ethan downs – Page 13 – Syndication Server

Who Oklahoma media is most intrigued to watch in Sooners spring practice

Getting ready for spring practice to kickoff, which Oklahoma Sooners are local media members most excited to watch in spring ball.

The Oklahoma Sooners kick off spring practice on Tuesday, March 21 to begin their preparations for the 2022 college football season. With so many departures in the transfer portal and to the NFL draft, and a new coaching staff in place, there’s a lot of anticipation about this year’s squad heading into spring practice.

With anticipation building, I took the opportunity to ask some of the prominent names that cover the Oklahoma Sooners in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa markets which player they were most excited to watch or follow this spring.

5 position battles to watch as the Oklahoma Sooners begin spring practice

With key losses on both sides of the ball, the Oklahoma Sooners will have a lot of competition for starting roles this spring. Here are 5 position battles to watch.

The Oklahoma Sooners are set to stage the next phase of their offseason preparation for the 2022 season; spring practice.

With the team putting in winter workouts with returning strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt, Oklahoma starts fresh with a new coaching staff, which has brought it in a new culture, hoping to return Oklahoma to national prominence.

Most of the coaching staff was retained on the offensive side of the ball for new coordinator Jeff Lebby. Lebby brings a new approach to offensive football, looking to return Oklahoma to a fast-paced, balanced, and efficient offensive identity. The only change came at wide receiver, where Dennis Simmons moved on to USC, and Cale Gundy took over as the Sooners wide receivers coach.

Despite the losses, excitement has followed the Oklahoma Sooners in the locker room and the fan base for the start of the Brent Venables era. On defense, it’s a whole new crew, with a new defensive scheme and a new energy. Heading into 2022, more than half of the defensive starters will be new for the Sooners.

With spring practice set to kick off, let’s look at five key position battles this offseason.

Oklahoma Sooners 20th in NCAA.com’s way-too-early top 25

In their way-too-early look ahead at the 2022 season, NCAA.com had the Oklahoma Sooners 20th in their top 25.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=none image=https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

They’ll be in somewhat unfamiliar territory when the Oklahoma Sooners open the 2022 college football season. With the turnover in the coaching staff and on the roster, analysts across college football are unsure of what to expect from the new-look Oklahoma Sooners. They’ll have a lot to prove.

It’s fair to wonder what the Sooners will be with a first-year head coach. At the same time, that first-year head coach has been a star in the making for what seems like a decade. He’s been one of the best coordinators in all of college football since leaving Oklahoma for the Clemson Tigers. Venables isn’t the trendy assistant coach getting his first opportunity. He’s been patiently biding his time for the right job after working under legends of the sport for the last 30 years.

But it isn’t simply the changes on the coaching staff that have people selling the Oklahoma Sooners in 2022. They lost a ton of talent off of an 11-win team from 2021. That’s why Stewart Mandel from The Athletic left the Sooners out of his way-too-early top 25 and why the Sooners are just inside NCAA.com’s early look at the 2022 season.

The Sooners played in close games seemingly every week but impressed in the bowl game. New coach Brent Venables will have to deal with major changes to the roster, though UCF transfer QB Dillon Gabriel is now a Sooner. But Oklahoma is Oklahoma — the Sooners expect to compete for titles every year. – Wayne Staats, NCAA.com

Did the Oklahoma Sooners lose a lot this offseason? Absolutely. At the same time, they found players in the transfer portal and in their bowl game win over Oregon that should step in and mitigate the losses.

Losses along the defensive line will be the most difficult to recover. In most NFL draft projections, Nik Bonitto and Perrion Winfrey are top 60 talents. Isaiah Thomas was one of the most important players on the roster as a pass rusher and run defender. Losing those three at the same time creates a massive hole on the defensive line.

Jalen Redmond stuck around for one more year and will be the leader of the unit. Reggie Grimes, Marcus Stripling, and Ethan Downs played well in the Alamo Bowl win over Oregon. Their performance provides optimism that the Sooners pass rush will be in good shape despite the turnover.

The additions of Jeffrey Johnson and Jonah Laulu from the transfer portal provide experience and production that can step into the defensive line rotation and help immediately.

