Tag: Jeff Lebby

Jeff Lebby expected to be named Mississippi State’s next head coach

According to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, Jeff Lebby’s expected to be named Mississippi State’s next head coach. Nothing changing with Jackson Arnold.

What’s been rumored over the last week looks to be more imminent. Jeff Lebby appears headed to Starkville to be the next head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports is reporting Mississippi State has zeroed in on the Oklahoma Sooners offensive coordinator to replace Zach Arnett. The Bulldogs finished 5-7 and just 1-8 in SEC play.

There were reports earlier in the week from George Stoia of Sooner Scoop that Lebby was on the shortlist to be the Bulldogs’ next head coach. However, with one game remaining and the possibility of the Sooners playing in the Big 12 title game, Lebby was noncommittal about his future. Now, with the Big 12 title picture clarified after Oklahoma State’s win over BYU, things are moving.

Dellenger reported that a deal is yet to be finalized, but that “discussions are expected to result in a hire.”

Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon gets a guy he has familiarity with. The former assistant AD at Oklahoma was a part of the team that helped put Brent Venables’ coaching staff together upon his arrival at Oklahoma.

Lebby’s playcalling came under fire during the Sooners’ two-game losing streak to Kansas and Oklahoma State. Those losses essentially killed Oklahoma’s Big 12 title aspirations. But he finished strong in the Sooners’ three-game winning streak to close the regular season, scoring 59, 31, and 69 points in the final three.

Once a deal is finalized, the Sooners will begin their search for Lebby’s replacement at offensive coordinator. There are popular names like offensive analyst Seth Littrell, but the Sooners may look outside of the program to see what their options are.

Additionally, there’s no telling how this might affect Oklahoma’s current roster or their future recruiting classes.

However, according to a story from OU Daily, Lebby’s move to Starkville doesn’t affect Jackson Arnold’s status in Norman. That’s huge for the Sooners, who can feel comfortable heading into the offseason knowing who there starting quarterback will be when they venture into the SEC in 2024.

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3 stars from the Oklahoma Sooners 69-45 win over TCU

The Oklahoma Sooners moved to 10-2 on the season and here are the 3 stars from the 69-45 win over the TCU Horned Frogs.

The Oklahoma Sooners finished the 2023 regular season with a bang on Friday. Their 69-45 win marked the second-highest point total this season.

Oklahoma’s offense was explosive and the defense came up with timely plays like they’ve done all season to come away with their 10th win of the season.

While there were some head-scratching stretches of play from the Sooners’ defense, the offense was a highlight reel throughout the game.

Here are the three stars, and a couple of honorable mentions, from Oklahoma’s win over the TCU Horned Frogs.

 

Keys to the Game: Aggressive playcalling on both sides of the ball critical to a Sooners win over TCU

Oklahoma takes on TCU this Friday in their final Big 12 regular season game. Here are our keys to the game and how the Sooners can win.

Oklahoma and TCU get set for one final battle on the gridiron before Oklahoma departs for the SEC next summer. For both schools, the game still has a lot of significance.

On the home side, the Sooners are looking to reach 10 wins for the year and keep their slim Big 12 title game hopes alive. It’s also Senior Day, and a host of Oklahoma players could be putting on the crimson & cream at home for the last time.

TCU is searching for that elusive sixth win to clinch bowl eligibility.

TCU is a flawed team, but they have the talent at critical positions to push Oklahoma. A close game in the fourth quarter is anyone’s game, and that’s all TCU has to do.

Brent Venables has the more talented team, but the possibility of being without their veteran quarterback and fighting off the emotions of a final home game and an unfamiliar gameday experience could make things challenging.

For Oklahoma to win, we believe these five keys are essential. Check them out below.

Report Card: Defense bent but didn’t break as Oklahoma escaped BYU

How did the Oklahoma Sooners grade out in their win over the BYU Cougars?

Saturday was an odd day for the Oklahoma Sooners. The result is all that matters, but how the Sooners got there was a fascinating journey.

Oklahoma lost Dillon Gabriel at halftime to a concussion, and the Sooners had to roll with untested five-star freshman Jackson Arnold off the bench. The defense was not up to par and jeopardized Oklahoma’s chances of winning. However, two big plays from Billy Bowman and Danny Stutsman changed the game’s complexion.

The game was anything but clean, yet somehow, the Sooners passed their final road test of the season after failing in their last two trips away from Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Without further ado, here are grades for the Sooners win against BYU.

5 Takeaways following Oklahoma’s win 31-24 over the BYU Cougars

Five takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 31-24 win over the BYU Cougars.

Oklahoma’s trip to Provo, Utah, did not go nearly how many thought it would. However, the Sooners got the result they wanted, which is all that matters. Oklahoma escaped from Lavell Edwards Stadium with a 31-24 win on Saturday in their final Big 12 road game.

The game featured a pick-six from Billy Bowman and a second half that saw Jackson Arnold take over for an injured Dillon Gabriel.

In other words, the game was pretty crazy. Despite their less-than-stellar play, the Sooners made enough plays to come out on top.

The Sooners now rest up and prepare for TCU on a short week as they wrap up their final Big 12 regular season next Friday in front of their home crowd.

Before we begin looking ahead to TCU, here are five takeaways from the Sooners win over BYU.

‘I think it’s fair to say we all learned’: Brent Venables on the key 3rd Down call to beat the BYU Cougars

The Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff showed growth in a key moment in their win over the BYU Cougars.

The college football season is all about learning. You have to learn about the things you do well, but you’ve also got to learn from your mistakes.

The Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff showed they are a group that learns. In the loss to the [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag], the Sooners had the ball needing one first down to win the game. The Sooners ran it on first and second down and didn’t get much traction, setting up a 3rd and long. [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] decided to run the ball, forcing the Jayhawks to burn their third and final timeout.

The Sooners failed to get the first and had to punt. Kansas marched right down the field to score the go-ahead touchdown.

Fast forward to Saturday’s game, and the Sooners would once again have the ball needing a first down to win the game. This time they would be without their fifth-year senior quarterback, and instead, it would be true freshman Jackson Arnold.

The offense once again faced a third and long and had a decision to make.

Do they do what they did a few weeks ago and run the ball, forcing the [autotag]BYU Cougars[/autotag] to call their third and final timeout, or would they go for the throat?

This time, they went for the throat. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] would take a quick drop and hit Jalil Farooq on a slant pass, who fought his way for the first down to seal the game.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] was asked about that and talked about how they learned from their past mistakes. “I think it’s fair to say we learned,” Venables said. “Let’s go win the game. Faith in the play caller to put them in the position there.”

More: Social Media Reacts to Sooners win over BYU

That seems like a minor deal, but that is a huge deal. That shows great leadership and growth from this young staff. But it gets even better from there. Not only did they go for the throat, [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag] even said Arnold changed the routes from what he saw from the defense.

More: 5 Takeaways from the Sooners 31-24 win over BYU.

That is a big-time play by a true freshman quarterback and another reason why Sooner fans are so excited for the future.

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Jackson Arnold set to redshirt for the Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma’s 5-Star freshman quarterback is set to redshirt this season.

Late in last week’s blowout win over the [autotag]West Virginia Mountaineers[/autotag], the starters for the Oklahoma Sooners came out of the game. But it wasn’t former five-star [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] who replaced [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag]. Instead, it was [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag].

This had many, including myself, scratching their heads. They were excited to see Arnold get a chance to sling the football around. After the game, [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] both spoke about redshirting the freshman.

Venables elaborated on that plan going forward in his press conference on Tuesday.

“You are always trying to be mindful of that,” Venables said. “Every player and sometimes you can potentially do it and sometimes that was the plan but there’s disaster that happens and then you got to make a hard right-hand turn. You always are looking at Plan A or Plan B, best-case scenario, worst-case scenario but he’s still been able to take all of the reps just in case something unforeseen happens. So he can stay ready. He’s had tremendous growth and maturity.”

I understand both sides to redshirting Arnold or not. On one hand, it makes sense to get him as many reps as possible before he takes the reins, possibly next season. In a blowout win, it would be great to let him play a whole quarter.

On the other hand, it’s not always a guarantee he’s gone in three seasons. Is it likely, sure. But what if something unforeseen happens and you wish you had that redshirt season? It makes sense not to blow it in a blowout win.

Also, if Gabriel decides not to play in the bowl game, assuming he doesn’t come back for 2024, Arnold can play that whole game and it doesn’t affect the four-game rule for redshirting. That would probably be the best-case scenario for Oklahoma: to have Arnold start and play in the bowl game.

Everyone is anxious to see the talented freshman play again, but just be patient, his time is coming.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Stock Report: Offense finding second win as season heads into final stretch

Taking a look at who is trending up and down for the Sooners after they beat the West Virginia Mountaineers 59-20.

Oklahoma’s domination of West Virginia was a welcome sight on the heels of two frustrating losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State. The losses put a trip to Arlington in doubt for the Big 12 title game.

After back-to-back losses, the Sooners had to dust themselves off, get back up, and fight. They did just that on Saturday.

They came out swinging and never looked back.

The offense looked as cohesive and explosive as it has all year and the defense put a stranglehold on a physical West Virginia rushing attack. From a coaching perspective, Venables looked comfortable, and his coordinators, in particular Jeff Lebby, were in sync the entire game.

As Oklahoma prepares for a trip to Provo, Utah, to take on BYU in its final regular season road trip of 2023, we look at how the team is trending heading into the game in the week’s stock report.

‘He’s one of the best in the whole freaking country’: Jeff Lebby and the Oklahoma offense silences his critics

Jeff Lebby has taken a lot of criticism lately but on Saturday, he silenced his critiques.

The Oklahoma Sooners are finally back in the win column after a dominant performance against the [autotag]West Virginia Mountaineers[/autotag]. That was the first time since the bye week we’ve seen the team that started undefeated and took down the Texas Longhorns.

After back-to-back weeks of criticism, [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] and his offense looked the best it has all season. They put up 644 yards and were 10 of 16 on 3rd and 4th Down. They only punted three times, one of which was late in the game with the backups getting some playing time.

When asked about how he deals with outside criticism, Lebby said, “Again, I think somebody asked me about it last week after the game but that noise has no effect on my day-to-day. It takes none of my focus, my energy, my joy what I’m trying to get done with our unit and our guys every single day. Really not a part of it.”

It wasn’t just Lebby who spoke about the criticism he’s received. His players were also quick to defend their coach. [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] also shared with the media after the game about how well Lebby did calling plays.

“He’s one of the best in the whole freaking country and it showed tonight,” Stoops said. “When we stay on schedule, stay in a rhythm, don’t have pre-snap or post-snap penalties and we execute in our details then it shows. He called a tremendous game tonight and it’s because we executed and didn’t put ourselves behind the sticks.”

There is no doubt some of the criticism was warranted the last few weeks but not all of the blame should fall on Lebby’s shoulders. The players also weren’t executing at a high level either. This Saturday we saw what the Oklahoma offense can be when they are clicking.

Now, lets see if that is a one off performance or if this is how they can play the rest of the way.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Report Card from the Sooners dominant win over West Virginia

The Oklahoma Sooners came away with a dominant win over West Virginia, so how did they grade out in this week’s Report Card?

The Oklahoma Sooners broke their two-game losing skid with a statement win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. The win kept Oklahoma in the thick of the Big 12 title race. Just keep winning.

After an opening drive touchdown by West Virginia, the Sooners took complete control of the game, outscoring the Mountaineers 31-14 in the first half.

It was an incredible bounce-back performance for the Oklahoma Sooners, who needed a win to get back on track.

Here’s a look at how the Oklahoma Sooners graded out in their 59-20 win over West Virginia.