of a difference on the line.

That’s why this summer, he put in the work adding muscle to his frame. With increased size and strength while keeping his quickness and agility, he could be in for a breakout season this year.

One person who was glowing about the progress he’s made was defensive ends coach, [autotag]Miguel Chavi[/autotag]s. “I’ve seen an elite level of consistency,” Chavis said. “Talking about a guy who weighed 216 pounds last year, he weighs 240 today.”

It’s not just the work he put in the offseason. Chavis feels he’s seen a shift in his mindset. A look in his eyes where you know he’s ready for a breakout season.

“Coach Schmitty gave a report on him, and he just has a maturity that’s different,” Chavis said. “He’s got a mamba mentality. He’s got a look in his eyes that’s different.”

Mamba mentality was coined by the late great Los Angeles Lakers guard and future hall of famer, Kobe Bryant.

“To sum up what mamba mentality is, it means to be able to constantly try to be the best version of yourself,” Bryant explained back in 2016. “That is what the mentality is. It’s a constant quest to try to better today than you were yesterday.

“Mamba mentality is all about focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most. It’s the ultimate mantra for the competitive spirit. It started just as a hashtag that came to me one day, and it’s grown into something athletes — and even non-athletes — embrace as a mindset. Hard work outweighs talent — every time. Mamba mentality is about 4 a.m. workouts, doing more than the next guy and then trusting in the work you’ve put in when it’s time to perform. Without studying, preparation and practice, you’re leaving the outcome to fate. I don’t do fate.”

Bryant’s competitiveness and drive defined a legendary career.

It’s that mentality and drive in Thomas that leads Chavis to believe his sophomore defensive end is going to make a lot of teams mad they didn’t recruit him.

“He was a little undersized for a lot of people that’s why a lot of people missed on him. I’m telling you, this is going to be a guy in a couple of years from now, everyone’s going to say, ‘how in the heck did we miss on that kid?’ He has the opportunity if he keeps working to be that guy.”

For a team that needs to improve their pass rush heading into 2023, that’s music to our ears. After a strong offseason, Thomas is looking to be one of the answers to Oklahoma’s defensive resurgence in 2023.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1366]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Twitter Reacts to Sooners 4-2 win over Stanford to advance to WCWS Championship

The Sooners took the lead on Tiare Jennings two-run double in the top of the ninth and Jordy Bahl closed the door on Stanford to set Social Media on fire.

In the UFC, they say, “styles make fights.” That was certainly on display in the semifinal of the Women’s College World Series.

The Oklahoma Sooners and Stanford Cardinal recreated their pitchers’ duel from Thursday with another spectacular game, highlighting fantastic pitching throughout the extra-inning contest.

In the end, the Oklahoma Sooners came out on top, 4-2, to move on to their fourth consecutive Women’s College World Series championship.

Stanford jumped to an early 2-0 lead on a Kylie Chung two-run home run. Oklahoma picked up a run in the top of the second and third innings to tie it.

After that first inning, when Nicole May struggled to put away hitters when she had two strikes, she was lights out. May retired the side in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings before giving up a hit to lead off the sixth. Patty Gasso went to Jordy Bahl, who still hasn’t allowed a run in the Women’s College World Series.

Neither May or Bahl gave up a free pass in the game.

And that set the stage for another “Sooner Magic” moment.

Grace Lyons led off the top of the ninth with a double and advanced on a Rylie Boone groundout. With two outs, Stanford elected to walk Jayda Coleman to pitch to Tiare Jennings, who was 0-4.

Facing NiJaree Canady on her birthday, Jennings was down 0-2 and then knocked a line drive into the gap in right-center. Lyons and Coleman came around to give Oklahoma the 4-2 lead.

It was another incredibly clutch performance for this team, which always seems to rise to the occasion. It was another amazing win in the 2023 season, their 51st in a row. And now the Oklahoma Sooners are on their way to defend their back-to-back national championships.

Sooners depth shines in 6-1 win over the Texas Longhorns

The Oklahoma Sooners depth stepped up when the top of the order was held in check by the Texas Longhorns, and that was the difference in their Big 12 title win over the Texas Longhorns.

Some days, the opposition just gets the better of your best players. That’s sort of what happened on Saturday in Oklahoma City when the Oklahoma Sooners took on the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 title game.

Texas held [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag], and [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] to an 0-12 day combined. The difference in the 6-1 win was the play of Haley Lee, Kinzie Hansen, Rylie Boone, Nicole May, and Jordy Bahl.

So when I say “sort of,” what I mean is the Sooners have a lot of “best players.”

Their lineup is littered with some of the best players in the country. Players that would be the best player on 99% of teams in the country. And Oklahoma needed them to come through.

Haley Lee got the scoring going with a home run and scored a few innings later. Hansen, Boone, and Brito had RBIs as well. Bahl showed off her skills in the circle, at the plate, and on the base paths helping keep the Texas bats at bay and scoring a pair of runs with elite baserunning.

We know of Bahl’s pitching ability, but because she’s an exceptional athlete, she impacts the game in every facet.

And that’s why Oklahoma is so difficult to beat. Texas held Coleman and Jennings to zero hits. They are two of the best players in the nation and National Player of the Year Finalists. And it didn’t matter because Patty Gasso has assembled a roster that can beat you up and down the order.

Hansen’s been one of the best players on the roster this year. Her ability at the plate has given Oklahoma another hitter that can change a game with one swing of the bat. Her work behind the player has been instrumental in helping the Sooners nation-best team ERA.

Rylie Boone could be the leadoff hitter for 99% of teams across the country, and she helps set the table for Coleman and Jennings at the back of the order. Her hitting ability and speed threaten teams every time she comes to the plate.

And then there’s Alyssa Brito, a Big 12 all-conference team snub. She’s continued to be a big-time player for the Sooners and came through in a big moment with her RBI double.

Haley Lee hadn’t had a multi-hit game since April 8 and with her two-hit performance against Texas, she’s now had a pair of hits in back-to-back games for the first time since March 10.

The Oklahoma Sooners are an incredibly difficult team to beat because they have a dangerous lineup 1-9, and their bench can come through in a pinch as well. It matters that they have some of the best players in the game, but it also matters that this team has the best depth in the game.

And it’s that depth that’s going to help them in their pursuit of a third-straight national title.

Tiare Jennings powers Oklahoma to an 8-1 win over the Texas Longhorns

Tiare Jennings has caught fire of late, and her performance against Texas helped propel the Sooners to their 8-1 win.

Tiare Jennings has led the Oklahoma Sooners in RBIs in each of the last two seasons. A pretty incredible feat when you consider Jocelyn Alo was also in the lineup each of the last two seasons.

Jennings’ ability to hit for power, to all fields, and with runners in scoring position has her star continually shining brighter and brighter with each Sooner she drives in.

In Oklahoma’s series-opening 8-1 win over Texas, Jennings drove in four more runs and now has 35 on the season. She came through early, helping Oklahoma erase a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the first when her RBI single brought home Jayda Coleman from third.

Then in the second, she did more damage, breaking the game open with a three-run bomb. And that provided all the run support Jordy Bahl would need.

In the sixth inning, Jennings nearly hit another home run, finding the top of the left field fence for a double. Haley Lee brought her in to make it 6-1 and Kinzie Hansen put the exclamation point on a dominant series-opening win with a two-run home run.

Jennings has been hot of late with four home runs and 13 RBIs in Oklahoma’s six games. The National Player of the Year contender is coming on strong for the Sooners as they hit their stride in conference play.