Tag: Jacob Sexton

Jovantae Barnes, Tyler Guyton out against Iowa State

Oklahoma will be without Tyler Guyton and Jovantae Barnes against Iowa State.

Oklahoma takes on Iowa State coming off their bye week and will do so a little undermanned offensively as backup running back Jovantae Barnes and reserve offensive tackle Tyler Guyton did not make the trip to Ames and will not be playing.

Barnes, a true freshman from Las Vegas, played well durin Marcus Major’s absence. Now, it’s Major’s chance to contribute behind Eric Gray with Barnes out.

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The offensive line depth takes a hit as swing tackle Tyle Guyton will also not be available. Guyton offered Oklahoma some valuable snaps in the first two games of the season as Wanya Morris sat out due to a suspension for undisclosed reasons. The transfer from TCU has filled in at other times as well and has done an admirable job.

With Guyton out, look for true freshmen Jake Taylor and Jacob Sexton to be called upon if the Sooners experience any other injuries at the tackle spot.

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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. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.

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.

5 Oklahoma freshmen we look forward to watching vs. UTEP

With the Sooners set to take on the UTEP Miners, here are five freshmen we’re looking forward to seeing on Saturday.

Brent Venables and his coaching staff did a tremendous job finishing the 2022 cycle with the No. 8 recruiting class. There’s a lot of talent in this group. Notably 15 true freshmen cracked the game one depth chart released earlier this week.

Those freshmen came right in and got to work. The mid-year enrollees spent the winter and spring reshaping their bodies and learning the ins and outs of the playbooks.

With so many true freshmen on the depth chart and a game against an opponent that Oklahoma should beat comfortably, we could see quite a few of these freshmen getting game action this weekend. We took the liberty of tossing out the five freshmen to we’re looking forward to watching.

5 observations from the Oklahoma Sooners first official depth chart

Observations from the first official depth chart released by Oklahoma as the Sooners prepare for their week one matchup with UTEP.

Folks, we have arrived at the first game week of the season for the Oklahoma Sooners. The wait is nearly over and we are merely days away from meaningful football being played in Norman, Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been at it since the winter months getting in shape, lifting in the weight room before transitioning to spring ball, which culminated in one of the best spring game atmospheres the sport has ever seen.

All of that has led us to this week, which is the first game week for Brent Venables as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Venables will don the headset and will see his first team as the head coach take the field against a UTEP team that lost its first game against North Texas 31-13 during week zero.

While UTEP has game tape already out there for the Sooners to watch, the Miners will only be able to piece together information from watching last year and game plan based on the Sooners’ depth chart, which was released Monday morning.

We took a look at the depth chart and offered five observations below.

Where does 4-star OL commit Cayden Green rank among Oklahoma’s best OL recruits all-time?

Taking a look back at where 2023 four-star commit Cayden Green ranks among Sooners all-time according to the 247Sports composite ratings.

For years, the Oklahoma Sooners have been a hot spot for talented offensive linemen. With Bill Bedenbaugh leading the position, Oklahoma’s developed a reputation for putting together some of the best offensive lines in college football over the last decade.

And Bedenbaugh hopes to take this next crop of linemen and turn them into the next great Sooners’ offensive line.

The Oklahoma Sooners 2023 recruiting class got a jolt over the last week and a half, picking up six recruits (three along the offensive line) since June 27. Heath Ozaeta kicked off, but since they’ve added Cayden Green and Logan Howland to the mix.

Green was one of the more highly anticipated commitments for the Oklahoma Sooners and his pledge had social media buzzing. Green is a talented prospect that gives the Sooners a huge boost in their team recruiting ranking, which has risen to No. 13 in the wake of his commitment.

With Green’s commitment, let’s take a look at where he ranks among Oklahoma Sooners’ offensive linemen all-time in the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Oklahoma target Josh Conerly Jr. picks Oregon over Oklahoma, Michigan, USC

After making his top six, the Sooners miss out on the commitment of five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. who committed to Oregon.

After virtually being the only major prospect available on recruiting boards across America, five-star offensive lineman target [autotag]Josh Conerly Jr[/autotag]. has made his decision. He will be staying in the Pacific Northwest and playing his college ball with the Oregon Ducks.

