Tag: Jackson Arnold

ESPN says Jeff Lebby’s biggest challenge is to ‘keep Oklahoma a QB destination’

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg says that the biggest challenge for OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is to keep OU a destination for quarterbacks.

If the biggest challenge coming in was to keep Oklahoma a popular destination for quarterback and offensive skill players as ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg writes, then consider new OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s first month and change a success thus far.

OU flipped and signed 2022 four-star quarterback Nick Evers away from the Florida Gators. Then, Lebby landed one of the most highly-regarded quarterbacks out of the transfer portal in UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel.

To top it all off, Lebby and Oklahoma also added a commitment from class of 2023 four-star quarterback Jackson Arnold out of Denton Guyer in Texas.

Rittenberg said Oklahoma provides Lebby with “a new degree of autonomy” as he’s paired up with a defensive-minded head coach in Brent Venables as compared to Art Briles, Josh Heupel and Lane Kiffin.

But Oklahoma also had to offset the impact of Riley’s departure for its offense. The Sooners need to remain an attractive program for quarterbacks and other offensive playmakers, which is why Lebby’s hiring will be so significant. Lebby has been part of dynamic offenses at Baylor, UCF and most recently Ole Miss. He has coordinated top-four offenses in each of the past three years. But he also has worked alongside offensive-minded head coaches (Art Briles, Josh Heupel and Lane Kiffin).

Oklahoma provides him a new degree of autonomy.

Lebby’s arrival is off to a promising start. Oklahoma added quarterback transfer Dillon Gabriel, who initially committed to UCLA but switched to OU after Caleb Williams entered the transfer portal. Gabriel played under Lebby at UCF in 2019, passing for 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns. Lebby also has helped fortify Oklahoma’s quarterback room for the future. Oklahoma landed ESPN 300 quarterback Nick Evers, a Florida commit, just before the December signing date, and recently added Jackson Arnold, ESPN’s No. 2 dual-threat quarterback and No. 43 overall junior for the 2023 class. Lebby inherits an offensive depth chart that took several hits after Riley’s departure, but if he can get through 2022, better days are likely ahead.

He also should benefit from Oklahoma retaining four offensive coaches from Riley’s staff, including longtime Sooners assistants Bill Bedenbaugh (started as offensive line coach in 2013) and Cale Gundy (has coached OU’s wide receivers or running backs since 1999). – Rittenberg, ESPN.

With the talented quarterbacks that Oklahoma has brought into the program, it’s apparent that Lebby can land highly sought-after signal-callers. While OU lost the commitment from 2023 wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., it looks like the Sooners may soon be adding a commitment from 2023 wide receiver Ashton Cozart based on recent recruiting projections.

The continuity with the coaching staff helped the Sooners retain and sign running back Gavin Sawchuk and wide receiver Nicholas Anderson. Oklahoma also flipped and signed wide receiver Jayden Gibson from Florida, so the early returns are that OU is going to continue to find talented skill talent.

The best way to remain an attractive destination to quarterbacks and offensive skill talent? Recapturing the Big 12 title, making a College Football Playoff return and doing so with an explosive offense.

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Oklahoma Transfer QB target Jaxson Dart headed to Ole Miss

After putting their best foot forward, the Sooners come up short as former USC QB Jaxson Dart commits to Ole Miss.

The Sooners look like they will be striking out don’t their second transfer quarterback coup of the offseason after multiple sources report that former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart is transferring to Ole Miss and will be playing under Lane Kiffin.

Dart visited Oklahoma shortly after he entered the transfer portal upon leaving USC. The Sooners did all they could to land the talented freshman QB. With Dillon Gabriel already committed and Gabriel’s relationship with Sooners’ OC Jeff Lebby, it makes more sense for Dart to  head to Ole Miss. There, he’ll compete against fellow freshman Luke Altmyer as opposed to joining a race with a veteran QB who’s had years in the system he’s trying to learn.

USC transfer TE Michael Trigg, Dart’s former roommate, is also transferring to Ole Miss. Both were considered a package deal wherever they landed.

