Tag: Peyton Bowen

Oklahoma earns commitment from rising 2023 edge rusher Taylor Wein

Oklahoma’s been gaining a lot of positive momentum since their 28-13 win in Bedlam, picking up their second commitment in as many days, this time from 2023 DE Taylor Wein. From @john9williams

The Oklahoma Sooners have had a phenomenal few days. They beat their in-state rival on the backs of a fast start from the offense and the defense’s best game of the season. In the aftermath, Oklahoma earned Rivals projections in favor of landing 2023 five-star safety Peyton Bowen and landed a commitment from three-star defensive lineman Ashton Sanders.

Now the Sooners have added another piece to a 2023 recruiting class that has the potential to be a top-three group in the nation when it’s all said and done. Monday afternoon, Oklahoma got a commitment from fast-rising 2023 three-star defensive end [autotag]Taylor Wein[/autotag].

Wein’s commitment began to blossom of late, picking up offers from the Oklahoma Sooners, Virginia Tech, USC, Ole Miss, Missouri, Cincinnati, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State since the first of November.

As an official visitor for Bedlam, Wein got a glimpse of what a Brent Venables defense can look like as the Sooners got to Cowboys’ quarterback Spencer Sanders six times on the way to a 28-13 win.

With a host of the 2023 class in attendance, Wein got to know many of his future teammates over the weekend. Though rated as a three-star player, Wein has the natural athleticism and pass-rush repertoire to exceed his current recruiting status.

Wein is ranked as the No. 63 edge rusher in the 2023 class, but that doesn’t tell the tale of the type of player he is. Here’s what I had to say about Wein after Oklahoma received their first crystal ball prediction for the 2023 defensive end.

The first thing that jumps off the page about Wein is his first step. He’s quick off the snap, often allowing him to beat his blocker before they even come out of their stance. He displays good hand usage at the point of attack to defeat blockers. Wein shows off a strong set of pass rush moves, deploying a diverse set to keep blockers off balance. He can win inside and outside when rushing the passer. As a run defender, it’s clear his length causes problems for offensive linemen. Despite his height, he shows a strong ability to play with leverage and does a great job at setting the edge and playing with discipline in the run game. Taylor Wein’s a playmaker too. He’s adept at ripping the ball out of the ball carrier’s hands. -Williams, Sooners Wire

The Sooners got a player in Taylor Wein. He’s a long-athletic player with a strong set of tools he’ll be bringing to Norman, but also has a ton of upside because he can develop from both a technical and physical aspect.

Oklahoma now has 22 players committed to their recruiting class and still hold steady at seven in the 247Sports team rankings.

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From the Student Section: Sooners back in the saddle after Bedlam win

How big was Oklahoma’s win over Oklahoma State? @bendackiw provides his perspective “From the Student Section.”

After missing the previous two Oklahoma Sooners home games due to vacation/Oklahoma Hockey-related things, “From the Student Section” is back for OU’s home finale.

The Sooners’ 28-13 victory over Oklahoma State was one of the most satisfying victories I have had the pleasure of watching. Knocking the No. 22 Cowboys out of the rankings entirely after the pass-interference-related shenanigans in Stillwater last year was cathartic.

This was the first Bedlam I had ever attended. Well, at least in football, it was, and it was one to remember. I was slightly concerned about the turnout, both in the student section and otherwise, but I was pleasantly surprised. Oklahoma Memorial was a sea of crimson, and the student section was the best it’s been all year.

But hey, don’t take my word for it. What did Brent Venables think?

I will get to the performances of the offense and defense in a bit. For now, let’s take a look at what this game means for the OU football program as a whole.

Michael Turk had quite a night; in more ways than one. The superstar punter had over 500 punt yards on the night and downed three punts inside the 20-yard-line. However, the best part of his night was most likely proposing to Oklahoma Softball’s Grace Lyons. She said yes.

That’s two wins on the night for the crimson and cream.

Firstly, the Sooners are finally bowl-eligible, and not a moment too soon. Thank the lord. Had they lost to Oklahoma State, the Sooners would have needed to win in Lubbock in primetime to make it to a bowl. That’s not an ideal situation.

I went into this game expecting a classic Big 12 matchup. I thought that by the evening’s end, the scoreboard would read 47-42 or something to that effect.

I was incredibly, deeply, and extremely wrong.

Perhaps I underestimated OU’s defense or overestimated Spencer Sanders coming off an injury to his throwing shoulder. Either way, the OU defense played lights out for 60 minutes, something they hadn’t done in Big 12 play. Credit is due. They were phenomenal.

That is what a Brent Venables defense is supposed to look like. They were physical, they swarmed to the football, and they were just plain mean. Sanders’ jersey had more green than orange on it by the end of the game.

Mobile quarterbacks have been a bane to this defense all year, and while Sanders did get loose a few times, he wasn’t nearly as much of a pain to OU as Garrett Greene was just one week ago in Morgantown. That being said, Sanders looked off.

I have nothing to back this up, but Spencer Sanders looked like he was playing hurt. He wasn’t as explosive as he typically is in the running game, his throws were off, and he made some very bad decisions with the football. The Sooners jumping out to a 28-0 lead didn’t help, but there’s no way the Pokes planned on Sanders throwing the ball 67 times.

Considering that the defense got no help from the offense for about 45 minutes, their performance is all the more impressive.

I’ve long complained about Jeff Lebby’s clock management, but it has never been worse than it was against Oklahoma State.

The Sooners had every opportunity to go into clock control mode and ice this game, but for whatever reason, Jeff Lebby kept running tempo, and Dillon Gabriel kept snapping the ball with 20 seconds or more on the play clock. When it’s working, by all means, continue to run up the score. That first quarter was excellent. But every OU drive in the second half lasted less than two minutes of game time. They punted eight times in the second half.

Jeff Lebby gave Oklahoma State every possible opportunity to win this game, and the defense bailed him out. It’s that simple. Oklahoma State ran 102 offensive plays. They were held to 13 points. That’s not a reasonable thing to ask your defense to do week in and week out.

I don’t know if it’s a refusal to adapt or a lack of situational awareness, but Jeff Lebby has some changes to make with this offense in year two. When it’s working, this offense could go toe-to-toe with anyone else in the country. When it’s not working, the defense better be ready for a long day.

I don’t mean to shred Jeff Lebby. He’s a brilliant offensive mind, but this offense can be so much better than it has been.

This win against Oklahoma State means much more for the future of OU Football than it does in the Big 12 standings. After the game, OU received not one but two projections to flip Notre Dame commit Peyton Bowen. Five-star Texas A&M commit David Hicks and 2024 five-star David Stone were also in attendance. The Sooners could land all three.

In lighter news, Mike Gundy now has the dubious honor of losing to three different OU head coaches: Bob Stoops, Lincoln Riley, and now Brent Venables.

A lot has been made over whether or not Venables was the right hire for the OU program. These questions were asked far too soon. The team is fine. Recruiting is more than fine. The Sooners will be a lot more than fine in the seasons to come.

This could be the last From the Student Section for OU Football for a while, so I’ll end this with one final message: Keep the faith, Sooners fans. Great things are coming.

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Is Notre Dame losing ground with their top 2023 commitment?

Do you currently consider him part of Notre Dame’s class given the circumstances?

Coffee is for closers and we’re finding out just how much of one Marcus Freeman will be in his first year as Notre Dame’s head coach.  The window for early signing period will open in December as a few unknown ultimate decisions are set to be announced that day.

One such was defensive end, [autotag]Keon Keeley[/autotag], who earlier in the year withdrew his commitment to pursue other options. Will five-star safety [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] be the next high-end Notre Dame commitment to do the same?

Our colleagues at Sooners Wire recapped the much-needed weekend in Norman as Oklahoma dominated Oklahoma State.  One potential player in attendance on another unofficial visit was Bowen.  Here is what the Sooners Wire staff had to say of Bowen’s latest visit.

