Tag: Oklahoma Sooners Football

3 Oklahoma Sooners true freshmen to watch against Alabama

3 Oklahoma freshmen that need to have stand out performances against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Oklahoma Sooners are still looking to secure bowl eligibility in 2024, needing one more victory to get that job done. It’ll be a tall task this week, as the Sooners will host the Alabama Crimson Tide in front of a primetime, national television audience in Week 13.

OU has had to rely on more freshmen than usual this season due to injuries and poor play at multiple positions, especially on offense. So many young players have been asked to step up, with varying results.

As the Sooners look to pull off a huge upset on their home field, they’ll be once against counting on first-year players to play a major role all night long. Here are three true freshmen to keep your eye on when Oklahoma hosts Alabama.

1. Taylor Tatum, RB

Running back [autotag]Taylor Tatum[/autotag] could have had one of the plays of the year against Missouri when he connected with quarterback Jackson Arnold on a halfback throwback pass that scored a touchdown to tie the game at 16 apiece. Instead, the OU defense gave up the lead and Arnold gave the game away with under a minute left.

Tatum didn’t jump off the page in his first start against the Tigers, but he’ll have to against the Tide if Barnes can’t play or is limited. Tatum is the future of the running back position in Norman. He’s got the talent to impact the game in a variety of ways. It’s time for him to take another step forward towards being the full-time feature back next season.

2. Xavier Robinson, RB

Two running backs on this list show how crucial the OU rushing attack will be in this game. [autotag]Xavier Robinson[/autotag] was the best back the Sooners had against the Tigers, and he won’t redshirt this season, meaning he’ll be a full go over the last two weeks. He’ll be needed in a big way if Barnes can’t go or is hampered by his injury.

The local product doesn’t have the same burst or explosiveness as Tatum, but he runs hard behind his pads and can get the tough yards between the tackles. The best drive of the game two weeks ago came when Robinson was fed the ball again and again in the fourth quarter. His efforts set up Tatum’s touchdown pass to Arnold.

More: Key matchups to watch for Oklahoma vs. Alabama

3. Eli Bowen, DB

One of OU’s best true freshmen this season, defensive back [autotag]Eli Bowen[/autotag] was in perfect coverage on the game-tying touchdown against Missouri’s Theo Wease, Jr. However,  the larger wideout came down with the ball in the corner of the endzone.

Bowen is by far Oklahoma’s best cover corner and will have to have a big game for the Sooners this week.

That’s because the Crimson Tide employs fellow true freshman Ryan Williams, who is already one of the best wide receivers in all of college football. Williams will be a handful for the SEC for years to come, including the Sooners again next year when they make the return trip to Tuscaloosa. Bowen may be matched up 1-on-1 against Williams a lot this week, so he’ll have to play a whale of a game.

The Sooners and the Crimson Tide will get going at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ABC.

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Oklahoma vs Alabama injury report: Initial updates, news for Week 13

All the latest updates and news on Oklahoma’s injury report ahead of a Week 13 game vs. Alabama.

Injuries have plagued the Oklahoma Sooners during the 2024 season. It’s been an unfortunate reality for Brent Venables and his staff, particularly on the offensive side of the football.

With a pivotal game coming this week in Norman against the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Sooners are hoping for any sort of positive news on the injury front. Oklahoma looks like they’ll get one of their key offensive linemen back this week, Michael Tarquin. That should help provide better protection for quarterback Jackson Arnold.

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s initial injury report.

Oklahoma injury report

Player Position Status 11/20
Jayden Gibson WR OUT
Gentry Williams DB OUT
Geirean Hatchett OL OUT
Nic Anderson WR OUT
Kendel Dolby DB OUT
Andrel Anthony WR OUT
Jacob Sexton OL OUT
Jake Taylor OL OUT
Deion Burks WR Doubtful
Jovantae Barnes RB Questionable
Joshua Bates OL Questionable

 Alabama injury report

Player Position Status 11/20
Keon Sabb DB OUT
Cole Adams WR OUT
Quandarrius Robinson LB OUT

Michael Tarquin injury update

After missing Oklahoma’s last two games against Maine and Missouri, it looks like starting tackle Michael Tarquin will be back in action this week after not landing on the initial injury report. Now, the question becomes, does he take over at right or left tackle?

Deion Burks injury update

Deion Burks was concussed late in the Sooners’ loss to Missouri. He had been out of action since the Tennessee game and looks like he’ll be unavailable this week against Alabama.

Jovantae Barnes injury update

Jovantae Barnes sprained his ankle during his 200-yard effort against Maine and was forced to miss the game against Missouri. Though listed as questionable for this week, he’s had two weeks to rest. Depending on how severe the initial injury was, he could be back in action this week.

