Tag: trey morrison

5 defensive players to watch for Oklahoma as they take on No. 20 Kansas

Oklahoma takes on No. 20 Kansas on Saturday and we are looking at 5 defenders to watch.

Oklahoma is desperate for a win to regain any semblance of confidence that they’ve lost over the three-game losing streak.

A tough loss to Kansas State turned into a lopsided shellacking at the hands of TCU in Fort Worth, which ultimately culminated in last week’s 49-0 drubbing thanks to the Texas Longhorns.

In every one of those losses, the Sooners gave up 40 or more points.

On Saturday, the No. 20 Kansas Jayhawks team will stroll into the Palace on the Prairie fresh off their first loss of the season to No. 13 TCU. Kansas comes in with a dynamic offensive team averaging just a touch under 40 points per game.

They are a balanced offensive club averaging 226.3 passing yards per game and 215.2 rushing yards per game. For the majority of the season, the Jayhawks have been led by junior quarterback Jalon Daniels but after suffering an injury against TCU, Daniels looks doubtful for the game on Saturday according to ESPN.

Regardless, Oklahoma will have their hands full Saturday with backup QB Jason Bean, whom they faced last year. Their defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed of late so Daniels or not, this game should pose a significant threat to Oklahoma.

How do they go home Saturday night in their new UNITY uniforms winners? They’ll need better performances from these five defenders.

Three Keys to an Oklahoma victory in the Red River Rivalry

3 keys for the Oklahoma Sooners to pick up a win in the Red River a showdown vs. the Texas Longhorns.

Oklahoma is between a rock and hard place as it heads into one of college football’s marquee rivalry games.

It’s Texas week for the Oklahoma Sooners and the team couldn’t need a win more.

Brent Venables is no stranger to this game. He has been a part of it many times, but this will be his first as the head coach. He comes into the game with a team probably low on confidence, bruised and battered and not playing good football.

In his weekly press conference, Venables talked about Texas being four points away from being an undefeated team. He’s right. One of those losses was to Alabama in a game the Longhorns were a play or two away from winning. This team isn’t a slouch and with its health starting to look up, the game is going to be difficult for Oklahoma.

There’s a path for Oklahoma to win this game. How does Oklahoma get there? Here are three keys to victory.

Up Next: “You’re Unpredictable!”

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Stock Report: Jovantae Barnes on the rise up, defense continues downward slide

Taking a look at who’s stock is up and who’s stock is trending down following the loss to TCU.

Oklahoma’s odds of winning the national championship has dropped below 1%, so we can officially stash that hope away for next offseason. They still have an outside shot of playing for a Big 12 title, but for the rest of this season, it’s all about development. First-year head coach Brent Venables is experiencing adversity as the head man of a Power Five program as his team got rocked by TCU and is forced to overcome the injury bug.

Oklahoma doesn’t have its mojo. It began to unravel with the loss to Kansas State and was further undone by the thrashing TCU just gave them.

Things are not trending in the right direction for the Sooners. They’ve lost two in a row, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a look at what is going right and wrong for Oklahoma in this very tough period.

8 Oklahoma Sooners included to the Reese’s Senior Bowl watch list

Oklahoma lands eight on Senior Bowl watch list.

The Senior Bowl has become the best all-star game for NFL draft prospects to raise their profile during the draft process. Baker Mayfield attended the game, allowing NFL GMs, in particular the Cleveland Browns, the opportunity to see Mayfield over the course of the week.

The time spent in Mobile, Ala. helped Mayfield secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.

More recently, Perrion Winfrey took advantage of the opportunity to meet with teams and help them get a better handle on who he was as a player and person. Winfrey was so dominant that he earned game MVP honors.

With the 2022 season about to kickoff, the Senior Bowl released its watch list for the 2022 season and eight Oklahoma Sooners were included.

What has to go right for the Oklahoma Sooners to contend in 2022 according to ESPN?

ESPN looks at 20 teams who could be in contention in 2022 and the things that would have to go right for them. What about Oklahoma?

The Oklahoma Sooners head into the 2022 season in an unfamiliar spot in the Big 12 hierarchy. They aren’t the preseason favorite to win the conference. They’re a bit underrated as well, with zero selections to the preseason All-Big 12 team.

The preseason expectations won’t mean anything once the pads come on. At the same time, this team has questions they need to answer. Bill Connelly of ESPN looks at 20 contenders and determines how many “ifs” need to go right for those teams, including the Oklahoma Sooners, to be “legit national title contenders (ESPN+).”

This is my annual “Ifs List” piece — an attempt to see how many “ifs” it takes me to turn a team into a genuine national title contender. The favorites don’t require many; a few others might have more than you think. – Bill Connelly, ESPN

The Sooners fall into the “4 ifs” tier of teams along with Utah, Michigan, and Oklahoma State. Let’s look at what Connelly had to say about Oklahoma and what needs to go right for the Sooners.

Oklahoma Sooners 7th in ESPN’s updated future rankings

Though the Oklahoma Sooners saw a ton of turnover after 2021, the future is still bright as ESPN ranked them 7th in their future rankings.

Change can be tough. The Oklahoma Sooners saw a lot of change in a short time in November and December. While it created many questions about the program’s future, new head coach Brent Venables provided a steady hand at the wheel to restore confidence in Oklahoma.

That’s why, despite all of the turnover, Oklahoma remains in high regard across the country and is considered a contender in the Big 12 and for a playoff spot. The Sooners will face challenges from Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas (as they do seemingly every year), but after the Sooners’ work in the transfer portal and in their 2022 recruiting class, folks are confident Oklahoma will be competing for the conference title at the end of the season.

Every offseason, ESPN takes a look at where each team stands in regard to the present and the future. After being ranked No. 4 in the 2021 version of these rankings, the Sooners fell to No. 7 in 2022. Let’s take a look at what Adam Rittenberg had to say about the Sooners’ rankings.

Brent Venables among coaches most likely to win big early

Among coaches in new gigs, Brent Venables most likely to win big early according to CBS Sports.

Nothing’s guaranteed in college football. Though the Oklahoma Sooners were favorites to win the Big 12 in 2021, losses to Baylor and Oklahoma State kept them from the title game. As surprising as Oklahoma missing out on a chance to contend for the Big 12 title was what happened a day after Bedlam.

The turnover at head coach was a shock as Lincoln Riley took the head coaching job at USC less than 24 hours after the loss to the Cowboys in Bedlam.

And while much of the country wrote off the Sooners as a premier college football program in the aftermath, Brent Venables work on the recruiting trail, in spring ball, and with the media has restored confidence in the tradition rich Sooners.

Oklahoma has been at or near the top in just about every early prediction or power rankings piece prognosticating the Big 12. Safe to say, the confidence is restored.

But the Oklahoma Sooners weren’t the only program to experience a coaching change this offseason. There’s coaching movement every year, but this felt like the biggest in number of teams, quality of coaches, and big-time programs looking for a new head coach or poaching one.

Notre Dame, USC, LSU, Miami, and Oregon all joined the Sooners on the coaching carousel. Brian Kelly, Mario Cristobal, and Lincoln Riley were the established coaches that jumped from one Power Five program to another while Venables, Dan Lanning, and Marcus Freeman became first-time head coaches, taking over a premier program.

Chip Patterson of CBS Sports took a look at the coaching movement that happened this winter and believes Venables, along with Lincoln Riley, as the coaches “most likely to have early success.”

What’s somewhat less discussed is how Oklahoma, which hired one of its own in Brent Venables to replace Riley, is equally prepared to compete for a conference championship and contend for a College Football Playoff spot. Venables made strong staff hires that included offensive coordinator [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] and found a Caleb Williams replacement with former UCF star Dillon Gabriel. Some talent left Norman after the coaching change, but the projected depth chart is still as strong as you’re going to find in the Big 12. – Patterson, CBS Sports

It’s not surprising to see Venables as a coach likely to have success. The Sooners are replacing a lot, but they have quite a few guys returning from the 2021 roster that are ready to make a jump. Add in the additions of [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag], [autotag]Trey Morrison[/autotag], [autotag]Kani Walker[/autotag], [autotag]Jeffery Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Jonah Laulu[/autotag], [autotag]LV Bunkley-Shelton[/autotag], [autotag]Javian Hester[/autotag], [autotag]T.D. Roof[/autotag], [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag], and [autotag]Tawee Walker[/autotag] and the Sooners did a great job of restocking their roster with some talented guys.

Venables defense and Jeff Lebby’s offensive prowess will have the Sooners winning a lot of games in 2022. They’ll be challenged by Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Kansas State, but those teams pose challenges every year.

Oklahoma’s banking on their team identity of toughness and aggression carrying them through what could be their last season in the Big 12. And if the success that’s followed Venables and Lebby through their previous stops translates to Oklahoma, there’s no reason why they won’t be contending for the Big 12 and a College Football Playoff spot in 2022.

