Tag: Anton Harrison

Eric Gray, offensive line provide strong performance on a tough day for Sooners offense

Playing a tough Iowa State defense, Eric Gray and the offensive line played tough in the Oklahoma Sooners’ 27-13 win. From @john9williams

It was tough going for the Oklahoma Sooners offense in their 27-13 win over Iowa State on Saturday. The offense totaled just 332 yards on the day and was just 7 of 17 on third downs.

It’s a credit to Iowa State’s defense, who continued their strong season, limiting an Oklahoma offense that racked up 700 yards of total offense just two weeks ago against Kansas.

[autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] and the passing game had some struggles, generally because Marvin Mims had a rough outing. But with the way the Sooners’ defense was playing, the passing game didn’t need to be as explosive as they’ve been at times this season.

As a team, Oklahoma’s rushing attack put up 186 yards and averaged 3.9 yards per carry in the win. The Cyclones came into the week nine matchup allowing just 3.3 yards per carry and 105.3 yards per game this season.

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On a day when the offense was slowed down, the Sooners got another strong game from [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag] and the offensive line in the running game. Eric Gray earned his fifth 100-yard day and averaged just over 5 yards per carry for the game. Gray had five more runs of 10 yards or more, continuing to show off explosiveness regardless of the defense they face.

“Eric has been really tough all year,” Brent Venables said after the game. “He loves to compete and is the same guy every single day, every single play doesn’t matter what drill it is or what just happened. He responds and is mature beyond his years. He just loves his teammates, a very selfless guy. I don’t know any injury and where that is right now. Had a big smile on his face a few minutes ago.”

Not only has he been as advertised with his agility and elusiveness, but he’s been a tough, physical runner at the point of attack as well, often picking up dirty yards when that’s all there is to gain.

[autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag] (80.5) and [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag] (75.5) led the way for the Sooners’ offense in grades from Pro Football Focus. The offensive line has been playing really good football for some time now, and Saturday’s performance against Iowa State was another feather in their cap.

The passing offense will be better, and [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] will have better performances down the stretch, but the running game and the offensive line stepped up. The Sooners got just what they needed in the running game. A tough performance to carry the offense against arguably the best defense in the Big 12.

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5 offensive players to watch for the Sooners against Iowa State

Looking to keep the winning ways going, here are five Sooners to watch on offense against Iowa State.

Coming off their bye week, the Oklahoma Sooners face an Iowa State team that is 0-4 in Big 12 play. Since hiring Matt Campbell, the Cyclones are 2-5 against the Sooners. One of those wins was in Ames in 2020, and the other in Norman in 2017.

Two weeks removed from the return of Dillon Gabriel and a 700-yard offensive performance, the OU offense has a renewed sense of optimism.

The Sooners face a strong test this week. Iowa State’s defense is top 10 in both points per game and yards per game. Steve Sarkisian’s offense scored 24 on them.

Jeff Lebby’s unit has a lot to prove this week.

Oklahoma Sooners name captains for week 9 matchup with Iowa State

Oklahoma’s captains for the Sooners road trip to face the Iowa State Cyclones.

Coming out of the bye week, the Oklahoma Sooners look to keep the good times rolling with a road trip to Ames to take on the Iowa State Cyclones.

Iowa State is 3-4 and 0-4 in the Big 12, but their four straight losses have come by an average margin of 3.5 points per game. The Cyclones haven’t lost a game by more than a touchdown this season and will provide the Sooners with yet another test in a season that’s gone much differently than expected.

Oklahoma is getting ready to take on a team that’s beaten the Sooners twice since 2017 and handed Oklahoma a loss the last time they made the trip up north. The Sooners hold a 78-7-2 edge in the historical matchup that dates back to 1928. But the Cyclones have caused problems for their Big 8 rival in recent years.

Tasked with leading Oklahoma into Ames are Andrew Raym, Reggie Grimes, Anton Harrison, Marvin Mims, and Danny Stutsman, who were named captains for this week’s matchup.

Best photos of the Oklahoma Sooners captains for their matchup with Iowa State.

Eric Gray leading the way of highest-graded Oklahoma Sooners per Pro Football Focus

Eric Gray leading the way for the Oklahoma Sooners as the highest-graded player from Pro Football Focus.

At the midway point of the season for the Oklahoma Sooners, we’ve seen enough that we should have a good feel for who some of the best players are on this squad.

Dillon Gabriel may be the most valuable player on this team. We witnessed the difference in the offense when he wasn’t available. His and the Sooners’ performance against the Kansas Jayhawks a week ago put his value to this team on full display, throwing for 403 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

But there’s another player that should be in the discussion of best player on the squad and that’s Eric Gray. He’s been invaluable this season, rushing for 695 yards and averaging 7.2 yards per carry. Even after the bye week, he’s still inside the top 10 in runs of 10 yards or more.

