Tag: Heath Ozaeta

3 Stars from the Oklahoma Sooners 34-19 win over Tulane

Which Sooners earned one of our 3 stars from Oklahoma’s 34-19 win over the Tulane Green Wave?

Saturday was a more significant win than it should have been for the Oklahoma Sooners, not because of the opponent or because the game had some stakes tied to it. However, internally, the Sooners had to answer a few questions.

The Sooners won 34-19 at home to wrap up this portion of their nonconference schedule. Now OU begins SEC play when they host the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers next week.

Several players stood out from the Sooners win and here are this week’s three stars of the game.

1. R Mason Thomas, EDGE

On Saturday, the best player on the field was R Mason Thomas.

Thomas has spent his first two years in Norman, adding mass to his frame while fighting injuries. His development has impressed coaches, but we’d yet to see it come to fruition.

Coming into the season, it felt like now or never for him, and in this third game of the 2024 season, Thomas stepped up and provided good pressure throughout the game, coming up with three pivotal sacks and a forced fumble and fumble recovery in the most critical time of the game.

His calling card is winning with speed and he did just that on Saturday afternoon. He showed good awareness, being able to change his rush approach after the snap to go from working outside to working inside. He has added a few other tricks to his bag to win more regularly.

Thomas was Pro Football Focus highest-graded Power Four edge rusher among players with at least 15 snaps for week three.

OU has been desperate for a star-caliber pass rusher, and Thomas has the ability to fill that void.

2. Jackson Arnold, QB

When you think about Jackson Arnold,  it’s important to know his performances week in and week out will be compared (fairly or unfairly) to his predecessors.

OU’s last decade of QB play is an unreal group of players to live up to. If a guy playing that position struggles in the slightest, it feels underwhelming to the fan base. In a nutshell, that’s where parts of the OU fanbase are at with Arnold. But on Saturday, he played his best game as the Sooners’ QB to this point.

No gaudy numbers were amassed as he had under 200 yards passing, but he also carried the ball 14 times for 97. He was efficient, on target, and largely made good decisions. The one big strike against him was the pick-six he threw.

He looked comfortable out there, and even when the game got tight late in the third and into the fourth, he helped calmly orchestrate a couple of drives to ice it. His biggest test of the season and his career comes next week against OU’s first SEC foe, Tennessee.

3. Heath Ozaeta, OL

Oklahoma’s much-maligned offensive line needed to put together a solid performance as starters Branson Hickman and Jake Taylor continued to nurse injuries.

Heath Ozaeta had a good offseason dating back to the spring. With the aforementioned injuries, an opportunity for him to showcase his skills opened up, and alongside Jacob Sexton, he owned it.

There were some really encouraging moments and also some snaps where he missed a linebacker blitzing that he and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh will have to clean up, but the run game was more productive than it was a week ago.

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Sooners offensive line dealing with injuries ahead of 2024 season

The Oklahoma Sooners are dealing with injuries along their offensive line, but Brent Venables confident they’ll be ready to go.

Continuity, chemistry, and communication are each important factors for an offensive line to be successful. The Sooners are working to retool their offensive line after losing the five guys who started for much of the 2023 season.

They’re a talented group that’s been putting in the work, but during fall camp, it’s a group that’s been dinged up a bit as Oklahoma tries to establish their starting five and a rotation on the two-deep depth chart.

Speaking with the media on Tuesday, Brent Venables shared that the Sooners offensive line has dealt with injuries.

“Has it been perfect? No,” Venables said. “But I’m sure that if you look back at most camps, that’s usually the case. But I do like where we’re at. There has been a chance to work together in lots of different types of settings, but I feel like we’re in a really good position there right now.”

He didn’t detail who was injured but said the guys that are banged all should be good to play when the Sooners open up against Temple on August 30. But the Sooners still have questions to answer at the position. However, Venables trusts offensive line coach [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag], and the work the guys have put in will find the right group to lead the Sooners offense.

“Bill (Bedenbaugh) understands the things that he needs to focus on to help put a group together,” Venables said. “I’m talking not just five, I’m talking eight to 12, 12 guys. Whether that’s the development piece, the drill work, the walkthroughs, the film study, all that stuff matters. Finding the best combination of guys and then all of the what-ifs when it comes to keeping guys healthy.”

