Tag: Jamelle Holieway

Top 20 Oklahoma Sooners all-time in career passing yards

A look at the top 20 passers in Oklahoma Sooners history in career passing yards.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had their fair share of quality quarterback play over the years. That play has earned numerous All-American awards and four Heisman trophies.

Oklahoma has had success with a variety of offensive styles and quarterback play. That shows up when you look at the Sooners’ all-time leaders in career passing yards. Sure you have [autotag]Landry Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag], who threw for more than 10,000 yards in their career with the Sooners. Then you have a player [autotag]Jamelle Holieway[/autotag] who is top 20 in both career passing yards and career rushing yards. Holieway and [autotag]Jack Mildren[/autotag] had more rushing touchdowns in their career than they did passing touchdowns.

There is one quarterback inside the top 10 all-time in career passing yards that didn’t play in the last 20 years and that guy is still with the Oklahoma Sooners: wide receivers coach [autotag]Cale Gundy[/autotag]. Gundy is No. 6 in career passing yards. Makes you wonder what kind of damage he could have done in a modern spread offense.

After two seasons in Norman, Dillon Gabriel was productive enough to enter the top 10 in career passing yards at the University of Oklahoma. His 55 passing touchdowns ranks fifth all-time and he finished tied for 17 in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. Gabriel had a prolific career with Oklahoma and now will hope to have continued success with the Oregon Ducks.

Here’s a look at the top 20 Oklahoma Sooners in career passing yards.

The Boz among those who would have benefitted the most from NIL

With NIL being as massive as it is now, CBSSports looks back at what former players could have benefitted the most.

The name, image and likeness (NIL) era has taken over college football. Some fans love it but others hate it and are ready for it to be gone.

Unfortunately for those fans, NIL appears to be here for the long haul. This offseason particularly proved to be a wild ride with NIL. You are seeing teams like [autotag]Ole Miss[/autotag] or [autotag]Missouri[/autotag] using NIL heavily to plug some holes to try to make a deep run next year.

We know about the stars today and can usually get a rough estimate about how much they are getting from NIL but that got CBSSports thinking. What former stars would have benefitted the most from NIL? One of those is Oklahoma Sooners legend, [autotag]Brian Bosworth[/autotag].

The conversation mostly focused on those years in the 1990s and 2000s that tracked with college football’s explosion in the national consciousness, but Tom Fornelli delivered an excellent assessment of how the two-time All-American from Oklahoma could have benefited from the NIL era. “Brian Bosworth was a social media superstar 40 years before social media existed,” Tom Fornelli said. Yes, with wild hair and vocal opposition to the NCAA, you could say that “The Boz” created trending topics before we were tracking such things. He controlled the conversation, created intrigue in his off-field endeavors as well his on-field success, and he would have gotten plenty of financial opportunities through NIL throughout the state of Oklahoma. – Chip Patterson CBSSports

Bosworth was a marketing genius. He knew exactly what to say and when to say it. I’d argue he might have benefitted the most from NIL because we really haven’t seen anyone be able to market themselves as well as he did. He would have been in just about every local commercial as would have had a number of public appearances. Just think about the amount of “the sight of burnt orange makes me puke” shirts that would be sold.
I know I’d buy one.

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Several Oklahoma Sooners featured in ESPN’s 50 greatest true freshmen of all-time

Several Oklahoma Sooners were featured inside ESPN’s top 50 Oklahoma Sooners of all time.

On a roster that endured as much turnover as the Oklahoma Sooners did this offseason, one would think there’d be a clearer path to a starting role for a true freshman. With fall camp getting underway, there are certainly freshmen who could emerge and find a role as a rotational player, or even starter, but they’d have to overcome some talented veterans to take on a feature role.

At running back, many believe Jovantae Barnes or Gavin Sawchuk could take over at running back, but with the glowing remarks about Eric Gray from offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, that seems unlikely. At least through the first few weeks of the season. Additionally, Marcus Major and Bentavious Thompson provide a hill the true freshmen have to climb.

Gentry Williams could factor in at safety, and Kaden Helms or Jason Llewellyn could be featured in the passing game, but there isn’t a clearly defined role for them as fall camp gets underway.

Looking back, the Oklahoma Sooners have had some true freshmen emerge to have fantastic seasons for the Sooners. In recent history, CeeDee Lamb comes to mind. Lamb caught 46 passes for 807 yards and seven touchdowns in his true freshman season in 2017.

Ahead of the 2022 college football season, ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked the top 50 true freshmen of all time (ESPN+), and several Oklahoma Sooners were included on the list.

Social media reacts to the Oklahoma Sooners spring game, Baker Mayfield and attendance record

Some of the best social media reactions from the Oklahoma Sooners’ spring game.

It was a beautiful, albeit windy day at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The winds didn’t stop 75,000 Oklahoma Sooners fans from pouring into the stadium to take in Oklahoma’s spring game. The first spring game under new head coach Brent Venables.