Gray’s elusiveness has led to a breakaway percentage of 43.7%, which is top 20 in the nation among running backs with at least 96 carries on the season. Breakaway percentage reflects the percentage of carries that have gone for more than 15 yards. Eric Gray’s 12 runs of 15 yards or more is tied for 15th in the nation.

And it’s that ability to break big plays that has the Eric Gray as the highest-graded Sooner through the first half of the season.

Here’s how the Oklahoma Sooners rank and were graded by Pro Football Focus among players with at least 100 snaps.

Sooners LT Anton Harrison earns inclusion on PFF’s Team of the Week

Sooners left tackle Anton Harrison was among Pro Football Focus’ week seven Team of the Week

In what has been a frustrating year for the Oklahoma Sooners, left tackle Anton Harrsion has been a rock for Jeff Lebby’s offense. OU’s 700-yard performance against the Kansas Jayhawks did not go unnoticed by Pro Football Focus. The Sooners’ left tackle made PFF’s week seven Team of the Week.

Harrison didn’t allow a single pressure on 51 pass-blocking snaps against Kansas. Throw in a 82.1 run block grade, and the big fella gets his name on PFF’s Team of the Week.

Bill Bedenbaugh’s unit has done a good job protecting the quarterback this season, and keeping Dillon Gabriel upright and clean in the pocket is going to be of the utmost importance for the rest of this season.

Gabriel has rarely gotten hit in the pocket this season, which is a testament to how smart he is with the football, but the offensive line does a good job of giving him time to drop back and pick defenses apart.

If one OU player gets taken in the first round of the NFL Draft next year, it’s going to be Anton Harrison. Good left tackles don’t grow on trees and Harrison will only improve as he gets more and more aggresive.

Harrsion’s NFL Draft stock has been on the rise for awhile now. The Sooners will likely need a new left tackle next season.

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ESPN re-ranked the 2020 recruiting class: Where’d Oklahoma land?

Taking a look back at the 2020 recruiting cycle, where did ESPN rank the Oklahoma Sooners 2020 recruiting class?

The 2022 class has had a few splashes here and there, but we probably won’t have a good grasp on the impact of this group until 2024. A few years since the arrival of the 2020 recruiting class, what kind of impact is this group having for the Oklahoma Sooners?

In their third season in Norman, the 2020 recruiting class is playing a huge role for the Sooners this year. Marvin Mims is one of the best receivers in the country and Anton Harrison is playing like a player that could be taken in the top 50 of the 2023 NFL draft. Andrew Raym has developed into a solid starter at center helping anchor a fast-paced Oklahoma offensive attack.

In ESPN’s look at the 2020 recruiting class, the Sooners improved from the No. 10 class at the time to No. 7 in their re-rank.

How this class finishes under new head coach Brent Venables remains to be seen as the Sooners navigate a rough patch. Several signees are no longer with the program. Under previous head coach Lincoln Riley, with whom they signed, this group has offered some really good production. Pieces of this class helped generate more than 20 wins, a conference title their freshmen season and a pair of bowl wins. WR Marvin Mims was a key target on that Big 12 title team and remains a top receiver for the Sooners. DL Perrion Winfrey was the top junior college DL and was a disruptive starter while with the program. Top signee Reggie Grimes has developed into a good defender, leading the team in sacks. The Sooners signed several four-star OLs with in-state ESPN 300 Andrew Raym and Anton Harrison developing into solid starters. – Craig Haubert and Tom Luginbill, ESPN

The addition of Perrion Winfrey from the junior college ranks was the highlight on the defensive side. Though a bit up and down for the Sooners, Winfrey provided an interior pass rush and was taken in the

Reggie Grimes has been a good player, but hasn’t been the best player in the recruiting class. There’s still another level that he can go to.

Aaryn Parks and Nate Anderson have provided depth along the offensive line and Justin Harrington has become a rotational Cheetah player for the OU defense. D.J. Graham had some good moments at cornerback, but recently made the switch to wide receiver.

Chandler Morris won the starting quarterback job at TCU before suffering an injury in the season opener. Max Duggan’s played so well that Morris hasn’t been able to reclaim the starting quarterback job.

The biggest disappointments in this class were Seth McGowan and Mikey Henderson. Both players had promising starts to their Sooners careers in 2020 before being dismissed during the 2021 offseason amid assault allegations.

If we were re-ranking the players in the 2020 class, Marvin Mims or Anton Harrison would vie for the top player. Both have been among the best at their position in the Big 12 and have received some first round buzz in early mock drafts for the 2023 NFL draft.

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Report Card: Offense carrying the load in a bounce-back performance

Oklahoma’s offense led the way versus Kansas, and it shows with their grades in this week’s report cards.