His decision is far from shocking. If Dart were to lose a QB battle to Gabriel, he would then have to have another competition next year against Nick Evers and new 2023 QB commit Jackson Arnold assuming Gabriel left for the NFL Draft after 2022.

It also clears the picture for Oklahoma this winter and spring as they get ready for an offseason where they will be installing a new defense and a new offense. Gabriel is the clear-cut number one guy and the battle for the backup begins.

Without Dart’s commitment, the Sooners need another quarterback sometime after the spring as they head into the summer.

Only one quarterback on the roster has taken meaningful snaps in college and it’s Gabriel. That just won’t cut it. Look for the Sooners to hit the portal whether it’s now or after spring practice to try and land another signal-caller (likely with experience) to join the room as they get ready for their first summer under Brent Venables.

Barring anything crazy happening this likely concludes Oklahoma’s frenzied shopping spree of the portal until after spring ball. Players across the country will likely re-evaluate where they stand in their current college programs before heading home for the summer.

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Sooners receive Crystal Ball projection for 2023 four-star wide receiver Ashton Cozart

The Oklahoma Sooners received a second Crystal Ball projection for 2023 four-star wide receiver Ashton Cozart of Texas.

The Oklahoma Sooners didn’t seem to miss a beat on the recruiting trail during the transition. Though they might have lost a few players that were committed to Lincoln Riley, they’ve rebounded nicely and continue to make progress to landing a top recruiting class in 2023.

While they only have three players for the 2023 class currently committed, it’s still set up to be a nice haul with four-star players DeAndre Moore, Jr., Jackson Arnold, and fast-rising three-star Joshua Bates in the fold. Although they’re a year away from 2023 national signing day, they’re making great progress on some of the top recruits in the 2023 class.

Yesterday, the Sooners received a 247Sports Crystal Ball projection from OUInsider’s Parker Thune. Over the last month, that’s the second Crystal Ball projection in favor of the Oklahoma Sooners. Earlier in January, Brandon Drumm, also of OUInsider at 247Sports issued a projection for Cozart to land with the Oklahoma Sooners. On3 Recruiting currently projects a 63% chance that the Sooners will land a commitment from Ashton Cozart.

There has been mutual interest between Cozart and Oklahoma, but because of the coaching change things were left in flux for the 2023 four-star wide receiver out of Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas. While the coaching staff was in transition, Cale Gundy and the rest of the assistants continued their push for Cozart who’s received interest from a lot of the top schools in the country, including Alabama and Texas.

One of his primary recruiters from Alabama was new cornerbacks coach Jay Valai. Ole Miss was also showing interest in Cozart during his recruitment. Ole Miss’ former offensive coordinator, Jeff Lebby, now resides in Norman and is calling plays for the Sooners. There are quite a few dots connecting between the Sooners and the talented junior.

Cozart is rated as a four-star wide receiver by both 247Sports and On3 Recruiting composites and ranks inside the top 23 at his position nationally every but Rivals. He has nice size at 6-foot-3 and 190 lbs to be a starter on the outside for the Oklahoma Sooners and ran a 10.74 100-meter dash as a sophomore in high school.

Ashton Cozart’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
ESPN 4 97 19 19
Rivals 3 – 78 48
247Sports 4 120 25 13
247 Composite 4 167 31 23
On3 Recruiting 4 63 9 8
On3 Composite 4 117 21 19

Vitals

Hometown Flower Mound, TX
Projected Position Wide Receiver
Height 6-3
Weight 190 lbs

Recruitment

Notable Offers

  • Oklahoma
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Auburn
  • Colorado
  • Florida
  • Florida State
  • Miami
  • Michigan State
  • Ole Miss
  • Texas

Crystal Ball

Film

 2021 Season Highlights via Hudl

Twitter

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The details and expected visitors for Oklahoma’s first Junior Day under Brent Venables

The Sooners will host their first junior day under Brent Venables with recruits from across the country coming to visit Norman.

