Peyton Bowen – Page 10 – Syndication Server

Oklahoma Sooners win a defensive slugfest, beating SMU 28-11

Oklahoma’s defense took center stage as they hold a talented SMU team to just 11 points en route to a 28-11 victor on Saturday evening.

Saturday evening in Norman brought a fascinating twist. Instead of the high-octane, offensive shootout we all expected, we were treated to a defensive struggle most of the game as the Oklahoma Sooners beat the SMU Mustangs 28-11.

Oklahoma seemingly refused to put their foot on the gas as an offense, opting for a run-heavy attack.

Oklahoma came out with a game plan to dominate the line of scrimmage and control the ball. The plan seemed competent at times, but the scoreboard didn’t reflect an offense firing on all cylinders.

Oklahoma took advantage of a blocked punt by five-star freshman safety [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag]. The Sooners opened the scoring on a busted coverage by SMU, opening the door for a 29-yard pass from [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] to [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] for his first touchdown as a Sooner.

The Sooners defense stood firm in the first half, only allowing 3 points.

The Sooners allowed the Mustangs to get to the 50-yard line numerous times but on a number of occasions, the Sooners forced punts shortly after. Oklahoma entered the half up 14-3.

After the half, SMU and OU traded punts before the Mustangs got the ball back.

Jaylan Knight gashed the Sooners’ defense for what looked like a momentum-stealing play before [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag] stripped the ball to force a turnover. [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] kept the ball from skirting out of bounds and [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] got the recovery.

The Sooners drove 43 yards in eleven plays only to be stood up on 4th down when SMU stopped freshman quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] short of the line to gain on fourth down.

SMU rode that momentum down the field and scored their only touchdown of the evening on a [autotag]Preston Stone[/autotag] pass to Jake Bailey. The Mustangs also scored on the two-point conversion to make it 14-11.

Oklahoma had to answer and did.

Dillon Gabriel orchestrated an 11-play, 75-yard drive down the field, culminating in a 21-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Jalil Farooq. That gave the Sooners a 21-11 lead with 9:11 remaining in the game.

On the ensuing drive, SMU was aggressive, going for it on fourth down deep in their own territory. A pass breakup from true freshman safety Peyton Bowen gave the Sooners the ball on downs.

Three plays later, [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag] caught a pass from Gabriel and matriculated down the sideline on the way to paydirt, giving Oklahoma a 28-11 with 6:40 remaining on the clock.

Oklahoma’s defense capped off a solid effort with a Justin Harrington interception late in the fourth to seal the game with one last stop.

It was far from an aesthetically pleasing win like the Sooners had against Arkansas State. But the defense stepped up to the plate and played well for four quarters against a talented SMU offense. And in the second half, the offense made enough plays to pull away.

Oklahoma’s defense held the SMU Mustangs to 355 yards and gave up just 11 points. Offensively, the Sooners tallied 365 yards and had no turnovers.

Dillon Gabriel wasn’t asked to do a whole lot on the evening but completed 70% of his passes for 176 yards and four touchdowns.

[autotag]Tawee Walker[/autotag] led the way on the ground for OU with 21 carries for 117 yards. Walker also had three receptions for 25 yards, proving to be Oklahoma’s lead back through two weeks. Andrel Anthony was the leading receiver with seven catches for 76 yards and a touchdown catch.

Danny Stutsman had a huge game for the defense, totaling 17 tackles, (five solo), a sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, and a quarterback hit. [autotag]Kip Lewis[/autotag] was second on the team in tackles with nine total tackles.

Oklahoma (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) will now turn its sights to in-state foe Tulsa. They’ll travel to Tulsa to play the Golden Hurricane as the road team in a sold-out venue next Saturday. SMU (1-1, 0-0 AAC) will host Prairie View A&M in Dallas next week.

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‘It felt surreal’: Peyton Bowen makes impact in front of Sooners faithful, expects challenge vs. SMU

The first game for the Sooners saw a lot of players get their first action including five-star Peyton Bowen.

The [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] are just a few days off from their blowout win versus the [autotag]Arkansas State Red Wolves[/autotag]. During that game, 87 players earned snaps.

One of those players was highly-touted freshman [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag]. Bowen looked solid. He finished second on the team with three tackles. He showed quick instincts and power once he arrived at the ball.

Bowen told reporters it was great to get game one under his belt.

