Peyton Bowen – Page 9 – Syndication Server

No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners vs Tulsa Golden Hurricane: How to Watch, key players, weather forecast for gameday

The Sooners take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and here is how you can watch the game, the key players to watch and the weather forecast.

Fresh off an up-and-down game last week against the SMU Mustangs, the Oklahoma Sooners are set to take on another [autotag]American Athletic Conference[/autotag] member, the [autotag]Tulsa Golden Hurricane[/autotag].

Tulsa, led by former Oklahoma offensive coordinator [autotag]Kevin Wilson[/autotag] brings an offense that hopes to give the Sooners defense fits this week. Tulsa has the No. 56 ranked offense in the nation.

While most people remember Wilson for his impressive passing attack led by [autotag]Sam Bradford[/autotag] when he was in Norman, his Tulsa team is different this year. While they don’t excel in the passing game, they do in the running game, ranking No. 26th in the country.

But if you are wondering how you can watch the game, what key players to look for, or what the weather will be like, we’ve got you covered.

The Power of Youth: 3 Sooners to watch on defense vs. Tulsa

There’s a youth movement happening on defense and these three defenders will be Sooners to keep an eye on come Saturday.

Saturday’s matchup against Tulsa marks Oklahoma’s last nonconference game before they embark on their final Big 12 season. The matchup means a lot for the state of Oklahoma with the Sooners playing as the road team this week.

The Sooners enter the game with a lot of momentum on defense after shutting down what was a top-20 offense in the nation last season.

After what happened in 2022 for OU, this season’s efforts have felt particularly inspired. Oklahoma is looking to improve on last year and reshape the narrative about how the Sooners get down defensively.

After two games, the Sooners hold the nation’s sixth-best scoring defense, holding teams to just 5.5 points per game. They are eighth in third-down defense, with opponents converting just 22 percent of third-down attempts. It’s early, but through two games, it’s something to be proud of.

Tulsa may not be as talented as SMU, but their head coach is an offensive mind that Brent Venables knows all too well. The two coached under Bob Stoops for nearly a decade.

Oklahoma should be able to win this game fairly stress-free, but building their confidence and depth are also high on the list of priorities.

We believe these three players are names to watch come Saturday.

Up Next: 3 Sooners to watch on Defense

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Sooners safety Robert Spears-Jennings now healthy and ready to make an impact

Robert Spears-Jennings was one of many Sooners who battled injuries this offseason but now he’s healthy and ready to go.

The Oklahoma Sooners safety room is one of the deeper rooms on the entire team. It is full of experience with [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag], [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] and [autotag]Key Lawerence[/autotag].

It also has some very skilled younger players like [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] and [autotag]Robert Spears-Jennings[/autotag]. Spears-Jennings battled an injury this off-season but now is back and ready to make an impact on the field.

He told reporters it wasn’t too tough watching Week 1 waiting for his chance to play.

“I told my guys right before the game I’m going to be their biggest fan that game,” Spears-Jennings said. “Every time they made a play, I was the loudest one on the sideline and cheering those guys on.”

But now Spears-Jennings is back as he made his season debut against the SMU Mustangs. He finished with three tackles on the night.

Each one of the safeties brings a different element to the Sooners’ defense which is good to have. Spears-Jennings is someone who can make plays on the ball, but he’s arguably the hardest hitter of the group.

He’s someone who has no issue with laying the wood on someone and helping stop the run game as well.

Safeties coach Brandon Hall has a really good group and so far it has been the best group on the field for the Sooners defense in 2023.

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.

Key Lawrence among College Sports Wire’s top Big 12 performers from week 2

After a strong performance in the Sooners win over SMU, Oklahoma’s Key Lawrence was selected as College Sports Wire’s top Big 12 defensive back from week 2.

The Oklahoma Sooners are 2-0 on the season, led by a defense that’s allowing just 5.5 points per game and rank as a top-10 defense early on. The Sooners will face tougher competition as the season goes on, but the SMU Mustangs offense is a good one. Oklahoma held them to their lowest point total since the end of the 2017 season.

There were a number of key contributors to the strong defensive performance, including [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] and [autotag]Kip Lewis[/autotag] at linebacker. Another player who had a strong game was, safety [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag].