The last three weeks had to be an evaluation and film study nightmare for the Oklahoma Sooners. There were injuries, bad technique, and missed assignments on both sides of the ball. They needed a decent performance against a tough Kansas team, and they delivered on Saturday.

The result was far from dominant unless you look at the offense’s performance alone but what transpired was a team desperate for a win that played hard and didn’t let up.

As we do at Sooners Wire, we took time to grade each unit for their performance in Oklahoma’s 52-42 win..

Offensive line dominant in Oklahoma’s 52-point explosion vs. Kansas

The Oklahoma Sooners offensive line played a great game, keeping Dillon Gabriel clean and paving the way for a big rushing day.

It’s been brewing for some time, but the Oklahoma Sooners’ offensive line was absolutely dominant in the Sooners’ 52-42 win over Kansas on Saturday. The skill-position guys get the stats, but the guys up front paved the way.

According to Pro Football Focus, including the sack, Dillon Gabriel was only pressured three times in the win. Kansas’ sack leader Lonnie Phelps only played 15 snaps, limited due to injury, but the Sooners front didn’t allow anyone else to get to Dillon Gabriel either.

That pass protection helped Gabriel stand comfortably in the pocket on his way to a 403-yard passing day with two touchdowns.

In the running game, the offensive line paved the way for a Sooners rushing attack that had more than 300 yards on the ground until Oklahoma kneeled down to close out the game in the final minutes. As a unit they helped the run game average 5.2 yards per carry five touchdowns. They provided the path for Eric Gray to have a monster day. Gray ran for 176 yards, averaged 8.8 yards per carry, and scored twice.

“Yeah, it’s, again, been one of our best units all season,” Venables said after the win. “They played well again today. And Kansas doesn’t do a whole lot. They’re pretty vanilla. So, from a mental standpoint, a scheme standpoint, what you see is what you get. And when they do bring pressure, they show it. So, not to take anything away from our guys. It’s about putting hats on people, and there’s fundamentals, and there’s a physical strain, you got to move people and hat them up the right way and gain leverage and pass pro, all those things. So, they played really well today. That was a huge part of our offensive success, obviously.”

Four of Oklahoma’s starting offensive linemen played all 101 snaps in the game. Left guard snaps were split between Robert Congel (60) and McKade Mettauer (41). Anton Harrison, Chris Murray, and Congel didn’t allow a pressure against the Jayhawks.

The Sooners had eight runs of 10 yards or more in the game and helped the Sooners convert 76% of their third downs.

On the Sooners’ second-to-last drive of the game, the offensive line came up big. The Sooners ran 16 plays on the drive, the Sooners threw the ball just one time and picked up 3rd and 2 or less on three straight occasions. They had a chance to keep the drive going, but a 2nd and 4 loss of two yards put the Sooners behind the chains, and Jovantae Barnes couldn’t pick up the first down on 3rd and 6, gaining four yards before Brent Venables opted for the field goal to make it a three-score game.

The Sooners ran 101 plays on Saturday against the Jayhawks, and a big reason Oklahoma was able to stay on the field was the play of their offensive line. They kept Dillon Gabriel largely untouched and created room for Eric Gray and Jovantae Barnes to put together big games on the ground.

It was a strong performance for the Sooners as they head into the bye before preparing for their road trip to Ames. They’ll get a stiff test against an Iowa State defense that’s one of the best in the country.

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Report Card: Oklahoma’s poor performance a rude awakening

The Oklahoma Sooners looked horrific in their loss to TCU. Here’s how each position group graded out in the loss.

Murphy’s Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will. That was the entire story of Oklahoma’s time in Fort Worth Saturday afternoon against the TCU Horned Frogs.

Nothing and absolutely nothing could’ve prepared us and the country for what we all bore witness to as TCU annihilated Oklahoma 55-24.

It was bad in every way, shape, or form. To be quite frank, there are very few positive takeaways from the game.

We’re here to make sense of it all as we go thru and process just what we witnessed. Here’s how we graded Oklahoma’s performance.

Five Oklahoma Sooners we’ll be watching on offense vs. TCU

Oklahoma travels to Fort Worth to take on the TCU Horned Frogs, and here are five players to watch on offense this week.

Oklahoma’s effort last week wasn’t its best, and more than anything, they couldn’t play complementary football long enough to secure a victory. Defensively, it wasn’t a pretty sight. Offensively, they started out slow but found their footing enough to keep the Sooners in the game. The biggest knock offensively were some missed opportunities and several drive-killing penalties.

Oklahoma’s offense was operating well enough at one point on Saturday that they may have been able to win them the game if they played a more crisp game from start to finish. This won’t necessarily be a bounce-back game for them as much as it is about putting together a complete offensive game. They can’t afford penalties or leave scoring chances on the field.

We have five offensive players in mind below that we believe could be a part of a big day on Saturday.