Bowen has been firmly in the Sooners’ sights as far back as the Lincoln Riley regime. Oklahoma has been diligent in continuing to recruit Bowen despite his commitment to the Fighting Irish and won’t stop until Bowen signs on the line for a school.

That school may be Oklahoma when all is said and done. Following his trip to Norman for Bedlam, two new projections in Oklahoma’s favor have surfaced from two different Rivals recruiting insiders.

–Bryant Crews of Sooners Wire

So a couple of recruiting reporters have Bowen getting ready to switch to Oklahoma.

I have no problem with Bowen taking a visit while being a Notre Dame commitment.  My problem comes in asking if he’s an actual commitment at this point or not.  For instance, if Marcus Freeman calls Bowen tomorrow and asks him if he’s part of the 2023 recruiting class to Notre Dame, how would Bowen answer?

Will he ultimately choose Notre Dame?  This feels like one of those “where there’s smoke there’s fire” situations but who really knows besides Bowen, and chances are he doesn’t know for sure, either.

With all of this wonder about where Bowen ultimately ends up, how then is he still considered committed to Notre Dame?  It’s not one of those things that doesn’t really matter a whole lot so I won’t kill the feeling of a good weekend, but does that make any sense whatsoever?

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Sooners land two major projections in favor of flipping 5-star Notre Dame commit Peyton Bowen

After a tremendous weekend in Norman, the Oklahoma Sooners earned a pair of Rivals Futurecasts for 2023 five-star DB and Notre Dame commit Peyton Bowen. From @thatmanbryant

The Sooners needed to knock this weekend out of the park on and off the field, and it looks like they might have done both.

The Sooners entertained a heavy amount of four and five-star talents during their Bedlam win over Oklahoma State. There was no shortage of star power in Norman, and one of those rising stars was five-star safety Peyton Bowen.

Bowen, committed to Notre Dame, has been to Norman on several occasions. This was just another unofficial in a long list of them at this point.

Bowen has been firmly in the Sooners’ sights as far back as the Lincoln Riley. regime. Oklahoma has been diligent in continuing to recruit Bowen despite his commitment to the Fighting Irish and won’t stop until Bowen signs on the line for a school.

That school may be Oklahoma when all is said and done. Following his trip to Norman for Bedlam, two new projections in Oklahoma’s favor have surfaced from two different Rivals recruiting insiders.

Nick Harris of Rivals added a bit of insight in his decision to putting Bowens on flip watch, citing Oklahoma really ramping up their efforts in recent weeks (subscription required). Notre Dame will be in it to the end, make no mistake, but Oklahoma has made legitimate headway in Bowen’s recruitment with early signing day on the horizon.

Oklahoma’s final push to close out this class could end in a top-five finish if they are able to flip Bowen. Bowen would also mark the first major recruiting win for safeties coach Brandon Hall who came over from Troy to join Brent Venables’ staff.

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Friday Night Notes: 4-star commits for UCLA and Michigan State, 3 huge visits for Oklahoma, and more

Latest look inside the college recruiting notebook.

USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.

This past week’s biggest recruitment in the country came when four-star wide receiver Jeremiah McClure announced his commitment to UCLA. McClure (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) is ranked No. 34 at his position and No. 18 in the state of California.

Blair Angulo, 247 Sports

Last season as a Junior, McClure posted 38 catches, 958 yards and eight touchdowns on offense. He also put in some exceptional work with the special teams unit, totaling 414 yards on just 13 punt returns and 118 more on three kickoffs.

Asked about his decision, McClure told 247 Sports that he has a great relationship with the staff and has a strong comfort level.

“I had a chance to talk with Chip Kelly one on one there and he was super cool. He asked me about some of my favorite routes and then during practice, he asked me what I would do in certain situations. It was a good time and I always have a really strong comfort level there at UCLA.”

McClure had offers from 15 other schools but chose the Bruins over reported finalists Arizona, Indiana and Washington. This addition makes 10 commits for UCLA’s 2023 class. He is their top recruit in this cycle and raises them to No. 61 in the rankings.