Gavin Sawchuk injury update

Running back Gavin Sawchuk was off the injury report for Oklahoma’s game against Missouri but didn’t play. Instead it was Taylor Tatum, Xavier Robinson, and Sam Franklin getting the running back snaps. Could Sawchuk be available this week to help the Sooners rushing attack?

Joshua Bates injury update

Joshua Bates missed the game against Missouri with an undisclosed injury. Troy Everett has solidified the center position for the Sooners but you would like to have some depth available.

3 Key matchups for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide

What are the key matchups to watch as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide?

The Oklahoma Sooners will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday night in one of the more highly-anticipated matchups of the new-look SEC.

Even if the Sooners have struggled through the 2024 season, a battle of two of college football’s blue blood programs is the stuff reserved for the postseason or the occasional nonconference heavyweight tilt.

It’s been 22 years since the Crimson Tide stepped foot in Norman. When Alabama comes to town this week, they’ll seek to solidify their position as a College Football Playoff contender. The SEC title game isn’t out of the question, but they’ll need some help to get there. A win over Oklahoma and then next week in the Iron Bowl will pretty much solidify the Crimson Tide’s as at least an at-large bid.

Can the Oklahoma Sooners play spoiler this weekend and knock the Crimson Tide out of the playoff discussion? They’ll need to play a great game to do so and win these key matchups.

1. Oklahoma Run Game vs. Alabama Defense

The Alabama Crimson Tide come to Norman with a run defense allowing 132.2 yards per game, which is good for 53rd in the nation. Alabama held LSU to just 104 yards rushing on 24 attempts in a game that got away from the Tigers. The week before Bama allowed 169 yards rushing in their shutout win over Missouri.

In their losses to Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Alabama allowed 204 and 166 rushing yards.

It’s a unit that can be run, but much of it will depend on how much Alabama respects Oklahoma’s passing attack. They’re likely to crowd the box and force Oklahoma to beat them through the air. Still, even against crowded boxes, the Sooners need to lean into the running game.

The passing attack hasn’t been consistent all season, but the Sooners have found success on the ground over the last month.

The Sooners have to slow the game down and rely on the running game to keep the offense in favorable down and distances. Oklahoma doesn’t want to get into second- and third-and-long situations and be forced to pass.

Even if the game begins to get away from Oklahoma, they need to continue to lean into the running game with Xavier Robinson, Jovantae Barnes, Taylor Tatum, and Jackson Arnold.

Up Next: Can Oklahoma limit Explosive Plays?

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Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman Pro Football Focus highest-graded run defender

OU’s leading tackler is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded linebacker in the country against the run this season.

Oklahoma Sooners senior inside linebacker [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] will play in the final home game of his excellent college football career on Saturday, when OU hosts Alabama.

Stutsman’s four seasons in Norman have seen him come to the forefront of OU’s defensive transformation under third-year head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]. He’s become the vocal and emotional heartbeat of the Sooners over the last couple of years.

Stutsman has raised his level of play again in 2024, spearheading the best defense Oklahoma has had in a long time. He’s been particularly great at stopping the run. Pro Football Focus has recognized this as well, as they have Stutsman as their highest-graded linebacker in the nation when it comes to run defense.

Despite OU’s 5-5 campaign, the defense has rarely been the source of the problems, and even when they have, it’s normally been against the pass. The Sooners stop the run well, obviously led by No. 28.

Stutsman could have left the program when Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch bolted for USC after the 2021 regular season. He instead decided to stay and help turn things around under Venables.

After last season, he could have jumped to the NFL, and would have likely been picked fairly early. He instead decided to stick around and lead the program into the SEC.

Though the wins haven’t come this year, and the season hasn’t gone the way anyone has expected, Stutsman certainly isn’t to blame for that. He’ll likely end up as OU’s leading tackler for the third season in a row, and he’s now moved into the top 10 all-time at Oklahoma in career tackles with 363 and counting.

One of the greatest defensive players of the past decade at Oklahoma will get one more outing in front of his home fans on Owen Field when the Sooners face the Crimson Tide in Week 13.

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Where does the Oklahoma Sooners defense rank in stop rate this season?

The Oklahoma Sooners are among the nation’s best in defensive stop rate.

The Oklahoma Sooners boast the best defense they’ve had in a long time this year. It may not be the elite unit that head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and defensive coordinator [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag] are shooting for, but it’s still the best in years. Unfortunately, OU’s offense has fallen off a cliff, and the Sooners are just 5-5 in 2024 with two regular season games left.

One metric that shows how well the Oklahoma defense has played this year is stop rate. ESPN and staff writer Max Olson compiled all 134 FBS defenses in 2024, ranking them by their defensive stop rate.

What is stop rate? It’s a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. – Olson, ESPN

Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, Oklahoma ranks 18th in the country in stop rate, stopping the opposition 70.8 percent of the time. It’s one spot below Tulane and one spot about Northern Illinois. Remarkably, that’s only the sixth-best mark in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].

Even more remarkable is that the Sooners have faced five of the top 17 defenses by this metric in the country: Texas (fourth), Tennessee (fifth), Ole Miss (seventh), South Carolina (15th), and Tulane (17th). OU’s next opponent, Alabama, actually has a higher stop rate than the Sooners as well, as they sit at ninth.

Oklahoma allows just 1.50 points per drive, which is impressive considering the fact that the Sooners have defended the most drives in the country this season, according to Venables, and they’ve been forced to play with a lot of short fields due to turnovers on offense.

The job Venables and Alley have done with the defense this season has been excellent, especially considering the woeful place it was in when the head coach found it three years ago. No one can argue that he’s improved that side of the ball mightily.

However, it’s what he does on the other side of the ball that will determine whether or not the Sooners get back to the place they want to be alongside the elites of college football.

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Oklahoma-Alabama gets ESPN’s lead broadcast crew on Saturday

Fowler, Herbstreit and Rowe will make their second trip to Norman in 2024.

The Oklahoma Sooners will play just their seventh game all-time against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday. Two of the undeniable blue bloods in college football will square off in Norman in front of a primetime, national TV audience in Week 13. ABC will broadcast the game as part of an “SEC on ABC” tripleheader, that concludes with the Sooners hosting the Crimson Tide at 6:30 p.m. central time.

Though ESPN’s “College GameDay” won’t be making a return trip to Norman, the network’s lead announcing crew will. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe will call their third OU game this season and second game on Owen Field.

The trio was in Norman when the Sooners hosted Tennessee in Week 4, OU’s first conference game in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. The Volunteers won 25-15, as Oklahoma struggled offensively in front of the entire country.

They were also in Dallas at the Red River Rivalry in Week 7, as the Sooners fell against the top-ranked Texas Longhorns by a score of 34-3. In the first edition of the rivalry in the Southeastern Conference, Oklahoma again fell flat in front of the nation against their biggest rivals.

Here’s hoping that the third time’s the charm for the Sooners in front of the top broadcast crew for ESPN.

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Oklahoma Sooners promising freshman running back won’t redshirt this season

Oklahoma will put running back Xavier Robinson to work over the final two games of the season.

The Oklahoma Sooners will have the services of one of their youngest players over the final two weeks of the season. True freshman [autotag]Xavier Robinson[/autotag] broke onto the scene against Maine and Missouri, and as OU chases a bowl berth, the team has decided to burn his redshirt in 2024 and play him in the final two games.

Robinson spoke about his redshirt on Monday with reporters, saying that head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and running backs coach [autotag]DeMarco Murray[/autotag] approached him about the decision to shut it down or keep playing.”

I respect BV coming up to me asking, and DeMarco, you know, asking me about this decision,” Robinson said. “But I made the decision to keep playing, help this team out. I love this team a lot; and make sure the seniors leave on at least six…”

Robinson was the feature back on Oklahoma’s best offensive drive of the game against Missouri, as offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley finally fed the young running back, and he responded by taking them down the field. That drive ended on the halfback pass from Taylor Tatum to Jackson Arnold that tied the game. It was the only touchdown OU’s offense scored all night.

Robinson elaborated on the process of his choice to use up the redshirt and continue to help this year’s team.

“It was a great feeling, them coming to me about it instead of me going to them,” Robinson said. “I feel like they’ve got a good understanding, just respect me about it … it took me a couple days to think about it, think about this decision.”

Robinson’s redshirt was only in question because Murray played him for two meaningless snaps in multiple-score losses against Texas and Ole Miss earlier this year. Counting the Maine and Missouri games, that’s four games, meaning if he played at all the rest of the regular season, his redshirt would be gone.

It’s a similar issue that faced Arnold last season. He had to come in against BYU when Dillon Gabriel was injured, burning his redshirt because the coaches opted to use Arnold on a handful of snaps running the ball against SMU and Iowa State.

Robinson will now be available for the Alabama and LSU games as OU tries to secure bowl eligibility in 2024.

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Oklahoma Sooners announce date for 2025 Spring Game

The Oklahoma Football program announced the date for the 2025 spring game.

The 2024 season hasn’t gone as anyone would have hoped in the Oklahoma Sooners debut season in the SEC. There have been changes at quarterback and offensive coordinator throughout the year and a number of injuries on the offensive side of the ball have stunted its development. With all of the issues on offense, there will more than likely be a new offensive coordinator at the helm this spring.