At quarterback, the Sooners went back to the transfer portal after the last couple of seasons of using “homegrown” talent in Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams. Dillon Gabriel comes to the Oklahoma Sooners with a ton of experience and production at UCF. With 26 starts, more than 8,000 yards passing, and 79 total touchdowns, the Sooners offense should maintain its level of production despite the change in offensive play-caller.

We’re a long way from the start of the 2022 college football season, and with winter practices underway and spring ball right around the corner, the Sooners have some questions to answer. However, with Venables leading the way, there is little doubt in Norman that the Oklahoma Sooners can contend for the Big 12 title in 2022.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

[listicle id=54172]

Final thoughts on the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Oregon Ducks

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on the Oregon Ducks, here are five final thoughts on the Alamo Bowl matchup.

The 2021 Valero Alamo Bowl provides a final opportunity for the Oklahoma Sooners to put their stamp on a 2021 season that didn’t go as expected. Despite how the season turned out, there’s a lot of optimism heading into 2022 following the return of Brent Venables.

As the Sooners head into their matchup with the Ducks, there’s an excitement for this game as well. The return of Bob Stoops has brought energy to a game that might otherwise feel like a typical bowl game.

As the Sooners close the 2021 season against the Ducks, there’s a lot to watch in this final game of the season. Oklahoma will get a great opportunity to evaluate talented players who might not have received a lot of snaps this season. The Alamo Bowl will provide a great look at what the young guys who will be important pieces for the 2022 team can provide as they step up the depth chart.

With a late kickoff tonight, here are my final thoughts on the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Oregon Ducks.

Oklahoma Sooners to Watch in the Alamo Bowl with opt outs and transfer portal departures

The Sooners have already seen several departures due to opt-outs and transfers, but opportunities abound in the Alamo Bowl for others.

While it’s a bummer to see your favorite Oklahoma Sooners transfer or sit out the bowl game in preparation for the NFL draft, on the bright side, it provides others an opportunity to get more significant snaps.

Nik Bonitto, Perrion Winfrey, Isaiah Thomas and Brian Asamoah are heading to the NFL.

Jadon Haselwood, Austin Stogner and Spencer Rattler are on their way to new schools for the 2022 season.

In their places, the Sooners will reallocate those snaps to players who will help them in the Alamo Bowl and the 2022 season.

As the Sooners take on the Oregon Ducks, who are some players to watch given the departures from their depth chart in the last month.

7 Bold Predictions for the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks

As the Oklahoma Sooners look to extend their 16-game winning streak over the Kansas Jayhawks, here are 7 Bold Predictions for Saturday.

Heading into the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks, the most important question has been answered. The Sooners know who they’re quarterback is and based on the way Caleb Williams has played in his first extended run leading the way for Oklahoma, it’s unlikely he’ll cede that spot anytime soon.

That said, there are still questions for Oklahoma as they work through the 2021 season.

With injuries in the secondary and an unknown timetable for the return of Woodi Washington and Delarrin Turner-Yell, someone will need to answer the bell as defensive playmaker for the Sooners.

Offensively things have gone as well as can be expected the last two weeks as Caleb Williams has helped Oklahoma rediscover its big-play ability.

As the Sooners get set to take one the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kansas this Saturday, let’s take a look at 7 Bold Predictions for this week’s game.

4 Oklahoma Sooners looking for a big game against the Kansas Jayhawks

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set to face the Kansas Jayhawks, who’s looking to stand out in this lopsided matchup?

[mm-video type=video id=01fjeyn8hrmsa78ec9c4 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fjeyn8hrmsa78ec9c4/01fjeyn8hrmsa78ec9c4-94cbde94041db1698cc8e5f6c062fedd.jpg]

A trip to Lawrence, Kansas is up next for the Oklahoma Sooners as they keep moving forward in Big 12 play. They look to keep the momentum rolling as they’ve seen a major uptick in offensive production over the last few weeks due to significantly better offensive line play and a midseason change at quarterback.

Kansas is highly unlikely to pose a real threat to Oklahoma due to the massive gulf in talent. For that reason, this game serves as a get-right game for quite a few guys on Oklahoma’s team. There are a few guys we think could use a solid performance as Oklahoma heads into the home stretch of their conference schedule. Here’s our list:

Jadon Hadselwood, WR

It may seem crazy to include the guy that just put together a hat trick against TCU, however, Jadon Haselwood needs to build off of that performance. Oklahoma needs to continue to evolve and develop roles despite the fact they are undefeated.