The Oklahoma Sooners will follow up last week’s major recruiting weekend with another one this weekend. Junior Day allows the Sooners staff the opportunity to have class of 2023 players across the country to come in, tour the facility and continue working on relationships coaches have already started forming.

Junior Days used to be massive with hundreds of athletes coming in but most schools now have thinned it out and tried to make it a more intimate experience, limiting it to only players the schools legitimately are interested in.

Last weekend’s recruiting bonanza had a heavy focus on the class of 2022 as most of the visitors were recruits who were undecided, in need of some confirmation, or were getting their first real look at what Oklahoma has to offer.

The visit went well with longtime recruit Gentry Williams effectively ending his recruitment and affirming his commitment to the Sooners. Gracen Halton, the then Oregon commit’s visit went so well that the recruiting world submitted multiple predictions that he would be flipping to the Oklahoma Sooners on signing day. This was then followed up by a decommitment from Oregon fueling the flames even more.

For the Sooners, back-to-back weekends of major recruiting implications are exactly what this program needs as they h look to replenish their 2023 class which was affected by the departure of Lincoln Riley. New staff and opportunities inbound. With that said, we’ve compiled a list of every Junior Day visitor that is known so far:

Four-star ATH Jacobe Johnson

Four-star  EDGE rusher Bai Jobe

Four-star ATH Micah Tease

Four-star QB Jackson Arnold — OU Commit

Four-star WR Ashton Cozart

ATH Erik McCarty

Four-star OL Knijeah Harris

Three-Star OL Joshua Bates — OU Commit

As more names continue to trickle in, we’ll continue updating the list with each name as they confirm their intentions on whether they’ll be in Norman this weekend or not.

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What are the Oklahoma Sooners getting with new four-star QB commit Jackson Arnold?

After landing the commitment of Jackson Arnold, we decided to take a look at what the Sooners were getting from the four-star QB.

After a week that saw two predictions sending him to Oklahoma, 2023 four-star quarterback Jackson Arnold did just that Monday by committing to Oklahoma.

Arnold is the top QB in the state of Texas for the 2023 class and has a lot of potential. He gives the Sooners some major recruiting momentum as they look to close out their 2022 class and go full steam ahead with the 2023 class.

The question is: What are the Sooners getting in their newest signal-caller? Let’s take a look at what the recruiting industry says about him.

Arnold stands about right at 6-foot-2 and somewhere hovering at or around 200 pounds. He’s by no means the best athlete on the field but he certainly has plenty of athleticism to make throws out the pocket and off-platform. He can use his feet to get the job done if necessary.

Below is an example of it as Arnold is forced to relocate with the pocket collapsing. Instead of panicking, he calmly slides to his right, resets his base, and delivers a strike to his target for a touchdown.

Arnold was highly productive against some of the elite high school competition in the country while playing at the 6A level in Texas. A shade under 4,000 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, only 5 interceptions and he also ran 208 times for 659 yards and 12 touchdowns.

He’s already committed to playing in the Under Armour All-American game next year as well.

This was his first season as a full-time starter as he sat behind current Texas A&M QB Eli Stowers his first few years. An entire offseason and a college decision behind him should really help Arnold as he can continue focusing on his individual game, recruiting his future teammates, and doing whatever he can to help his team get over the state championship game hurdle.

Ultimately, Arnold is the exact type of QB that Lebby favors in his veer and shoot system. The dual-threat ability is paramount even if Arnold isn’t Kyler Murray as a runner. The ability to keep the defense off-kilter because of the quarterback’s ability to throw or run the ball just opens up so many options. Having a quarterback with excellent deep-ball accuracy as Lebby loves to take shots down the field is key. Arnold has been commended for his deep ball accuracy per Gabe Brooks of 247Sports.

Presumed starter for the 2022 season, Dillon Gabriel, isn’t the biggest or most athletic guy but he can use his feet and is able to make whatever throw Lebby asks of him. Arnold looks to be in a similar mold in that regard.

The Sooners landed a good one and continued to build their QB room, which is now in a much better place than it was a few months ago. They can take a deep sigh of relief as their future at the QB position is more stable than it was before the day started.

