Open Post | Wednesday, October 31st By: TFB Posted on: October 31, 2018

Tag Team | Andrew Raym & Myles Slusher
– Ryan Lewis

Broken Arrow stomped on Edmond Memorial last Thursday. What do I mean by stomped? Well…

2020 OT Andrew Raym and 2020 S Myles Slusher helped lead their team to a comfortable victory.

 

 

Raym has a long history with OU. His first offer came from the Sooners in the spring of 2017, when he was still in his freshman year of high school. He was even committed to OU for a time before a spring 2018 decomittment. Since then, the talented lineman has offers from many of the top programs in the country. He has visited Norman a handful of times, including this season. Despite the decomittment, OU is still a school he likes a lot; he has frequent contact with both Coach B and Coach Riley.

This fall is a busy one for Andrew. High school playoffs will be starting in the next few weeks for the Tigers. Additionally, he’ll be making several visits soon. This weekend will be Notre Dame for the Navy game, next weekend will be Michigan for the Penn State game, and later in November will be Georgia for the Georgia Tech game. While he doesn’t have as long a history with some of those teams as he does Oklahoma, he knows that they are prestigious programs and wants to see all of the opportunities in front of him.

In person, Andrew is just very, very large. Currently listed at 6’5″ and 300 lb as a junior, he holds his size well. Right tackle has been his spot for three years now, with very few exceptions. He does an excellent job of keeping his eyes up and seeing the play. Raym doesn’t give up inside position, always booting his man outside. He did a good job of getting downfield for the next man as well. Additionally, the guy plays mean and finishes well. There were several plays that saw Andrew walk right up to the line of unnecessary roughness, and maybe put a toe on it, without drawing a flag. Really, he makes sure his guy is totally out of the play.

While he doesn’t want to wait too long to commit, he does want the opportunity to take his officials next year for games at the programs he’s still interested in, which could push a commitment all the way to the winter of 2019. Raym is an elite tackle that Oklahoma will be interested in all the way.

 

 

Slusher’s recruitment picked up a little later than Raym’s, but he has a lot of programs interested in him all the same. His first offer was from Nevada this past winter. As many Sooner fans will know, Oklahoma recruiting analyst Chip Viney was coaching for the Wolfpack at the time. Since then, his offer sheet has grown to include a host of top programs across the nation. An Oklahoma offer, however, has not happened yet.

Just like Andrew, Myles has a busy fall coming up. Oklahoma State, Michigan (with Andrew), and Arkansas will all be visits he takes in the next month.

The talented Slusher has played safety this season. His playing time, however, comes tough; with a 49-0 lead at half, he didn’t play after the break. The Tiger defense held Memorial to three and outs almost every drive of the first half, with a sack or two usually in those three plays, so the safety position didn’t get tested often. Despite that, it was easy to see why his offer sheet has blown up. He keeps his eyes on the ball and does an excellent job of reading the play. Like Raym, he has a little bit of nasty in him; he’s not afraid to let someone know when he makes a play. His confidence has a great effect; Myles is a clear leader for the defense and can be heard from the sideline with ease.

Like Andrew, Slusher is still open to the process and wanting to see all programs he can. While OU isn’t currently an offer, I do get the impression that, should an offer come, the Sooners would be solidly in the mix. Regardless, the talented defensive back will have plenty of schools to choose from.

 

 

The two Tiger players have offers from programs including Arkansas, Michigan, and Oklahoma State in common. Why is this important? Well, their future college play might be pretty connected…

It’s clear to see that the two are close friends. Wherever the two end up playing will be glad to have them.

 

 

2020 OL Seth McLaughlin | Post Visit Update
– Charlie S

Sooners hosted 2020 Offensive Line offer Seth McLaughlin and his family out of Buford, Georgia, this weekend on an unofficial visit.

McLaughlin currently holds close to 20 offers which include Bama, Clemson, Auburn, and home state Georgia.

Super K had a chance to see Seth earlier this season in a game against Jaylan Knighton’s Deerfield Beach squad and he came away impressed with Buford’s offensive line play.

I caught up with Seth as he and his family were making their way home to Georgia and when I asked him how the visit went, he didn’t hesitate as he said: “It was great”.

McLaughlin was offered by the Sooners back in may…

…and he had been trying to get up to Norman for a while now. The trip was worth the wait as the McLaughlins thoroughly enjoyed their time on campus.

I asked him if anything, in particular, caught his eye about the trip and he said “I really didn’t know what to expect when I got there. It was beautiful and the facilities were very nice”.

We talked a bit about the visit and he said “I got to hang with the coaches for a long time, that was very cool. I also got to be in the locker room for the post game.”