The Sooners have a lot of talent up front, and they have experienced players like [autotag]Michael Tarquin[/autotag], [autotag]Branson Hickman[/autotag], and [autotag]Febechi Nwaiwu[/autotag]. They’ll be relying on the development of former four-star prospects in the 2022 recruiting class, [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag] and [autotag]Jake Taylor[/autotag] playing significant roles. That group is projected to be the starting lineup for the Sooners, but [autotag]Heath Ozaeta[/autotag], [autotag]Geirean Hatchett[/autotag], [autotag]Josh Bates[/autotag], [autotag]Troy Everett[/autotag], and [autotag]Spencer Brown[/autotag] will contend for snaps along the offensive front as well.

For the Sooners offense to thrive like it needs to, the Sooners will need to stabilize their offensive line by the time they get to SEC play. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] has all the talent in the world, but if he doesn’t get a reasonable amount of time, it’s going to be difficult to see that talent on display.

If Oklahoma has plans of contending in year one in the SEC, it’s going to take a good offensive line to get there. And with Oklahoma’s track record, there’s confidence it’ll come together.

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Jackson Arnold helped get center Branson Hickman to Oklahoma

Branson Hickman committed to OU, in part, because he wanted to play with Jackson Arnold.

The Oklahoma Sooners were in need of offensive line help in the post-spring [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] window. Specifically, offensive line coach [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag] needed to land a center to anchor thew middle of the unit.

OU got the job done, earning a commitment from SMU transfer center [autotag]Branson Hickman[/autotag], but it turns out Bedenbaugh had a little help from Oklahoma’s starting quarterback.

Hickman spoke to the Oklahoma media after fall camp practice on Thursday, covering a wide variety of topics in his first media availability. OUInsider captured Hickman’s interview. Among them were some of the reasons that he decided to become a Sooner, and as it turns out, sophomore quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] was part of making that decision easier.

“Obviously, growing up in the Dallas area, I knew who Jackson was coming out of high school. I knew he was a great player and a great person,” Hickman said. “I hung out with him on my official visit, and he’s one of the reasons why I came here too, honestly. You want to play with a good quarterback to have a chance to win.”

Hickman is just the latest of many to praise Oklahoma’s new QB1, but he also had high praise for his new position coach, giving Bedenbaugh his flowers.

“Yeah, Coach B is one of the main reasons why I came here,” Hickman said. “Obviously has a proven track record. He puts guys in the NFL and he also has guys succeed in college, so I mean, it’s like, why would you not come play for Coach B?”

Hickman looks like the starter at the center position going into the year. He also made the Outland Trophy watch list earlier this week. The award is given to the top interior lineman in college football. He’ll anchor the much-discussed offensive line that features fellow incoming transfers [autotag]Michael Tarquin[/autotag], [autotag]Spencer Brown[/autotag], [autotag]Febechi Nwaiwu[/autotag] and [autotag]Geirean Hatchett[/autotag] and homegrown players like [autotag]Heath Ozaeta[/autotag], [autotag]Jake Taylor[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag].

Bedenbaugh and head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] have worked hard to retool the offensive line, having to replace all five starters this offseason to get ready for the journey into the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. Turns out, Jackson Arnold was doing a little recruiting of his own this spring as well.

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College Football expert says it all starts up front for Oklahoma’s offense

On3’s J.D. PicKell says the Oklahoma Sooners offensive line is the key to the 2024 season.

It’s been an offseason of transition for the Oklahoma Sooners. A new quarterback, new coordinators, and a new conference have highlighted much of the change that is being experienced in Norman.

But at no spot is turnover more deeply felt than along the offensive line. Gone are [autotag]Tyler Guyton[/autotag], [autotag]Walter Rouse[/autotag], [autotag]Andrew Raym[/autotag], and [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag], who are preparing for their first NFL training camps. Gone is [autotag]Cayden Green[/autotag], who transferred to Missouri.

Those five players played an average of 762.2 snaps for the Sooners last season. Raym, Mettauer, and Rouse led the way for the Sooners offense in snap counts, according to Pro Football Focus.