5 reasons Bedlam is a must-win for the Oklahoma Sooners

From the recruits in attendance to building positive momentum, Bedlam has become a must-win for the Oklahoma Sooners. From @bendackiw

This has been a sad, sad season for the Oklahoma Sooners. Contending for the Big 12 title has been out of the question for a while now, but no one had the Sooners penciled in at 5-5 heading into Bedlam.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State is 7-3 and clinging to Big 12 title hopes. A loss in Norman combined with a Kansas State win would eliminate them from Big 12 contention.

After last week’s clunker in Morgantown, the Sooners need a win, which they need badly. Here are five reasons why OU needs to win Bedlam.

OU, Bedlam to play host to big names with a number of prospects descending on Norman

Oklahoma takes on in-state rival Oklahoma State for Bedlam and will be doing so with a massive group of recruits in attendance. From @thatmanbryant

There’s a fairly significant amount of importance surrounding Bedlam this year. The amount of games left between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State has been reduced significantly with Oklahoma’s impending move to the SEC on the horizon.

We may have 2023 and 2024, but the rivalry will cease as we know it in the next few years. Every game has always mattered but these last few, like the one on Saturday night, will mean a lot more.

Additionally, Oklahoma is fighting for bowl eligibility. They need one more win to participate in 2022’s bowl season.

Lastly and arguably most importantly, Oklahoma has its biggest recruiting weekend of the football season with Oklahoma State coming to town. We’ll revisit 2022 Bedlam several years from now and look back and remember it as a pivotal moment in Oklahoma’s last five to ten years.

There are some big-time names across multiple recruiting classes that will be in attendance for Oklahoma including five-star DT and Texas A&M commit David Hicks and recently dubbed 2024 five-star DT David Stone. More than 20 recruits have already committed to being in Norman, some via social media and others per OUInsider.com.

Which Notre Dame 2023 commits ESPN is impressed with

Impressive indeed

As we all know it’s a big recruiting weekend for Notre Dame, with Clemson coming into town on Saturday evening. It is the “biggest” home game on the schedule for the season and Notre Dame know it. They’re playing to it as well, having a large contingent of recruits on campus.

That doesn’t mean that they have turned their heads from what should be a banner 2023 class. With the early signing period rapidly approaching, ESPN looked at their top rated classes, the Irish coming in 3rd overall (premium), and which recruits stick out. Find out below which Notre Dame verbals impressed the recruiting staff as ESPN.

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Recruits who will be visiting Notre Dame as the host Clemson

This type of game will draw out some of the best recruits in the country

Since teams made the adjustment for the early signing period and the rule changes to have official visits in the summer, in-season recruiting has lost some of it’s luster. That won’t necessarily be the case this weekend as Notre Dame is set to host Clemson, in a game that will dictate the direction of the rest of the remaining season for both teams. With an upset, the Irish would have three wins over three of College Football Playoff’s top 25 teams.

It’s an understatement that this game is big, but not just on the field, it’s a big one for Irish recruiting. Find out below who is currently schedule to make the trip to South Bend as Notre Dame hosts the Tigers in prime time. (This list is confirmed visitors and will change as the week goes on.)

Notre Dame commitment will make final decision before his state playoff run

Will he reaffirm or flip?

It has long been known that Texas safety [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] has been looking at other schools although he made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame in January. The main two schools that have been trying to flip Bowen were Texas A&M and Oklahoma but recently two other schools have been involved in his recruitment.

Just this past weekend, Bowen took a unofficial visit to Oregon as they hosted UCLA for a top 10 matchup. The Ducks scored a huge win against the Bruins, winning 45-30 in the highly anticipated matchup. Bowen didn’t tweet  anything about this visit, but him looking around isn’t a good sign.

The other school that has entered the mix is Michigan according to this report by On3, but it is yet to be known if he will visit Ann Arbor or is just listening to their pitch. What we do know, from the same report, is that Bowen is looking to finalize his decision before his Guyer team makes a run at a Texas state championship.

There is no exact date, but it does look like we will know soon if Bowen will stay with his commitment to [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] or flip to one of the three other schools he is still talking to.

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