Lawrence was named one of College Sports Wire’s top Big 12 performers from the Sooners’ win in week 2.

It was actually the defense that helped lead the Sooners to a victory over SMU on Saturday. They held the Mustangs to just 11 points and that allowed a struggling offense to find their footing in the 4th quarterback. Lawrence was part of that unit that kept Preston Stone from lighting up the scoreboard. – Conn, College Sports Wire

Lawrence came up with a heads up play after Jaylan Knighton broke free for a big run in the fourth quarter. As the Mustangs were looking to cut into the Sooners 14-3 lead on Saturday, Knighton broke free down the left side and Key Lawrence tracked him down. Lawrence swatted the ball out, which Danny Stutsman recovered after Woodi Washington kept it from going out of bounds.

The Sooners have a deep safety group in 2023. The additions of [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] and [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag] to [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] and Key Lawrence have given them four players who can make plays. But all offseason as the media spoke of Bowen, Pearson, and Bowman all offseason, defensive coordinator [autotag]Ted Roof[/autotag] quickly reminded everyone of Key Lawrence.

On Saturday, Key Lawrence looked like the player who was making plays in the Iowa State game at the end of the 2021 season. He’s been a big part of Oklahoma’s defensive success to start the 2023 season.

His energy and aggressiveness give the Sooners another player who can impact the game in multiple ways. To be a good or even great defense, the Sooners need difference-makers at every level of the defense. At safety, the Sooners are chock-full of playmakers, and Lawrence stood out on Saturday in the win over SMU.

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 John on Twitter @john9williams.

Once the forgotten man, Key Lawrence shows he belongs on the field

While the talk with the safeties has been about Billy Bowman, Peyton Bowen and Reggie Pearson, Key Lawrence continues to show he belongs in that conversation.

This offseason the talk about the safety position has been focused around three guys, [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag], [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag], and [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag].

The forgotten man of the group was [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag]. Through two games, Lawrence has shown he belongs on the field.

In Saturday’s game, with about eight minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, the Sooners led 14-3. SMU Mustangs running back [autotag]Jaylan Knighton[/autotag] busted through a hole for a 23-yard run.

Lawrence was the final defender, and shortly after Knighton switched the ball to his outer hand, Lawrence punched at it, knocking it free. [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] stopped it from going out of bounds, and [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] jumped on top of it.

Lawrence told reporters Monday that they work on that in practice.

“On Tuesdays, we do the stiff arm drill and I saw this man literally switch the ball in his hands, and the first thing I thought was to attack,” Lawrence said.

That hustle and big play will keep Lawrence on the field and become a trusted member of the defense. Lawrence said that mindset is also something the coaches stress at practice.

“Coach engraved it in us that we need to hustle to the ball, strain every day,” Lawrence said. “If they bust something like that, we all need to be there.”

It’s clear that the team is doing a better job rallying to the ball. They’re not giving up on plays. And after they give up a play, they’re responding with the right attitude. Lawrence’s strip is evidence of the change in mindset for the 2023 Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners are getting a number of players around the ball, resulting in very few missed tackles.

Lawrence’s performance on Saturday is just one of many examples of the growth of the defense in 2023.

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.

‘We’re just a work in progress’: Ted Roof sees changes in the defense but feels there’s still a long way to go

Ted Roof has noticed a difference in this year’s defense but feels there’s still a long way to go.

Through two games, the improvement from the Oklahoma Sooners’ defense is noticeable. The team is flying around and is more physical than we’ve seen in years past.

The Sooners rank No. 35 in total defense this season which is a massive improvement from the No. 122nd ranked defense a year ago. The biggest improvements have been in scoring defense, run defense, and third down defense.

The Sooners are the No. 6 ranked scoring defense, No. 28 run defense, and No. 8 third-down defense. A year ago, they ranked No. 98, No. 105 and No. 87, respectively.

It’s still early to tell how good of a defense this team will be in 2023. Those numbers are sure to change as the season goes on and the competition gets tougher, but Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof said he feels the difference has been the competitive depth.