There was a lot to take in. Venables addressed the crowd before the game, highlighting former players of the past. He spoke at halftime, honoring Oklahoma athletics and their accomplishments in the 2021-2022 seasons. Baker Mayfield was honored at halftime with the unveiling of his Heisman statue. Oh, and there was a football game amid it all.

The energy from the bus ride to the stadium from Lloyd Noble Center to waiting in line to get into the stadium, and the long walk to the upper deck was incredible. Fans of all ages were pumped to be back inside the friendly confines of Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

This was a day for Oklahoma football. And the day delivered. Let’s take a look at how social media reacted to the festivities surrounding the spring game.

Brent Venables, Dillon Gabriel steal the show in front of record-breaking crowd for Oklahoma’s Spring Game

In front of more than 75,000 fans, the Oklahoma Sooners put on a strong performance in the first Spring Game of the Brent Venables era.

After a mountain of hype, the Oklahoma Spring Game delivered on many fronts for the Oklahoma Sooners. The loyal fans of the Crimson & Cream packed out The Palace on the Prairie with just over 75,000 fans for the start of the Brent Venables era.

The game showcased what the new regime in Norman has been cooking up as they prepare the Sooners for the 2022 season. While there were many familiar faces from the past few years, the Sooners had new faces donning Oklahoma jerseys for the first time. The roster was split into two teams led by defensive ends coach [autotag]Miguel Chavis[/autotag] for the white squad while running backs coach [autotag]DeMarco Murray[/autotag] led the red team.

New quarterback [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] did exactly what you want your veteran quarterback to do. He looked calm and poised under duress and stepped up and made some nice throws to a plethora of receivers. The tempo of the offense was indeed as fast as advertised and gave Sooners fans a glimpse of what the offense can look like under offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.

Gabriel was 19 of 28 for 250 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He looked sharp in his first appearance for the Sooners.

The anticipation of seeing running back [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] did not disappoint. Barnes carried the ball 17 times for 60 yards and two touchdowns. He looked explosive, physical and decisive.

Presumptive starter [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag]’s biggest highlight came when he broke out for a huge run for the white team that is certain to have people salivating about his upcoming season. Gray carried the ball four times for 53 yards, including the 50-yard run.

[autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag] didn’t participate but [autotag]Tawee Walker[/autotag] ran the ball well in his absence. Walker has turned heads in practice and capped off an eye-opening spring with a solid performance in the spring game.

The offensive line play was solid, considering the likely starters were split between the two sides. They opened up some lanes for the backs and gave time for the quarterbacks to throw the ball.

The only notable player missing was [autotag]Andrew Raym[/autotag] who didn’t participate. [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag], one of the transfer offensive linemen the Sooners landed looked pretty comfortable at guard as he made a key block that sprung Gray loose for his big gain.

[autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] and true freshman [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag] scored touchdowns out wide for the receiver group. [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag], who returned from an injury-filled 2021 also made a nice grab for a 48-yard gain that led to a touchdown early in the game. [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] saw his number called quite a few times and has a chance to be a major contributor on the heels of his electric performance to end the season in 2021. Farooq would finish with two receptions for 17 yards.

Jayden Gibson’s 95-yard touchdown helped him lead the way at receiver on the afternoon. He finished with 113 yards on three receptions and a touchdown. Marvin Mims picked up right where he left off the 2021 season with two receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, guys like defensive end [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag] and defensive back Kendall Dennis stood out as both forced turnovers during the game. Downs would punch out a fumble and Dennis intercepted a pass in the second half of the game. There wasn’t too much to be made of the Sooners’ new defensive system as [autotag]Ted Roof[/autotag] kept things largely vanilla for good reason.

However, guys like [autotag]Jeffery Johnson[/autotag] and Jordan Kelley made plays from the defensive interior while [autotag]DaShaun White[/autotag] roamed at the second level making their impact felt. On the back end, Woodi Washington, Joshua Eaton made some plays on the ball. Eaton recovered the Downs forced fumble and broke up a possible touchdown in the end zone too. In the end, the red team led by DeMarco Murray got the win as they won 21-17.

Though they weren’t taking quarterbacks to the ground, Ethan Downs and [autotag]Marcus Stripling[/autotag] were credited with two sacks apiece and [autotag]Jalen Redmond[/autotag] added a sack for the red team. Johnson, Kelley, White, Jonah La’ulu, and [autotag]Reggie Grimes[/autotag] combined for five sacks for the white team.

While the football was the main focus, it was incredible to see the alumni turnout as the Sooners did everything in their power to get every Sooner to Norman that they could. Big names like [autotag]Adrian Peterson[/autotag], [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag], [autotag]Mark Clayton[/autotag], and [autotag]Jamelle Holieway[/autotag] were all in the building. [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag]’s Heisman statue ceremony took place at halftime with the unveiling in Heisman Park.

The pageantry, emotion and the excitement of the day delivered in spades and with no significant injuries to report, the first spring game of the [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] era can be considered a huge success.

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