“It felt surreal,” Bowen said. “The whole Walk of Champions, running out of the tunnel, all of it felt crazy. All in all it kind of felt smooth. I didn’t feel like any of that nervousness. It just felt like it was just football, the game I love.”

You could tell he looked comfortable when he was in the game. He played early, rotating with the starters, which shows the staff expects him to make an immediate impact this season.

While the Arkansas State win was nice, Bowen said the [autotag]SMU Mustangs[/autotag] bring their own challenge.

“Really explosive,” Bowen said. “They have fast receivers. They recruited great in the transfer portal, so they’ve got guys like Miami (Hurricanes) transfer running back (Jaylon) Knighton. Their receivers are fast and twitchy. They can make plays. They’re going to take shots. They’re going to give us 50/50 balls, but in my eyes, we’ve got to make those plays.”

This upcoming game will be a challenge for Oklahoma. It’s also the first big test for the defense in 2023. SMU brings in one of the best offenses the Oklahoma Sooners will see all year.

With everything Peyton Bowen’s done since arriving in Norman, he looks more than up for the challenge.

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Report Card: Sooners breeze through Arkansas State with big-time performances

The Oklahoma Sooners were fantastic in their win over Arkansas State, but how did they grade in this week’s Report Card?

Saturday allowed us to see team 129 in Oklahoma’s illustrious football history for the first time this season. This team entered the day with cautious optimism, but a cloud of last season’s disappointment still hungover over the program. Year two of Brent Venables’s tenure needed to start off with a bang, and his team did just that as they dismantled the Arkansas State Red Wolves 73-0.

The Sooners are on another level regarding raw talent than the Arkansas State Red Wolves. That is abundantly clear, but Oklahoma had to show it could dominate an inferior opponent. They also needed to showcase the improvements in recruiting and among their returning players.

Saturday was a fun, stress-free showcase of domination. Now that the first game is behind us, it’s time to dive deeper and hand out our first grades of the year in this week’s report card.

Oklahoma set to host a number of prospects for season opener vs. Arkansas State

The Oklahoma Sooners are hosting a number of prospects over the next few recruiting cycles for their season opener. Who’s will be in attendance?

Oklahoma’s first game of the season comes against Arkansas State in what could be a blistering day in Norman, Oklahoma. Aside from the pageantry of the first game and the excitement it’ll generate, the Sooners will also be playing host to a number future Sooners and other OU targets.

With the summer dead period officially over, athletes can revisit schools. Oklahoma has already established a nice little list of visitors of both the official and unofficial variety.

We’ve taken the liberty of compiling a list of all the visitors we know now.

Analysis of the Oklahoma Sooners official depth chart for the 2023 season

A look at the depth chart for the 2023 Oklahoma Sooners ahead of their week one matchup with Arkansas State.

Week 1 of the 2023 college football season is upon us. With that comes the 2023 depth chart for the Oklahoma Sooners.

If there’s one thing about this depth chart, it’s there’s an emphasis on the word depth.

We heard from the coaching staff during OU media day that they had more “competitive depth” on the roster. Now that we have our first depth chart of the season, it’s clear the team has more depth. Now, how that translates to wins and losses will reveal itself throughout the season.

As Oklahoma gets set to take on Arkansas State in just a few days, here’s a look at the Sooners depth chart.

Peyton Bowen selected as preseason true freshman All-American by On3

After a high-profile recruitment, expectations are high for Peyton Bowen who was named a true freshman All-American by On3.

When the Oklahoma Sooners earned the signature of 2023 five-star safety Peyton Bowen, it was a huge feat. Bowen was committed to Notre Dame for nearly a year when he flipped to Oregon in the early signing period. Then a day later, Bowen signed with the Sooners.

It was a signature that is set to pay huge dividends for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023.

Bowen was named to On3’s true freshman preseason All-America team for the 2023 season.

Electric playmaker at safety, and was a huge get for Brent Venables in his first full class in Norman. Peyton Bowen, just everytime I watched him throughout his high school career, he made just really, really high level plays. He’s an exceptional athlete, with outstanding speed, but pairs that speed with instincts and ball skills. … Also doubled as one of the best return men in the class as well. – Charles Power, On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings

There’s a lot of excitement about a deep safety group the Sooners will deploy in 2023. A big reason for that excitement is the potential that Peyton Bowen has already displayed in his short time in Norman.

Brent Venables spoke highly of him in the spring and he flashed in the spring game, intercepting Dillon Gabriel on a deep ball.