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Notre Dame misses out on elite quarterback prospect

What do the Irish do at quarterback for the 2023 class?

Notre Dame is trying to find a quarterback in the 2023 recruiting cycle and they received bad news Monday as one of their top targets at the position has chosen to attend Oklahoma.

Jackson Arnold who is rated as a four-star prospect according to 247Sports, announced his decision to play for the Sooners on Twitter.  Arnold is listed at 6-1, 195-pounds and attends Guyer High School in Denton, Texas, the same school as Notre Dame commitment Peyton Bowen.

Arnold had 25 known offers from many of the college powerhouses including Alabama, Florida, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Tennessee among others.

Notre Dame has a great start to the 2023 recruiting class as its widely seen as one of the best in the nation, however, there is still a long way to go in next year’s recruiting and six of the eight current commitments come on the defensive side of the ball.

As for quarterback, Notre Dame currently has six other offers out for 2023 prospects with perhaps their best chances being with five-star Dante Moore of Detroit.

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2023 4-star quarterback Jackson Arnold commits to the Oklahoma Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners continued to build their quarterback depth chart, landing 2023 four-star quarterback Jackson Arnold.

The Oklahoma Sooners landed their first quarterback commitment of the 2023 recruiting cycle in four-star quarterback Jackson Arnold. Out of Denton, Texas, Arnold is the third quarterback to commit to the Oklahoma Sooners since the coaching change, following Nick Evers (class of ’22) and Dillon Gabriel (transfer portal).

New offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby continued to build his relationships from his time at Ole Miss. Lebby was Arnold’s primary recruiter at Ole Miss and the Sooners made an offer on Arnold pretty quickly after the former Rebels offensive coordinator made his new home in Norman, OK.

Arnold joins a recruiting class that features DeAndre Moore, the four-star wide receiver out of Los Alamitos, CA, and Joshua Bates, the interior offensive lineman out of Colorado. According to ESPN, he’s the No. 2 ranked quarterback in the 2023 recruiting cycle, behind only Arch Manning. The Denton, Texas native is the No. 7 quarterback according to both On3 Recruiting and the 247Sports Composite rankings.

He was named Co-MVP of District 5-6A in Texas and helped lead Denton Guyer to the Class 6A Division II State Championship as a junior in high school.

As Bryant Crews wrote the other day, this commitment could open the flood gates for the Sooners 2023 class as the quarterback is the biggest draw in any recruiting cycle.

Jackson Arnold’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
Rivals 4 170 26 9
ESPN 4 42 9 2
247Sports 4 47 7 6
247 Composite 4 72 14 7
On3 Recruiting 4 140 21 7
On3 Composite 4 92 15 7

Vitals

Hometown Denton, TX
Projected Position QB
Height 6-1
Weight 187

Recruitment

  • Offered on Dec. 10, 2021
  • Committed Jan. 24, 2022

Notable Offers

  • Oklahoma
  • Alabama
  • Cincinnati
  • Florida
  • LSU
  • Notre Dame
  • Ohio State
  • Oklahoma State
  • Ole Miss
  • Penn State

Film

via HUDL

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A commit from four-star QB Jackson Arnold may get the Sooners rolling for their 2023 recruiting efforts

Oklahoma received multiple predictions saying OU will land a commitment from 2023 four-star quarterback Jackson Arnold.

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Oklahoma has finally gotten the much-needed stabilization they needed following the upheaval that occurred at the core of their program when Lincoln Riley left following their loss to their in-state rivals in Oklahoma State.

Initially, the most important focus outside of getting a new head coach and a new staff in place was that of securing their 2022 recruiting class. Some commits left and didn’t come back while others left and came back. Some of their 2022 commits never wavered and remained committed.

The 2023 class was not nearly as forgiving. At the time, the Sooners boasted the nation’s number one class for 2023 led by a slew of talented offensive playmakers. Malachi Nelson, Brandon Inniss, Makai Lemon, Treyaun Webb, and Luke Hasz all were in the boat so to speak.

Recruited by Lincoln Riley, these 2023 recruits decommitted when news of Riley’s departure and eventual hiring at USC went final. Some like Nelson and Lemon followed him to USC. The rest are still going through the recruiting process looking for new homes.

Oklahoma has reset their 2023 board under Brent Venables and his coordinators in Jeff Lebby (offense) and Ted Roof (defense). Plus, the rest of the coaching staff have begun attacking the recruiting trail swiftly.

The centerpiece for almost every college football recruiting class is the quarterback. The Sooners plan to cast a wider net for quarterbacks than they ever did under Riley’s guidance. Riley would hone in on one or two quarterbacks, find his quarterback and that would be it.

He would also recruit quarterbacks every other year as opposed to taking one every year. Lebby doesn’t plan to do that as he already has signed a 2022 quarterback named Nick Evers and is hot on the trail for his first 2023 commit and quarterback in four-star Jackson Arnold.

Arnold received two predictions in favor of the Sooners recently with one being from the national director of football recruiting for 247Sports in Steve Wiltfong. On top of that, the prediction is a 7/10, indicating Wiltfong feels pretty strongly that Arnold and the Sooners have a strong relationship and that a commitment seems all but a formality.

It’s a massive deal for the Sooners for a myriad of reasons. The most important one is this: The Sooners need to start their 2023 recruiting under Brent Venables with a bang. They need to show the rest of the college football world that the show doesn’t stop because Riley isn’t here. A top-50 recruit being the Sooners’ first commit of the new era of Sooners football would galvanize the class and get the momentum rolling for them to get back into the top 10 of recruiting rankings.

A top-50 recruit that happens to be a quarterback? Well, that’s just even sweeter. Classes are way easier to build around when you have a quarterback to help you recruit. Players always flock to the quarterbacks because of the natural leadership position they are put in. Arnold is a Texas kid and could lend a major hand in helping some of the Sooners’ targets who are also from the state of Texas in hopping on board too.

There’s a major domino effect waiting to happen if somehow the Sooners can get a commitment from Arnold. Sometimes all recruits need is a reason to believe and a commitment could show them that they too could be in good hands if they commit to Oklahoma under this staff.

There’s no timetable for Arnold’s decision but with multiple 247Sports crystal balls and Rivals FutureCasts in for him already, it’s very obvious Oklahoma is putting itself in a prime spot.

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LSU offers top 50 prospect, quarterback Jackson Arnold of Denton Guyer

One of the top Texas quarterbacks picks up an offer.

On Thursday, Denton Guyer junior quarterback Jackson Arnold became the No. 8 passer to receive an offer from LSU in the 2023 recruiting class. Three of which have already committed to other programs. Malachi Nelson is heading to USC, in-state quarterback Eli Holstein is heading to Texas A&M, and Baton Rouge quarterback Rickie Hollins pledged to Purdue.

The top target of the class is Arch Manning but the LSU Tigers have been out of the running for some time now. Arnold is a prospect that really rose up the boards with his junior season for the Denton Guyer Wildcats. Arnold led the Wildcats all the way to the 6A Division II state championship game.

In 2021, he completed 66.5% of his passes for 3,921 yards with a 34-5 touchdown-interception ratio. He is listed as a pro-style quarterback but don’t be fooled by the label, Arnold can scoot. He added 12 rushing touchdowns and 659 rushing yards this past season.

He shows good poise in the pocket and has good awareness when dropping back to pass. Arnold knows when to move the pocket and when to climb. He seems really polished for a junior quarterback at the high school level. Arnold is currently coached by LSU alum Jordan Johnson. That could help when recruiting a quarterback for the 2023 class, or it could mean nothing as they are later in the process than other schools like Oklahoma.