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Oklahoma Sooners make Top 8 for four-star Florida CB Makari Vickers

Four-star cornerback Makari Vickers lists Oklahoma as one of his top 8 schools along with the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Texas, and FSU.

Oklahoma’s cornerbacks’ room could look different in the fall of 2023. [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] may very well be off to the NFL, and [autotag]Jaden Davis[/autotag] will be eligible for a fifth year. Still, there’s no guarantee he’ll be around, transfer cornerback [autotag]C.J. Coldon[/autotag] will use his final year of eligibility this season, and UNC transfer [autotag]Trey Morrison[/autotag] will also be gone following 2022.

With that being said, recruiting cornerbacks who may need to be ready to play next year could be of significant importance. So it should come as no surprise that the Sooners have offered 19 cornerbacks in the 2023 recruiting class. One of those offers, Makari Vickers, has been highly receptive to Oklahoma’s efforts and has gone on to list the Oklahoma Sooners as one of the top 8 schools he’ll be focusing on as he narrows his recruitment.

The Sooners join Oregon, Georgia, Florida State, Alabama, Michigan, Miami, and Texas as finalists for the highly touted four-star cornerback.

Vickers is a four-star on every major recruiting service in the industry. Vickers has commanded attention from almost every major program in the country. Competing against the likes of Alabama and  Georgia for defensive talent is no easy proposition but it’s one the Sooners may get used to with the new crop of defensive coaches. Spearheaded by Brent Venables who has recruited the southeast like none other over the last decade, the Sooners will be facing recruiting battles on the defensive side of the ball in 2023 and beyond.

The Sooners are very much in a good spot as Jay Valai was recruiting Vickers while he was still at Alabama as their cornerbacks’ coach. That relationship has continued to grow since coming over from Tuscaloosa to the same position at Oklahoma. With no crystal ball predictions in, it may be tough to get a read but considering he will take his official to OU for the ChampU BBQ, the Sooners have to like their positioning heading into the summer.

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Oklahoma Sooners up 3 spots in latest ESPN power rankings

The Oklahoma Sooners made a positive impression on ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, who moved OU up three spots in his latest power rankings.

Coming out of spring ball, the vibes are all positive for the Oklahoma Sooners. A tremendous crowd at the spring game, followed by several solid recruiting weekends has the Sooners heading into the summer with quite a bit of momentum. Still months away from the start of the 2022 season, Oklahoma’s positioned once again to contend for the Big 12 title.

The Sooners’ spring left a strong impression on local and national media alike and in ESPN’s latest power rankings, the Sooners saw a three-spot bump to No. 14. Here’s what ESPN’s Mark Schlabach had to say.

The Sooners’ roster was decimated by players leaving for the NFL draft and transferring after (Lincoln) Riley left for USC. But first-time head coach Brent Venables has done a nice job of reloading through the transfer portal. (Dillon) Gabriel threw for more than 8,000 yards with 70 touchdowns in three seasons at UCF. (C.J.) Coldon, a transfer from Wyoming, and (Trey) Morrison, from North Carolina, were nice additions to the secondary. (Jonah) Laulu had eight tackles for loss and four sacks at Hawai’i last season. Venables will get things fixed on defense, and the offense will be good enough to outscore most teams in the Big 12. The Sooners will play Kansas State, Baylor and Oklahoma State at home. – Schlabach, ESPN

The Sooners lost a lot in the transfer portal, but they also gained quite a bit. Adding [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag], [autotag]Jeffery Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Trey Morrison[/autotag], and [autotag]Jonah Laulu[/autotag] provided a nice early boost in the portal while [autotag]LV Bunkley-Shelton[/autotag] and [autotag]Javian Heste[/autotag]r added some competition at wide receiver.

Oklahoma may not have the same level of star power heading into the 2022 season as they had last year. However, the hope is the change in leadership from the coaching staff will help bridge the gap as new stars are born for the Oklahoma Sooners.

[autotag]Marcus Stripling[/autotag] and [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag] are expected to have breakout seasons, replacing [autotag]Nik Bonitto[/autotag] and [autotag]Isaiah Thomas[/autotag] on the edge. Gabriel’s experience in college football and within Jeff Lebby’s offense will help get everyone on the same page in a new offense.

ESPN’s buying the hype surrounding the USC Trojans who sit at No. 4 in Schalbach’s power rankings. Oklahoma State was the highest-ranked Big 12 team at No. 11.