The playmaking freshman is going to see the field a lot this season and at multiple positions. He has a good chance to be a part of the safety rotation and could earn a starting role at some point in 2023. Even if he doesn’t start, he’ll see a significant number of snaps this season.

Where he’ll also make an impact is on special teams. His speed and athleticism give Bowen the opportunity to be a game-changing player for the Sooners

Oklahoma has a star in the making with Peyton Bowen. As the season gets ready to kickoff, there will be few debuts as anticipated as Oklahoma’s five-star safety.

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‘Not as good as I know it can be’: Billy Bowman looks to take his game to ‘another level’

Billy Bowman is one of the few players on this defense that has flashed All-American type of potential. It’s now time for him to put it all together.

It’s been an up-and-down career so far for former four-star safety [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag]. During his freshman year, he was thrown to the wolves being asked to play multiple positions. There were flashes, but he suffered from being a man without a home.

Bowman’s sophomore year was much better. He finished with 60 tackles and three interceptions and really looked solid in the secondary playing safety full-time. But it wasn’t a perfect season for Bowman.

He told reporters after looking back at the film, there are a few things he wants to get better at.

“When I go back and look at it, it’s not as good as I know it can be or I want it to be or my coaches want it to be,” Bowman said. “So, everything from stance to getting in my pedal faster to tackling to tracking angles to football intelligence, knowing where I’ve got to be to knowing what the other person is doing. Everything for me needs to and will go up to another level.”

That’s the level that has a lot of Sooner fans excited. They know if he takes his game to another level, Bowman could be an All-American type of player.

It’s not just Bowman at the safety position that has fans excited. Bowman acknowledged he feels they have one of the deeper positions on the team.

“I would say so,” Bowman said. “A lot of guys like Daeh (McCullough) coming in, Peyton (Bowen) coming in, Reggie (Pearson) coming in, Key Lawrence still being here, myself, Robert Spears-Jennings, so we’ve got a lot of depth in the safety room.”

There is no doubt the ceiling for that safety room is very high. And so are the expectations. The hope is now they can reach that ceiling and become a dominant group. That’s something the [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] haven’t seen in more than a decade.

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Sooners ranked 16th in ESPN’s team recruiting rankings with plenty of time to rise

Oklahoma’s 19 commits have them No. 16 on ESPN’s team recruiting rankings. Craig Haubert takes a look at Oklahoma’s class.

The Oklahoma Sooners went from zero commits in the class of 2024 to 19 pledges in a little over four months. Their first one of the cycle came when four-star cornerback Jeremiah Newcombe out of Arizona announced his commitment out of nowhere on March 25. Since then, the Sooners have been rolling along, progressively claiming the recruiting rankings where they sit 16th with a massive commitment decision looming on August 26 for five-star defensive tackle David Stone. His commitment could help vault Oklahoma ever so close to the top 10.

ESPN has the Sooners ranked 16th overall (ESPN+) with seven commitments in the ESPN300. The Sooners are also the top team in the Big 12 in their latest update.

That seems right in line with other services like 247Sports, who also have Brent Venables’ team slotted at No. 16 in their team rankings. Craig Haubert of ESPN had this to say about Oklahoma. The Sooners’ win over USC for [autotag]Taylor Tatum[/autotag] is the highlight of the class thus far.

One of the top RBs in the class, Taylor Tatum has put up impressive testing numbers on the camp circuit, and that translates to his play as he brings a dangerous blend of speed and power. – Haubert, ESPN

Oklahoma’s recruiting haul has been heavy on the offensive side of the ball. 13 of their 19 commits will be featured in [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag]’s offense. The top three prospects in Oklahoma’s class, according to ESPN. Tatum comes in as the No. 38 prospect in the nation. But the Sooners also have other ESPN300 players like wide receivers [autotag]Zion Kearney[/autotag], [autotag]Zion Ragins[/autotag], and [autotag]Ivan Carreon[/autotag], four-star tight end [autotag]Davon Mitchell[/autotag], and four-star quarterback [autotag]Michael Hawkins[/autotag].

Defense is less represented right now, with [autotag]Jaydan Hardy[/autotag] the lone commit in the ESPN300 at No. 146. That could change if Oklahoma wins recruiting battles for blue chip defensive linemen [autotag]David Stone[/autotag] (8/26) and [autotag]Nigel Smith[/autotag] II (9/8) in the coming weeks. The Sooners enter the home stretch of both recruitments as leaders, but recruiting isn’t about how you start but how you finish.

Oklahoma knows that well. Last summer provided much of the same recruiting push we’ve seen this summer. They closed their recruiting class for 2023 by flipping five-star safety [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] from Oregon on signing day. Could they do the same to five-star EDGE player [autotag]Williams Nwaneri[/autotag]? Recent comments from the Lee’s Summit North prospect suggest the Sooners are still in pursuit despite his commitment Monday to the Missouri Tigers.

There are so many unknowns with this 2024 recruiting class despite Oklahoma’s hot summer. One thing Brent Venables and Co. can hang a hat on is that this staff has shown a penchant for finishing strong on the recruiting trail. The Sooners will look to do the same this fall as well.

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Reggie Pearson to bring the boom to the Oklahoma safety room

Reggie Pearson should play a huge role for Oklahoma this year and help set the tone for Oklahoma defenses to come.

It was less than a year ago when then [autotag]Texas Tech Red Raider[/autotag] [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag] knocked out [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] for a play after a big hit. Now, he’s on the [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] sideline, where they hope those big hits keep coming.

The secondary is something that needed a major makeover. That’s exactly what it got adding Pearson and true freshman [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag]. While Pearson is an older player, he told reporters he had to get comfortable at his new stop.

“When you come in as a transfer, you feel that kind of sense of being a guy and coming in like, ‘they see me as this guy, I’m this that or whatever,” Pearson said. “What (Brent Venables) kind of holds you to even higher standards where you feel like you’ve come in as a freshman. I feel like that’s the best thing that I’ve had to counter with when I got here because I’m always hungry, humble but just playing for so long you get that kind of sense of comfort within.”

That comfort is what has helped Pearson become the player he is today. He’s also someone coaches have raved about. Practice and scrimmage reports have supported the hard hitter and tone-setter he is for this team.

It’s why they brought him to this team, and hope he can add to a now-loaded safety room. Then help lay the standard for Oklahoma defenses to come.

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‘They’re still recruiting me’: Oklahoma isn’t finished pursuing 5-Star DE Williams Nwaneri

Speaking to media members after his Lee’s Summit North squad scrimmaged with Union, Williams Nwaneri shared that Oklahoma is still in pursuit.

In a high-profile defensive recruitment that’s become more and more commonplace for Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners, OU lost out to (former) Big 8 foe Missouri in the battle for five-star defensive end [autotag]Williams Nwaneri[/autotag].

But as Lee Corso might say, “Not so fast, my friend,” Nwaneri’s recruitment could be ramping up all over again.

Let’s be reasonable before we get into what Nwaneri said after his Lee’s Summit North team took part in a scrimmage with Union in Tulsa Thursday night. It’s difficult to flip a commitment.

Oklahoma did so with [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] in the 2023 recruiting class when he opted for the Sooners after committing to Notre Dame and then Oregon before ultimately signing with the Sooners.

That’s the exception, not the rule.

But Nwaneri’s comments Thursday evening seemed to open the door a smidge for the Sooners to pull off another late-cycle recruiting flip.

Speaking to media members after the game, Nwaneri said, “Oh yeah. They’re still recruiting me and all that. But I’m gonna let everything play out. I’ll let the whole season play out. I don’t know. I’m committed to Mizzou, though. Just having fun with it. Showing love. All that.”

Nwaneri still has an affinity for the Sooners, in particular co-defensive coordinator and defensive tackles coach Todd Bates and defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis.

“I probably had one of my best relationships with them,” Nwaneri said of his relationships with Oklahoma’s staff. “It was always love with the coaching staff. And I like the scheme there and all that.”

Earlier in the interview, Nwaneri shared that his comfort level with Missouri and his coaching staff played a big part in his decision to commit to the Tigers.

“Really, I felt like I was just most comfortable with that coaching staff and it’s close to home and all that,” Nwaneri said. “So I felt like it was just the right decision for me at the time.”

Williams Nwaneri is committed to Missouri. And that may not change. Though there’s always the possibility, it’s not something you’d want to bet on.

It’s easy to read into the words of a high school kid. Perhaps the door is open for Oklahoma. Perhaps it’s not. This simply could be a kid having fun ahead of his final year of high school ball. However, in all of this, the key is that Oklahoma hasn’t let off the gas in their pursuit of On3’s No. 1 player in the 2023 recruiting cycle.