Good teams don’t peak in October.

Haselwood might have taken a step forward to separate himself from the pack and firmly put himself into contention for the receiver spot opposite Marvin Mims but he’s got to keep stacking performances together similar to the one he had against TCU.

Three touchdowns is a tough ask but consistently being a target that Caleb Williams can depend on is a very attainable thing. Look for Lincoln Riley to keep feeding him.

Up Next: Can we have a Volunteer(s)?

Pages: 123

Best Pro Football Focus Grades from Oklahoma’s win over TCU

Who earned the highest grades from Pro Football Focus in the Oklahoma Sooners 52-31 win over the TCU Horned Frogs?

On Saturday night, the Oklahoma Sooners were in a dog fight in the first half of their matchup against the TCU Horned Frogs. Though the game ended as a 21-point blowout win for the Oklahoma Sooners, it was a three-point game when the Sooners took over with 1:25 left in the second quarter.

Caleb Williams and the offense went 76 yards on five plays, culminating in an 11-yard touchdown strike to Jadon Haselwood on a beautiful back-shoulder throw, to make it 24-14. From that point, the Sooners never looked back.

They forced the Horned Frogs to punt on the opening possession of the second half, and another Williams to Haselwood touchdown essentially put the game out of reach, 31-14.

Though TCU battled to get back in the game, the Oklahoma Sooners had an answer at every corner and never let the game get closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

As we do each week, let’s look back at how Pro Football Focus graded the Sooners in their 52-31 win over the TCU Horned Frogs.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Sooners 76-0 win over WCU

The Oklahoma Sooners dominated the Western Carolina Catamounts in week two and here’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from the 76-0 win.

The Oklahoma Sooners did exactly what they were supposed to against a vastly inferior opponent in Western Carolina. They got out to a huge lead and dominated the Catamounts from start to finish.

The Sooners got a chance to play a lot of their younger players and get them valuable in-game repetitions. Those players rewarded the coaching staff with a dominant effort from start to finish.

Let’s take a look back at The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Sooners 76-0 week two win over the Catamounts.

The Good: Scoring Touchdowns

After settling for five field goals in their narrow win over Tulane in week one, the Oklahoma Sooners only kicked two field goals in their 76-0 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts.

They were 9 for 9 in the red zone during the game and Spencer Rattler led them on seven touchdown drives in the first half and each ended with a red zone touchdown.

While last week, the Sooners struggled to finish drives and finish the game, albeit against a much better Tulane team, OU accomplished both of those feats throughout this week two matchup. Excluding the kneel down at the end of the first half, the Sooners scored touchdowns on 10 of their 13 drives. They kicked just two field goals and punted once.

Against Tulane, they scored touchdowns on just four of their 11 drives, again, excluding the final drive before halftime and the drive where they were simply trying to run out the clock at the end of the game.

As the competition steps up with Nebraska coming to Norman followed by the start of Big 12 conference play, the Sooners can’t afford to settle for five field goals like they did against Tulane. If they can be as efficient at scoring touchdowns as they were on Saturday, they’ll have a great shot at going undefeated.

Next: The Bad.

Pages: 123

Passing Out Grades: Report Card for Oklahoma after win vs WCU

How did the Sooners grade out in their 76-0 win over Western Carolina? Check out this week’s positional report card.

After a week of re-evaluation and reflection, the Oklahoma Sooners came out and showed the world that they did not put their best foot forward in game one against Tulane. Tulane played hard for the entirety of the game. However, OU flexed at once and was up 37-14 and eventually took their foot off the gas and allowed the door to be left open for Tulane to come back.

Oklahoma let out some frustration and then some against the Catamounts en route to posting a 76-0 final score. They would narrowly escape, and head coach Lincoln Riley made it known things would be different during their game against Western Carolina. The man did not lie.

There were several aspects of the team that had decent but not spectacular moments in the previous game. After the game in our previous report card, we broke down the grades for those units.

NEXT: How did the Quarterbacks and Running Backs Grade Out?

Pages: 12345