“You look at depth, competitive depth,” Roof said. “We’re just starting out, and by no means are we a finished product, and we have arrived. We’re just a work in progress that’s going to grind every day. That’s the attitude of our staff and players, and it’s all about incremental improvement. We’ve got to get better because we left some plays out on the field the other night. Some situations where we had opportunities to get off the field, and we didn’t.”

That’s the mindset the coaches and players should have. Two games don’t fix nearly a decade of poor defensive performances. The Sooners have shown signs of improvement, but that must continue for the whole season.

Their next opportunity to show that is this Saturday in their first away game versus the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN 2.

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: Defense flies high, offense stuck in a rut in 28-11 win over SMU

In our report card for Oklahoma’s performance against SMU, the defense leads the way with the highest marks.

The offense didn’t put its best foot forward in the Sooners 28-11 win over SMU. However, the defense kept Oklahoma in control until the Sooners were able to put together a couple of late scoring drives to seal the win.

Oklahoma knows it will have to play better as the season wears on. They’ll need to improve in all three phases to be in the mix for a Big 12 title berth in November. But for this game, it was enough.

Instead of a shootout, we got a game where neither team even scratched 40 points.

Here’s how each position group graded out in the 28-11 win over SMU.

‘I was just doing my job’: Peyton Bowen on the pass breakup to help seal the win

Peyton Bowen made two plays in the game Saturday that make Sooner fans excited for what’s to come.

Early in the game, the Oklahoma Sooners got a stop on the [autotag]SMU Mustangs[/autotag]’ first drive of the game. SMU punter Ryan Bujcevski comes in to punt it away.

He gets the snap and like a blur, freshman [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] rushes through the line to set up the Sooners in great field position. The Sooners would score three plays later.

But that play almost didn’t happen.

“I wasn’t even supposed to go,” Bowen said. “I was supposed to help block for a blocker and then we didn’t get lined up correctly early. I blocked so hard down and I saw no guard, like no shield and I was like let’s go make a play.”

It’s that kind of instinct that makes Bowen special and something Oklahoma hasn’t had in a long time at that position. That play proved huge with the score 14-11 early in the fourth. But that’s not the only play we saw Bowen make. Every week he’s doing something that makes us say, “he has to get on the field more often.”

That play happened late in the ball game with the Sooners up 21-11.

The Mustangs were going for it in their own territory and Bowen saw where the opening was and all out sprinted to knock the pass away. The Sooners would again score three plays later to seal the 28-11 win.

“I was just doing my job,” Bowen said. “If I was late on that job he would have caught it for the first down. That’s where it comes down to knowing my responsibility and doing it.”

He’s a little modest on that one. Yes, it was his responsibility but for him to notice the receiver ran a curl and wasn’t coming in toward him, then sprinting to break up the play is again something players in his position in the past just wouldn’t make.

It’s what has Sooner fans so excited for what’s to come for Bowen.

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.

5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners win over SMU Mustangs

From Danny Stutsman to Tawee Walker, here are five takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 28-11 win over the SMU Mustangs.

“Just win, baby.” The words made famous by long-time Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, remind us the most important thing a football team can accomplish on Saturdays is going home with a W.

And that’s what the Oklahoma Sooners did.

The offensive performance may not have met expectations, but the defense certainly stood strongly, allowing the Sooners’ offense to do enough.

In the end, the Sooners won a tough football game in which the defense was relied upon to make plays and stand strong long enough for the offense to find its rhythm in the fourth quarter and put the game away.

The Sooners played a complete game in Week 2. Here are five takeaways from the win over SMU:

Social media reacts to the Oklahoma Sooners’ 28-11 win over the SMU Mustangs

The Oklahoma Sooners beat SMU behind a strong defensive performance and here’s how social media reacted.

The game grew a little hairy in the second half when the SMU Mustangs broke through for their only touchdown of the day and a two-point conversion to make it a three-point game.

Then the Sooners’ defense did something we’re not quite accustomed to. It kept the Mustangs from gaining any more momentum. The defense did that.

It was a game where the offensive play-calling was conservative and the offense struggled to find a rhythm in the second and third quarters. But the defense stood tall, allowing only 11 points to an SMU team that has a really good offense.

With the win, the Sooners move to 2-0, and here’s how social media reacted: