Open Post | Weekend, August 27th – 29th
Posted on: August 27, 2021
TFB Talking Point | Big 12 Predictions 2021
– The Football Brainiacs
College football is just around the corner! The TFB team has their SEC… excuse me… Big 12 conference predictions below. Let us know how you see the season going!
CHARLIE
1. Oklahoma (8-1)
2. Iowa State (7-2)
3. Texas (6-3)
4. Oklahoma State (6-3)
5. TCU (5-4)
6. Kansas State (4-5)
7. West Virginia (3-6)
8. Baylor (3-6)
9. Texas Tech (3-6)
10. Kansas (0 for the season 9)
Big 12 Championship Game: Oklahoma over Iowa State
CJ
1. Oklahoma (9-0)
2. Iowa State (8-1)
3. Texas (6-3)
4. Oklahoma State (6-3)
5. TCU (5-4)
6. West Virginia (4-5)
7. Kansas State (3-6)
8. Texas Tech (3-6)
9. Baylor (1-8)
10. Kansas (0-9)
Big 12 Championship Game: Oklahoma over Iowa State
DARIUS
1. Oklahoma (8-1)
2. Iowa State (7-2)
3. Texas (6-3)
4. TCU (6-3)
5. Oklahoma State (5-4)
6. Kansas State (4-5)
7. Baylor (3-6)
8. West Virginia (3-6)
9. Texas Tech (2-7)
10. Kansas (1-8)
Big 12 Championship Game: Oklahoma over Iowa State
RYAN
1. Oklahoma (9-0)
2. Iowa State (8-1)
3. TCU (6-3)
3. Texas (6-3)
3. Oklahoma State (6-3) – yes, I have all three beating each other and ending with the same record
6. Kansas State (3-6)
7. Baylor (3-6)
8. West Virginia (2-7)
9. Texas Tech (2-7)
10. Kansas (0-9)
Big 12 Championship Game: Oklahoma over Iowa State
Riley Talks Expectations, OL Room & Haselwood
– James Hale
The biggest question remaining in camp is what coach Bill Bedenbaugh will do with his offensive line. Raym is going to be the center, with junior Marquis Hayes (6’5, 324) at left guard and senior Chris Murray (6’1, 301) at right guard. However, a couple of those spots could change depending on what happens at tackle.
“We’re getting better. You know, we’re definitely getting better,” said Coach Riley about his offensive line. “I think we’re starting to find a few different combinations that we like. With some of the depth, I think we’ll certainly have guys that will play—we’ll play more than five guys. I think the combinations are starting to settle in.”
“Yeah, they look good. I mean, I think I would say we’re probably a little more talented top to bottom maybe than we’ve been, a combination of talent and experience than we’ve been in the last couple of years. So, I think there’s an opportunity to really take a good step there. We’re still looking at consistency as a group, but one of the great things for us right now is our offensive line gets challenged every day by our defensive line, which I think has a chance to be elite.”
“So it doesn’t matter if ones, twos, threes, whatever is in there, it’s a constant grind and battle. It’s not only schematically because we do so many great things schematically defensively, but also just kind of the man-to-man combat because every guy can play on both sides. So, it’s been a war, but it’s really pushed our guys, and I’ve seen a lot of positives. I really have.”
“That group has a chance to be really, really good. Right now, we flash really good, and if we can build the consistency, there are some things that get you pretty excited when you watch us practice.”
Senior Robert Congel (6’4, 326) will find his way on the field quite a bit as he is the first backup for the three inside positions. Whoever loses out in the Harrison vs. Morris battle at left tackle will either move over to right tackle or be the third tackle in the game. Also, Swenson is a player that can play anywhere but center and is greatly respected by the coaching staff.
Coach Bedenbaugh has never played eight players on a rotating basis. He gets locked in on a group that is doing a good job and won’t take out a group that is playing well. He always wants to play eight guys in the preseason, but it never totally works out that way, and he never rotates the center position. At press time, he is still not totally sure who his best five are or who makes up his best group, so the competition continues in the offensive line this week.
From my last report, some questions came up about which tackles can only play one side, and which ones can play both tackle positions. Junior Wanya Morris (6’5, 312) told me he has played both and feels comfortable at both. Erik Swenson (6’6, 328) can play both, and freshman Savion Byrd (6’5, 315) played some right tackle in high school but has only played left at OU so far. Freshman Aaron Parks (6’5, 301) can play both.