It’s no small task to replace that much experience. And with a unit like offensive line where so much depends on the chemistry, communication, and continuity of the unit, the turnover is significant.

Oklahoma did a lot over the offseason to help replace the lost experience. They added [autotag]Michael Tarquin[/autotag], [autotag]Geirean Hatchett[/autotag], [autotag]Branson Hickman[/autotag], [autotag]Febechi Nwaiwu[/autotag], and [autotag]Spencer Brown[/autotag] through the transfer portal. That group of five brings a lot of snaps at the collegiate level to combine with Bill Bedenbaugh’s blue-chip recruits that he’s been developing the last couple of years.

Tarquin, Hatchett, Hickman, and Nwaiwu each figure to compete for a role or will start for the Sooners week one against Temple. Mix in ascending players like [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag] and [autotag]Jake Taylor[/autotag], four-star offensive tackles in the [autotag]2022 recruiting class[/autotag], and four-star interior offensive linemen from the 2023 recruiting class [autotag]Heath Ozaeta[/autotag] and [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag], and the Sooners have options along the offensive line.

If there’s any position group that will determine how much success the Sooners have this season, it’s the offensive line. But On3’s J.D. PicKell argues that if the Sooners get good offensive line play, all of the other pieces are there for OU to be dynamic on offense once again.

“If you give him time to throw the football, they’re gonna have a chance to make some real noise and kind of rattle the cage in the SEC a little bit their first year out there because they replace pretty much the whole offensive line that’s been well documented.”

PicKell goes on to say, “But if they can make that mechanism work the way that it needs to give him time to get through his reads and progress and get comfortable. They got more than enough firepower that wide receiver room to make some shake.”

The talent that Oklahoma has at wide receiver, quarterback, and running back is impressive. Led by quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], the Sooners have the players capable of creating another explosive offense. But Arnold will need time to throw and Sawchuk will need lanes to run through.

There is enough talent and experience in Norman for offensive line wizard [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag] to put another strong unit together once again. We’ve seen him do it before and when fall camp gets underway, competition will provide the answers up front to help lead this team into the SEC.

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Pro Football Focus sees offensive line as Sooners biggest weakness

Pro Football Focus tabs OU’s offensive line as the team’s weakness going into the SEC.

It’s preview season in the world of college football, and the Oklahoma Sooners football team got the spotlight this past week from Pro Football Focus in their College Football Preview (subscription required).

PFF gave the Sooners just a 4% chance to win the SEC this year, but did have OU 13th in their power rankings.

Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman, who co-wrote the article, named Oklahoma’s offensive line as their biggest weakness heading into the new season.

Here’s what PFF had to say:

The Sooners won’t return any starting offensive linemen from last season. While SMU transfer [autotag]Branson Hickman[/autotag] is a terrific addition in the middle, there will be uncertainty around the other four spots.

Hickman was a big get for [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag] out of the spring [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] window. He should be a plug-and-play piece at center to begin the season. [autotag]Troy Everett[/autotag] and [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag] provide depth in the case of an injury to Hickman.

It may very well be two transfers at the guard positions as well.[autotag] Febechi Nwaiwu [/autotag] and [autotag]Geirean Hatchett[/autotag] have the most experience in the room. Nwaiwu comes from North Texas and was a Freshman All-American in 2022. Hatchett is a veteran with big-game experience, transferring in from Washington after playing in the national championship game. [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag], [autotag]Heath Ozaeta[/autotag] and [autotag]Eugene Brooks[/autotag] headline the homegrown talent at this position.

Rounding out a transfer-heavy offensive line, [autotag]Michael Tarquin[/autotag] and [autotag]Spencer Brown [/autotag] could make it five-for-five on o-line starters who weren’t Sooners last year. Tarquin transferred in from USC, while Brown comes by way of Michigan State. [autotag]Jake Taylor[/autotag] is a younger option at tackle, and Sexton can kick outside if needed.

One thing Bedenbaugh has at his disposal is that many of these players are capable of playing multiple positions. Everett, Nwaiwu, Hatchett, Sexton, and Ozaeta all have some experience lining up at least two different spots. Sexton and Ozaeta could play anywhere but center in a pinch and Hatchett is capable of playing all five positions. He’s lined up at tight end as a blocker for the Huskies before, as well.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] has surely heard all of the talk about this unit heading into his third year in Norman. The offensive line looks like the hinge point of the entire 2024 season for the Sooners. Don’t be surprised if these players have a chip on their shoulder and a fire lit underneath them.

After all, they’ve been hearing for months that they aren’t good enough to play in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].

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Where are the Sooners in ESPN’s Power Rankings through 2026?

Where did the Oklahoma Sooners land in ESPN’s Future Power Rankings through 2026?

The future is bright for the Oklahoma Sooners. Brent Venables and his staff have been recruiting at a very high level since his arrival in Norman. Each of his first three recruiting classes has ranked in the top 10 of 247Sports team recruiting rankings. Even the 2022 class after it deteriorated following the departure of [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag].

The Sooners have added blue-chip prospects on both sides of the ball, including four five-star prospects. Though those recruiting classes have yet to fully take hold of the program, they’re very much the core of the future for the Oklahoma Sooners.

But there are still some questions about what that future looks like. Over at ESPN, Adam Rittenberg ranked the top 25 programs (ESPN+) over the next three seasons and the Oklahoma Sooners came in at No. 18.

Decorated offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh must find the right mix for 2024 with a largely new group, although juniors [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag] and [autotag]Troy Everett[/autotag] are both back. (Febechi) Nwaiwu and (Branson) Hickman both can play through 2025, and the development of non-seniors such as redshirt freshman [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag] will be significant. The wide receiver and tight end outlooks are very strong. – Rittenberg, ESPN

Much of the concern surrounding the Sooners in 2025 and 2026 focuses on the offensive line. The skill talent is in really good shape and so is the quarterback position. Defensively, Venables and his staff continue to hit home runs on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal.

But while many around the country aren’t all that optimistic about Oklahoma’s offensive line, there’s reason to be. Namely, because Bill Bedenbaugh has a proven track record. He’s rebuilt offensive lines on a regular basis. He’s shown he’s a great evaluator of both high school and transfer portal talent and we know he can develop. He’s got a bunch of dudes on NFL rosters heading into 2024 NFL training camps.

In 2024, the offensive line will feature several transfer portal additions, but there are still blue-chip prospects in [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag], [autotag]Jake Taylor[/autotag], and [autotag]Heath Ozaeta[/autotag] vying for jobs up front. Bedenbaugh also added four-star offensive linemen [autotag]Eugene Brooks[/autotag] and [autotag]Eddy Pierre-Louis[/autotag] in the [autotag]2024 recruiting class[/autotag].

For 2024 and beyond, questions about the offensive line may continue to be a theme, but we’ve seen the offensive line come together. There’s little reason to believe it won’t come together and be a strength for the Sooners.

The success that Oklahoma’s having on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal is reason enough to be excited about the future of the program. Now, they simply, or maybe not so simply, need to go and prove it on the field.

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3 reasons the Oklahoma Sooners will win big in 2024

The Oklahoma Sooners are a talented football team, but for them to win big, these three things have to happen.

The Oklahoma Sooners have a better idea of what the 2024 season will look like with the SEC’s release of game time windows on Tuesday. How they and the Texas Longhorns will fare in their first year in the SEC is anyone’s guess.

Texas made the playoffs last season, and the Sooners are one of the winningest programs over the last 25 years. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] was brought in to prepare Oklahoma for this conference move.

His experience with the Clemson Tigers certainly informs Venables about what it takes to be successful in their new conference home. Each of his first three offseasons has been about getting Oklahoma “SEC ready.”

At the same time, the Sooners provide a new challenge for Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee and LSU. OU is considered a blue-blood program for a reason. With seven national titles and 50 conference championships, the Sooners will be a contender in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. Can they do it in Year 1? That’s the question everyone’s asking. Here are three reasons OU will win big in 2024 and make the College Football Playoff.

More: College Football Playoff Projections for 2024

Up Next: 3 reasons OU wins big in 2024

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Oklahoma Sooners Heath Ozaeta fighting for a starting spot

The fight for a starting spot on the Sooners offensive line will go on well into fall camp and a redshirt freshman is pushing hard to take a spot.

The Oklahoma Sooners are replacing five starters from the offensive line from a season ago. This offseason they’ve brought in several transfers to add competitive depth and compete for starting roles.

But that hasn’t discouraged the young players that were already on the team. They’re also fighting for those spots and not going down without a fight. A name that has received a lot of praise this offseason is redshirt freshman [autotag]Heath Ozaeta[/autotag]. He’s primarily been working at one of the guard spots.

It was expected that transfers would occupy the starting guard spots, but Ozaeta has really impressed. So much so that people think he has a chance to start this seaon.

Ozaeta talked about how his offseason is going so far. “It’s been good,” Ozaeta said. “It’s been a grind so far. But a lot of new guys. A lot of new faces in the building. Just trying to work together, mesh together. We’ve got a good group of guys, and we like what we’ve got going.”

Cohesion is key along the offensive line. They are a talented group but they have to be able to build that chemistry to enhance what they do on the field. As the Sooners work through the offseason, Bill Bedenbaugh is tasked with finding the five players that give Oklahoma the best chance to succeed offensively. Though Ozaeta might project to be a tackle long-term, he’s finding a home at guard.

Heath Ozaeta is a very athletic offensive lineman, something that Brent Venables praised at OU Media Days back in August. But he isn’t just an athletic player, from his high school film, he looked to punish defenders.

And if Ozaeta can showcase that athleticism and physicality along the interior the Sooners offense will thrive once again in 2024.

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Best photos from latest Oklahoma Sooners spring practice

Spring ball is heating up and here are the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners latest spring practice.

Spring practice is in full throttle as the Oklahoma Sooners prepare for the 2024 college football season. There are a number of intriguing storylines to watch this spring with [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] taking over at quarterback and the turnover along the offensive line.

The newcomers are making a strong impression on the media in attendance. [autotag]Deion Burks[/autotag] and [autotag]Bauer Sharp[/autotag] have stood out in the passing game as Arnold gets acclimated to life as the starting quarterback.

Defensively, true freshmen [autotag]David Stone[/autotag], [autotag]Jayden Jackson[/autotag], and [autotag]Reggie Powers[/autotag] have mixed in with the first-team defense and looked good in the early going.

There are a number of players that the team is taking precautions with on the injury front, so it’s hard to know who exactly is leading the way in the most high-profile position battles.

What we do know is that this is a deeper team than what the Sooners took into the spring a year ago, especially at wide receiver, defensive back, and linebacker. The competitive depth across the board is better this spring than in any year of the [autotag]Brent Venable[/autotag]s era at Oklahoma, which should serve the team well as they try to work out their depth chart.

Here’s a look at the best photos from the Sooners most recent spring practice.

Oklahoma Sooners offer Oregon commit, 4-Star OL Fox Crader

The Oklahoma Sooners offer 2024 four-star offensive tackle, and Oregon Ducks commit Fox Crader.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Oregon Ducks have created an intriguing rivalry on the recruiting trail since Brent Venables and Dan Lanning arrived in their respective spots.

Oregon flipped wide receiver [autotag]Ashton Cozart[/autotag] in the 2022 class, and the Sooners earned the signature of [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag]. Bowen was committed to Notre Dame but, during the early signing period, flipped his commitment to the Ducks before ultimately signing with the Sooners.

Just last week, Oregon pulled a commitment from [autotag]Aaron Flowers[/autotag], who had been trending toward the Sooners for several months.

Now they seem to be at the table again, this time for 2024 four-star offensive tackle [autotag]Fox Crader[/autotag]. Crader is committed to the Ducks, but just spent some time in Norman and earned an offer from [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag], [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag], and the Sooners.

Crader hails from Vancouver, Wash., and is a consensus four-star player. He’s the No. 151 player in the Top247 and ranks No. 72 in the On300. Oklahoma’s had some success recruiting Washington since Venables arrived with the additions of [autotag]Heath Ozaeta[/autotag] and [autotag]Jasaiah Wagoner[/autotag] in the 2023 recruiting class.

Crader has the athleticism, length, and physicality to be a dynamic player at offensive tackle. His basketball background shows up on tape, where he displays good lateral agility and the ability to play in space.

Fox Crader’s Recruiting Profile

Film

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