Jackson Arnold’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 4 47 7 6
Rivals 4 170 26 9
ESPN 4 42 9 2
On3 4 140 21 7
247 Composite 4 72 14 7

Vitals

Hometown Denton, Texas
Projected Position Quarterback
Height 6-1
Weight 195
Class 2023

Recruitment

  • Offered on Jan. 13, 2022
  • No visit scheduled yet

Offers (23 Total)

  • LSU
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Notre Dame
  • Ohio State
  • Ole Miss
  • TCU

Crystal Ball

No predictions at the time of publication

Film

Twitter

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Sooners offer Arch Manning, the number one overall player in the class of 2023

After finally getting their feet under themselves, the Sooners have entered the race for Arch Manning, the consensus number one 2023 player.

After resetting and getting their feet under them, the Oklahoma Sooners appear positioned to look forward to the future in terms of recruiting and player personnel. They still have a lot of loose ends to tie up in regards to their 2022 roster, but with an entire bevy of on-field staff now in order, it’s full steam ahead for Oklahoma.

A major piece to their future is establishing recruiting momentum with this new staff and Oklahoma is looking to do that in a major way. While the previous regime sent him an offer, it’s common practice that a team offers the same player again once a new staff is in order. 

Arch Manning, the consensus number one player in the 2023 recruiting class, received an offer from the Oklahoma Sooners per Manning’s 247 Sports page.

The current offensive staff is led by offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby who is no stranger to Manning and his family. Lebby’s previous stop at Ole Miss put him in prime position to be right in the heart of a battle for Manning’s services. After all, he was the play-caller at Ole Miss, where Manning’s uncle Eli and his grandfather Archie are school legends.

We previously mentioned on the Sooners Wire in the immediate aftermath of Lebby’s hiring, what that could mean for the Sooners in regards to Arch Manning.

As previously mentioned, Oklahoma doesn’t and won’t run a completely pro system at Oklahoma but Manning’s traits, ability to process plays, leadership, and other skills would be fully on display for the NFL world to see if he was to land in Norman.

The Sooners had to offer Manning. He’s too good of a prospect not to receive an offer and Lebby’s foundation with the family gives Oklahoma more than a fighting chance to win his services when combined with how well Lebby’s quarterbacks have looked under his guidance.

A Manning commitment is the type of commitment that could lead to other five-stars and four-stars on both sides of the ball chomping at the bit to join the Sooners. A commitment isn’t guaranteed but the reward far outweighs the risk. And the risk for the Sooners is minimal on the big picture side of things.

Unlike the previous head coach’s recruiting rules, the Sooners don’t seem to care about skipping a year in which they recruit quarterbacks. Under Brent Venables and more specifically with Lebby’s offense, the Sooners look to be in on a quarterback every year, thus keeping them from being hamstrung if a single quarterback transfers.

Take their previous quarterback situation before the arrival via the transfer portal of Dillon Gabriel. Caleb Williams was the starter to end the season in their bowl game. His backup was a walk-on in Ralph Rucker, because the only other scholarship quarterback in Spencer Rattler headed for the transfer portal before the bowl game.

Williams entered the transfer portal just days ago and, for the few hours after, the Sooners had no scholarship quarterback with any collegiate experience. Lebby brought in Gabriel because of their previous time spent together at UCF and was able to flip four-star 2022 QB Nick Evers from Florida, but Lincoln Riley had no plans to ever have a 2022 recruit at quarterback come in before that.

In the 2023 class alone, Jaden Rashada and Jackson Arnold held offers before the offer to Arch Manning was even sent out. Lincoln Riley normally set his sights on one or two guys and eventually went all-in on one and one alone.

Lebby looks to be casting a wider net giving them real flexibility in the long run. Will Manning be the guy if he says he wants in? Yes. However, the Sooners should build relationships with others and not put all their eggs in one basket. And that makes a Manning commitment a luxury they can afford when you have multiple scholarship quarterbacks on your roster already and can survive natural attrition that comes on a year-to-year basis.

While the Arch Manning saga will be one to follow, it seems like one that won’t be solved anytime soon. With a support system filled with quarterbacks, the Mannings as a unit will be calculated and meticulous in their approach as they will want to get this decision right on the first go-round.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to monitor and update you as information rolls in. Buckle up as the Sooners’ race to find their 2023 quarterback could be a ride with a lot of ups and downs.

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