Coach Riley mentioned those battles between the O-line, and D-line throughout camp have been intense. The OU defense has bowed up in three years of ‘Speed D’, and they have made things tough on the Sooners revamped offensive line. That makes for tougher competition in training camp.
“I think it probably does a little bit, to me,” said Coach Riley. “It’s always been competitive, but I would say probably every year up until maybe last year, I would say we probably had a sizable talent differential, where the O-line was just flat out more talented, deeper, and all that, than the defensive line. Last year, that wasn’t the case.”
“Last year, I would say our defensive line was deeper and more talented and was better. Now, it was a battle. It wasn’t like they were heads and shoulders better, but it was a good battle. This is probably as even as I can remember it, where you feel like when you’re playing pretty good, both sides, whether you’re looking at it from a defensive or offensive perspective, both sides can play.”
“When they’re both playing at a high level, there’s some really good football out there. The great thing right now is it’s so teachable because if either one of them don’t show up on a day or don’t play at a high level like you can tell. Like, you get exposed quickly, which is a good thing. So, yeah, the competition’s been awesome. It’s been an absolute battle in there.”
On Haselwood
Junior Jadon Haselwood (6’3, 202) limped off a practice last week but didn’t miss any work. OU wants Haselwood healthy for game one, and right now, he is getting there.
“He’s totally healthy, doing well. He’s been one of our few guys, I would say, that stayed fully healthy,” said Coach Riley. “We didn’t rep him the other day in the scrimmage. He’s had a million reps here. He’s been one of our few guys who went through spring and the entire camp without missing anything.”
“So, he’s gotten a lot of reps. He’s really battled. I mean, he really worked hard both physically and mentally to get past the injury. In spring, you could tell that he was heading in a great direction but was still physically not quite himself yet, not quite the same burst and juice and explosion that he has.”
“He’s done a great job. You could tell he really worked hard in the offseason. He had a great summer, came back in as good of shape as he’s been in a long time. He’s out of the knee brace now. His explosion, top end, acceleration off the line is really good, is back, and he’s playing at a high level for us. So, he’s had a tremendous camp.”
“He’s one of those guys that he wants it so bad that he’s one of those guys that he’s got to just continue to just kind of be patient with it. He’s going to get chances. His opportunities will come. He’s had to learn some of that patience just going through this knee injury because it tested him a lot because he’s one of the guys who has such a passion for playing the game and making plays and being out there with his teammates that when he can’t—and you love it as a coach—it just guts him. It just kills the guy.”
“At the same time, you’ve got to learn the patience and build, and I think he’s becoming a more mature player right now. So, I’ve been really impressed. He’s had a fantastic camp, and he’s going to get a lot of opportunities to make plays.”
2022 Wide Receiver Recruiting
– Super K – Posted on: August 26, 2021
***As you know, the Sooners are back in the market for 2022 wide receivers. This is an outcome few would have seen possible early in this cycle as OU filled the class quickly and was even forced to turn down talent.
***Charlie passed on some of what I’ve been hearing last week but wanted to give you a follow-up.
***I will say, first, I don’t have any clear names right now. There are guys obviously being talked about in the recruiting department but the last I heard was that outside of the likes of Evan Stewart, OU hadn’t made a firm decision on other prospects.
***Earlier in the summer, 4-star WR Andre Green Jr. (Richmond, VA) visited OU and the sense was he and his family were very interested. I’d say that was fairly obvious given he visited OU on his own dime knowing the Sooners didn’t have a spot.
***But Green’s recent top list didn’t include OU. I was told the likely explanation for this was simply that the Sooners, having been full for so long, weren’t able to recruit him the way other programs were.
***However, that’s where you wonder if the season ends up changing that. Is he going to tell a top 3 team who produces some of the best offensive talents that you don’t want to take an official?
***I have gotten the sense that the Sooners seem pretty confident that once the results of the season are in, they’ll have a number of options in front of them as guys who maybe aren’t looking at OU, will start looking and/or guys they don’t know about yet will emerge.
***I have asked if there is a possibility of revisiting some of the previous commits but each situation is so different. For example, Shettron’s situation wasn’t really about OU, it was about his family being able to play with him.