Conerly was a target of Oklahoma’s for a while. Despite getting an official visit in January, it always seemed like Conerly was likely to go elsewhere. The Sooners made the top six for Conerly’s services which included the USC Trojans, Michigan Wolverines, Washington Huskies, Miami Hurricanes, and the Ducks. Ultimately, the Sooners fell short.

With Conerly heading elsewhere, the Sooners’ 2022 high school recruiting efforts look finished after missing out on Conerly and Top247 five-star defensive lineman [autotag]Lebbeus Overton[/autotag].

The Sooners look poised to finish with the 8th ranked class in the nation. Along the offensive line, they received signatures from four-star offensive tackles, [autotag]Jake Taylor[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag]. While missing on Conerly Jr. is unfortunate, the Sooners have multiple highly-rated offensive linemen squarely in their sights for their 2023 class such as four-star offensive tackle Cayden Green, four-star Brycen Sanders who they hosted on a visit recently, and four-star Knijeah Harris to go along with their three-star guard commit in Joshua Bates.

Bill Bedenbaugh will be hot on the recruiting trail over the next few months as he turns the page to the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes. Adding offensive line talent in the next two cycles will be paramount as Oklahoma gets set to embark on its SEC journey.

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Oklahoma football’s official recruiting class after national signing day 2022

A look at the 2022 recruiting class and where each player ranks with the four major recruiting services after national signing day.

The Oklahoma Sooners put together one of the eight best recruiting classes in the country through national signing day. The declarations of the Sooners’ demise was greatly exaggerated as Brent Venables and his staff has breathed new life into a program that had struggled to maintain its top spot in the Big 12 over the last couple of years. That ultimately led to missing the Big 12 title game altogether in 2021.

Unlike other major college programs that experienced a coaching change, the Sooners were able to create positive momentum heading into the spring despite the coaching change.

The Sooners are the only team in the top 10 without a five-star recruit. While it would be nice to land Josh Conerly or Lebbeus Overton in the 2022 cycle, the teams high ranking in the cycle reveals just how good their four and three-star players are.

The Sooners have several incoming freshman that could come in and earn an opportunity right out of the gate. A top eight class is nothing to sneeze at and it speaks to the tremendous talent of the players and the work done by the coaching staff to get the guys on board.

As we continue our look at national signing day, here are where the Sooners 21 incoming freshman rank across the four major recruiting services; 247Sports, On3, Rivals, and ESPN.

After missing out on five-star Devon Campbell, what’s next for OU’s offensive line recruiting?

After missing out on Devon Campbell what’s next for Oklahoma’s offensive line recruiting for the 2022 cycle?

With the first day of the signing period behind us, we can all finally let out a deep sigh of relief. While exciting, it can be a lot and taking a step back gives you the luxury of looking at the bigger picture.

For example, the Sooners missed out on a few targets they had one their board but they also signed four of the six recruits they were recruiting hardest leading into national signing day.

It’s all about the perspective there. That same level of perspective will be needed as the Sooners do have to live with their misses on signing day. One of the two misses will sting a bit harder as consensus five-star offensive lineman Devon Campbell chose the Texas Longhorns over the Sooners on signing day.

We’ve maintained for a while now Texas was in the lead here but make no mistake offensive line coach did everything possible for him to get the Sooners to this point in the race.

Ultimately, Texas won out and the Longhorns have assembled and incredible amount of offensive line talent to block for transfer QB Quinn Ewers over the next few years. That brings us to this question: Where do the Sooners stand with the rest of their offensive line recruiting for this class?

As it stands there are just two offensive line in the 2022 recruiting class for the Sooners. At least, currently. They’ve got four-star talents Jacob Sexton and Jake Taylor signed and they have a shot on one other highly ranked offensive lineman in the 2022 class, Michigan Wolverines lean Josh Conerly.

Josh Conerly Jr. is a consensus five-star offensive tackle recruit out of the state of Washington. His recruitment is down to six teams, including the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners had Conerly in for a January official visit. He won’t decide his college decision until March but the Sooners are putting their best foot forward there. Who knows where it stands or what it may amount to but if they lose it won’t be for lack of trying.

A commitment from Conerly paired with the signings of four-star offensive tackle Jake Taylor and four-star Jacob Sexton would be a very solid offensive line class overall.