As for the game itself, I asked him if anything stood out to him and he told me “Ben Powers and Cody Ford. Those guys were mean and it was so much fun to watch those guys play.”

As for what is next with his recruitment, Seth told me “They definitely deserve an official visit. As far as my commitment, I really do not have a timeline set for that yet”.

I plan on catching up with Seth later this week to get a more in-depth write up on his trip and recruitment in general.

 

 

Mikey Henderson Post Visit Update & Insider Note
– Charlie S

Caught up with 2020 athlete, Mikey Henderson following his unofficial visit to Norman this past weekend.

Henderson, a 6’2″ 220 lb athlete who you are all well aware of by now, has visited Norman on several occasions prior but the one big difference this time was that his father was able to accompany him for the first time.

Henderson said, “This was my dad’s first visit up there and it was a great experience for him, he loved it”.

I asked Henderson if he was impressed with his visit and he said, “OU is always so good to me, they were my first offer and every time I go up there it’s nothing but love, so it’s hard to make me any more impressed.”

However, while he did attend the RRS earlier this month, this was the first time Henderson has visited for a game in Norman and the trip did not disappoint “Really just an unbelievable environment, the crowd was awesome and then the offense, wow, crazy, but then the defense is stepping up too, they matched the offense’s intensity”.

Mikey had the opportunity to interact with the coaches and the players, and as you can see, he spent a lot of time with Sooners coach Shane Beamer.

Beamer, along with Lincoln, are really intrigued by all the possibilities Henderson offers in regards to where he will play on the field.

He plays quarterback for his highs school team, and while OU is not recruiting him as a QB, they are selling him on the fit that he is in OU’s offense based on the fact that he can line up and be used at multiple positions.

Henderson said “All the coaches, they are all talking to me, they want me to play all the positions. Running back, Hback, receiver, slot, they want to use me all over the offensive side of the field, that’s pretty attractive to me cause like I’ve said before, these coaches know what’s best for me and I appreciate their straightforwardness”.

As for his recruitment, Mikey said he plans on making it down to College Station in the next couple of weeks to see the Aggies. He also mentioned that while the Sooners will undoubtedly get an official visit, he is not sure when that will take place, whether it’s in the spring or next fall, either way, OU will be in this until he makes his decision.

To read Charlie’s Insider Note, please click the Donor Board link!

 

 

Final Exam | Kansas State
– The Professor

Kansas State came to Norman on Saturday, and the Wildcats probably wished they had gotten a flat tire on the way.

The Sooners shined on both sides of the ball (yes, really), and Oklahoma looks like they are gaining speed as the first CFP rankings get released.

Here are some of the stats that stood out from Saturday.

The Offense

Every week I think the Sooners’ hit their ceiling with the offense, and then the next week they look better. The Sooners set a season-high 702 yards of offense on Saturday. That makes six of eight games in which they’ve gained 500 yards or more of total offense.

The Sooners now lead the country in yards per play (8.91) by over half a yard (Alabama 8.30).

The average offensive plays per game in FBS floats somewhere around 70. I like to show “points per play” as points per 70 plays. It lets you see the scoring rate of a team in a value range that people are used to. Oklahoma is 2nd in points scored per 70 plays at 55.63. To illustrate how far ahead Oklahoma (and Alabama) are in front of everyone else, the 10th ranked team in the country is Toledo…at 41.27 points per 70 plays.

The Defense

The defense was better again on Saturday. I’m cautiously optimistic about the progress.

The defense is now 29th in the Power 5 in points per play allowed and 26th in yards per play allowed. For reference, the “vaunted” Texas defense is 31st and 35th respectively.

The biggest reason to be excited is the plays allowed per game. Before TCU, Oklahoma was averaging well over the average plays allowed per game. The defense wasn’t allowing a ton of yards per play, but they couldn’t get off the field. In the last two games, however, Oklahoma has allowed just 55 and 53 plays. Here’s what the Oklahoma defense looks like in plays allowed compared to average.

Kansas State and TCU average 64.3 and 71.4 plays per game on the season. If Oklahoma can hold teams to not only below the national average but below their own averages. Things could get very good for the Sooners.

Special Teams

Where is the Beamer Ball? Oklahoma showed aggression and made plays in the beginning of the season, but it seems to have been just a teaser.

Austin Seibert is about to pass Michael Hunnicutt for the most points scored in Sooner history. He needs just 12 points to become the all-time leader.

That’s it for this week. Check back later in the week for a preview of Texas Tech.

 

 

The Professor, also known on Twitter as Blinkin Riley (Steven Smith) will be dropping some knowledge on us throughout the season with a pre-game lesson and a post-game lesson each week! We encourage you to follow his Twitter account @blinkinriley for additional mini-lessons…