No surprise at who sits No. 1 and 2 in the power rankings. Alabama and Ohio State who have arguably the two best quarterbacks in college football, and the two players favored to win the Heisman, head into 2022 as the two best teams in college football.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

247Sports highlights Kansas State as ‘dark horse’ in Big 12 title race, potential upset for Oklahoma

Looking at games that might have upset potential, 247Sports circled Oklahoma’s matchup with Kansas State, calling the Wildcats a Big 12 “dark horse.”

With several weeks of spring practice to go, the Oklahoma Sooners look positioned to be contenders in the Big 12 yet again. It’ll be another competitive year in the Big 12 with Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Texas but there might be some other teams that could cause problems in the conference.

Over at 247Sports, Will Backus looked at some of the games in the 2022 season that might have upset potential. The Oklahoma Sooners landed on the list with an old nemesis from the Lincoln Riley era, Chris Klieman and the Kansas State Wildcats.

Kansas State is this writer’s pick for Big 12 dark horse. The conference is as wide open as ever, and most teams have gone through some sort of massive change, be it to the coaching staff or on the roster. Oklahoma was a victim of both. The Sooners lost coach [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] to USC, and Riley took starting quarterback [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] and star wide receiver [autotag]Mario Williams[/autotag] with him. Outside of those, Oklahoma lost [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag], its top two rushers, four of its top five receivers, three of five starting offensive linemen, its top three sack leaders and three of its top four linebackers. Even with Oklahoma’s transfer additions, that is an absurd amount of attrition. – Backus, 247Sports

Listen, we get it, the Oklahoma Sooners lost a ton of guys to the transfer portal and to the draft. But it’s not like the cupboard’s bare behind them or that they didn’t add players in the transfer portal to replace them. Oklahoma got arguably the best quarterback in the transfer portal not named Caleb Williams or Spencer Rattler. One could make the argument that [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag]’s experience and production puts him in that tier of player even if he didn’t have the same number of stars or hype that the former Sooners’ quarterbacks came to OU with.

On defense, the Sooners brought in several veteran player to help mitigate the departures of six starters. [autotag]Jeffery Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Jonah Laulu[/autotag], [autotag]T.D. Roof[/autotag], and [autotag]Trey Morrison[/autotag] arrive at Oklahoma with a ton of snaps under their belt. Each has a chance to start or become a significant rotational player for the Sooners in 2022, and at the same time, they’ve got players all over the defense that have been sitting behind future NFL players, developing and waiting for their chance.

While [autotag]Perrion Winfrey[/autotag], [autotag]Nik Bonitto[/autotag], and [autotag]Isaiah Thomas[/autotag] were big losses, the Oregon game showed off the potential from the defensive front as they harrassed Ducks’ quarterback Anthony Brown into three sacks against a pretty good Oregon offensive line.

On offense, they return their best wide receivers from the last two seasons in [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] and [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag]. Mims has led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yards each of the last two seasons. In 2020, Wease tied with Mims for the team lead in receptions. [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] returns and [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] looks primed for a breakout in 2022.

On the offensive line, [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag] helps mitigate the loss of [autotag]Marquis Hayes[/autotag], who was an anchor of the Oklahoma offensive line for several seasons. The only question with that unit is who will start at right tackle?

Kansas State is the exact opposite. The Wildcats surgically plugged any holes on their roster via the transfer portal. The big addition was Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez, who had a roller coaster 2021 but was considered a Heisman Trophy contender just a couple years ago. Chris Klieman’s squad also boasts running back Deuce Vaughn, one of the most electric players in the nation, and what should be the best defensive line in the Big 12. With this being both teams’ first conference game, this is a prime opportunity for Kansas State to establish itself as a threat. – Backus, 247Sports

Deuce Vaughn has been a problem for years and will be a problem again in 2022, but if Chris Klieman can’t help [autotag]Adrian Martinez[/autotag] protect the ball better, Kansas State won’t contend in the Big 12. He’s a solid quarterback that kept Nebraska in some games last season, but his penchant for putting the ball on the ground also put them behind in a lot of games.

Chris Klieman is one of the best coaches in the Big 12 and the Wildcats have been a thorn in the side of the Sooners at times, but Oklahoma is still the more talented team. An upset is always a possibility in the competitive Big 12 conference, but the Oklahoma Sooners will be the favorite in nearly every game they play in 2022 if not all of them.

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