Take into consideration with the Sooners missing out on Campbell, they’ve not signed a consensus five-star offensive line prospect in the last decade. Pretty remarkable that a place of Oklahoma’s caliber has been unable to land such a talent especially considering a couple of the NFL’s best offensive linemen, Trent Williams and Creed Humphrey are Sooners.

The Sooners have the facilities, staff and whatever is necessary to land these five-star talents on both sides of the trenches but until they see it happening, there will always be that disappointing feeling seeing  a player like Campbell get away.

The Sooners should continue to recruit elite offensive linemen going forward and by the looks of the offers to the offensive linemen of the 2023 class, the Sooners are planning to do just that.

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Oklahoma ranks inside ESPN’s top-10 recruiting classes after bowl season

ESPN’s Craig Haubert took a look at the nation’s recruiting classes following bowl season and the Sooners check in at No. 10.

One of the most encouraging signs to start the Brent Venables era at Oklahoma has been how the Sooners have been able to hold their 2022 recruiting class together and continue to add to it.

ESPN’s Craig Haubert took a look at the nation’s top 2022 recruiting classes following the conclusion of bowl season.

According to ESPN, the Sooners check in with the country’s No. 10 recruiting class right now.

Here’s what Haubert wrote about Oklahoma’s 2022 class.

The Sooners were competing for a top-five class, but the unexpected departure of Lincoln Riley has set this class back a bit. New hire Brent Venables and his staff, though, have the Sooners climbing back up the rankings and into the top ten. The Sooners have a top-10 running back on board in Sawchuk, a wiry back with a good blend of speed, power and agility. They also added late in the process Jovanate Barnes, out of Las Vegas, the same city former Sooner RB great and their current RB Coach Demarco Murray came out of. The new staff made its first key pickup in ESPN 300 QB Nick Evers, who won positional MVP at the Dallas Under Armour camp this past spring. To protect that offensive talent, they have secured multiple ESPN 300 commitments on the offensive line in OTs Jacob Sexton and Jake Taylor. The defense took a hit with several ESPN 300 front-seven prospects deciding to open up their recruitment, but there is still some strong talent on that side of the ball on board. Robert Spears-Jennings, a top in-state prospect with quick feet, could contribute on either side of the ball with upside as a defensive back. Williams gives them another versatile player; the fluid, speedy in-state prospect is projected to the secondary as well. – Haubert, ESPN.

According to ESPN, running back Gavin Sawchuk is Oklahoma’s top offensive player and defensive back Gentry Williams is the Sooners’ top defensive player in the 2022 class.

Again, it’s been a terrific start for Venables and his staff and Oklahoma ranking inside the nation’s top-10 recruiting classes is an indication of that.

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Where the top Oklahoma prospects signed in the 2022 recruiting class

Where did the top 10 2022 prospects from the State of Oklahoma sign to play their college football?

The Oklahoma Sooners put together a nice recruiting class for the 2022 cycle. They’re in the top 10 in both 247Sports and On3 composite team rankings, with much of their success coming from the state of Oklahoma.

Over the years it’s been a mixed bag for the Sooners in their home state. This year’s class provided the Sooners with four local kids, but over the past 12 recruiting cycles, they’ve averaged just three in-state signees. This year, Oklahoma tied with Oklahoma State for the most in-state prospects signed at four. Before Talyn Shettron flipped his commitment this past Summer to Oklahoma State, the Sooners had half of the top 10 from the state of Oklahoma committed to play in Norman.

Only two of the top 10 2022 prospects in the state of Oklahoma left for opportunities out of state; defensive lineman Chris McClellan (Florida) and Maurion Horn (Texas Tech). Here’s a rundown of how the Sooners have done recruiting Oklahoma by recruiting class since the 2011 cycle.

  • 2011: 2/10 signed
  • 2012: 3/10 signed
  • 2013: 4/10 signed
  • 2014: 4/10 signed
  • 2015: 4/10 signed
  • 2016: 1/10 signed
  • 2017: 5/10 signed
  • 2018: 4/10 signed
  • 2019: 1/10 signed
  • 2020: 2/10 signed
  • 2021: 2/10 signed
  • 2022: 4/10 signed

Up next, let’s take a look at where each of the top 10 prospects signed or committed to play their college ball from the 2022 recruiting cycle.