This offseason is a pivotal one for the Sooners, who have had their struggles in 2024. But each offseason provides hope for what could be. On Tuesday, the University of Oklahoma announced the date for the 2025 spring game.

Oklahoma will play its annual spring game on April 12, 2025.

The Sooners have had some big events over the last few years at their spring game.

There was the first look at Brent Venables as the Sooners head coach. The unveiling of statues honoring Heisman winners [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag] and [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag].

This past spring gave us our first look at [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] as the Oklahoma Sooners starting quarterback.

In 2025, we’ll likely get our first glimpse at what the Sooners offense will look like under the direction of their fourth offensive coordinator in three years. It will also be the first spring game under Venables without Danny Stutsman leading the defense on the field.

Regardless of how 2024 has gone, 2025 provides a fresh opportunity to get back on track. And the 2025 spring game will give us our first glimpse of what next year’s team looks like.

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Oklahoma Sooners captains against Alabama Crimson Tide

The Sooners will be represented by some of their veterans on Senior Day in Norman.

The Oklahoma Sooners will be back at home this week for their final home game of the 2024 season against the Alabama Crimson Tide. It’ll be Senior Day in Norman, as plenty of veteran stalwarts will be playing their final game on Owen Field.

OU head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] announced his game captains for this [autotag]SEC[/autotag] tilt. Quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], offensive lineman [autotag]Troy Everett[/autotag], defensive lineman [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag], linebacker [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] and defensive backs [autotag]Billy Bowman Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] will represent the Sooners for this key contest.

Arnold will be a captain for the second straight game after a dismal performance against Missouri. His fumble at the end allowed the Tigers to win a comeback on their home field. Arnold’s standing as a captain would seem to indicate that he’s still Venables’ starter at quarterback.

Everett has become OU’s starting center, taking control of the job after getting healthy in the middle of the season. He’s one of the few veterans still healthy on the offensive line, surrounded by portal acquisitions and youth up front.

Downs is a steady presence at defensive end for the Sooners. He isn’t the flashiest player, but he’s always in the right place. He’s grown into a solid leader and clutch player for Venables over the last three seasons.

Stutsman is the heart and soul of this team. He’s the vocal leader and the enforcer at inside linebacker in the middle of the defense. He’ll play one more game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, and his career in the crimson and cream has been excellent.

Bowman Jr. is another player who decided to return to school this past offseason, turning down a chance at the pros. If Oklahoma is makes a bowl game, it’ll likely be Bowman making a pivotal play to get them there. His scoop and score against Mizzou should have given the Sooners their sixth win two weeks ago.

Washington is the longest-tenured player on the team, having been a Sooner since 2019. He’s seen it all over his six years in Norman and is a respected veteran voice in a young locker room.

The senior group of Downs, Stutsman, Bowman and Washington are the only four defensive players that remain from the Lincoln Riley-Alex Grinch era at Oklahoma. They have been here for the transformation of OU’s defense over the last three seasons and have a huge hand in what that side of the ball looks like today.

As the season winds to a close for the Sooners, the coaching staff will clearly be looking to Arnold and the veterans to pave the way for Oklahoma to try to upset Alabama.

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Oklahoma 5-star offensive tackle commit set to visit Texas

Oklahoma Sooners five-star offensive tackle to visit Texas and Texas A&M in coming weeks according to reports.

“The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” was the phrase you could hear during ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” which was a feature on Saturday afternoons in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

It also fully encapsulates the roller coaster ride that is recruiting.

Oklahoma earned a huge recruiting win back in August when five-star offensive tackle [autotag]Michael Fasusi[/autotag] pledged to the Sooners over the Texas Longhorns. However, with the early signing period just a few weeks away, that commitment appears to be wavering.

With the Oklahoma Sooners set to host the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday, Fasusi will instead be taking a visit to Austin to watch the Longhorns take on the Kentucky Wildcats.

According to a report from Collin Kennedy of Sooners Illustrated, that’s not the only visit he’s going to take.

After visiting with Texas this weekend, Fasusi will head to College Station for the regular season finale when the Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies reignite their in-state rivalry game.

This comes after Fasusi shared with OUInsider “It’s Sooner for life” just last week.

That would be a huge hit to the Sooners 2025 recruiting class. Fasusi is the cornerstone piece for Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners. As the Sooners have struggled along the offensive line, Fasusi, along with fellow offensive tackle commit Ryan Fodje provided hope for the future.

Now that hope appears to be fizzling with Fasusi flirting with Texas and Texas A&M. Visits are not commitments or flips, but it certainly looks ominous for the Oklahoma Sooners that he’s taking visits this late in the recruiting cycle.

Still, the Sooners and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh has built a strong relationship with the five-star offensive tackle and his family. The Sooners still have time to reinforce that relationship.

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