The Football Brainiacs

Image via OU Football Facebook

Among other things, OU’s annual Red/White game is the final reminder for fans that the next 4+ months are really going to suck. It’s also an opportunity afforded fans ‘jonesing’ for their one and only real glace of that year’s squad, while an OU coaching staff does everything in their power to show as little as humanly possible. In short, it’s a tradition unlike any other™.

And based on some recent interviews I heard from Bob Stoops this past week, it sounds as though things could look a little different this year. He’s indicated rather than hold guys out, the plan is — at least for the first teamers — to simply not tackle to the ground in an effort to avoid injuries. Mind you I still expect a number of guys to receive limited snaps (Baker Mayfield) or be held out altogether (Samaje Perine), but maybe not as many that would have been otherwise.

However all cynicism aside, as fans it really is our only chance to see the team before they kickoff the 2016 season against Houston in September. Therefore it’s not as if there is nothing of interest for those of us who will be watching, either from inside the still-in-process renovations of Memorial Stadium or from the comfort of our own homes.

So with that in mind, here are a few of those things I’ll have an eye on this Saturday.

* Again as vanilla as we can all but guarantee the coaches will keep things, and with as many guys as we can be sure will either see limited time or held out all together, I’m just not sure how the top story line coming into this thing is anything other than Austin Kendall.

Barring something unexpected — i.e. Cody Thomas’ return to the football team — the true freshman quarterback will almost assuredly be the primary backup to Heisman hopeful Baker Mayfield. Which is asking a lot of any true freshman QB, let alone one on a team with expectations as high as this OU team will have in 2016 looking to get back to the CFB playoff for a second consecutive season.

Now there is an argument to be made that were Mayfield to miss an extended period of time, OU would likely be screwed regardless of who was backing him up. The counter to that being with Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon in the backfield, in theory, you may not necessarily need a superstar at QB to carry the offense.

So while no matter what happens on Saturday it will still be “just a spring game,” but if Kendall comes out and looks sharp it could go a long way towards easing at least some of the perceived concerns having a true frosh as your QB2.

* I guess I’ll be the contrarian in what I have to assume will be the minority of people who “cover” OU and not creating click bait making a big deal about whatever Kyler Murray may or may not do on Saturday. I just don’t have it in me to fabricate why that will be important or something that you “need to watch,” because the fact it is it won’t be and you really don’t.

Which definitely isn’t anything against Murray, believe me I hope — just like I assume all of you — he proves to be the star so many expected him to be coming out of high school. Rather this is simply an acknowledgement of the reality that we won’t actually have a chance to know that for another 18(ish) months.

Would it be fun to see him go out there and tear it up on Saturday? Yeah, sure (although, as with any scrimmage/spring game, such a performance is then immediately met with “Oh no, the defense sucks!”). However, would that be relevant to anything with respect to the coming season? Sorry, but no.

* The WR group really only lost two guys — granted one of them was an all-timer for the program — but for whatever reason it just feels to me like there are so many more new names. I guess that’s because Sterling Shepard was such a focus for the passing game his presence just felt like the equivalent of two or three guys, who knows. Regardless he’ll be playing on Sundays soon and this offense now faces the difficult task of replacing him (and Durron Neal).

You only need a quick glace at the roster to know there are no shortage of options, but for the sake of being concise I’ll try to limit myself to three. They are; AD Miller, Dahu Green & Geno Lewis. Again there are several others, and I’d encourage you to discuss them in the comments if you disagree with my three.

However, I went with these guys because I believe OU should be pretty set with slot guys. Be it Dede Westbrook, Mark Andrews, Jarvis Baxter, Michiah Quick, or whomever, I don’t think this offense is hurting for options on the inside. On the outside, though, things are a bit more fluid as far as I can tell. And all three of the guys I mentioned should have every opportunity to establish a role for themselves in this offense.

Unlike Miller and Green, Lewis really doesn’t have a lot to prove being a fifth year guy coming over from Penn State. His inclusion here is really more about it being OU fans’ first real chance to see him in action. Meanwhile, Miller and Green are bigger guys who should be able to go up and get the ball over defenders but still need to develop consistency and a chemistry with Mayfield.

Mind you I’m not sure how much of a chance either will have at the latter on Saturday considering Mayfield isn’t expected to play a lot, but the former is certainly something both can continue working on now matter who is under center (although if the past is any indicator we probably won’t see much of that, QB actually under center, either).

* Another obvious item of interest will be the battle for that other starting CB spot opposite Jordan Thomas. It’s believed to be primarily a two-man battle right now between Dakota Austin and PJ Mbanasor, although TFB’s reports from practices have indicated redshirt freshman Antoine Stephens is also really starting to come on.

Austin’s size is what it is, but he’s still an aggressive defender who is always looking to make a play on the ball. Meanwhile, you’d certainly like to see some of the progress Mbanasor has made under Kerry Cooks & Chip Viney because his ceiling still seems so high.

I don’t really think anything will be decided on Saturday necessarily, but there is no denying it will play some type of a role. Just how much or how little of one only the coaches could truly say.

* Considering the struggles last year’s offensive line went through early in the season, I’ll be curious to see how this year’s unit looks, especially along the interior, and how well they’ve gelled thus far. I’m also really interested to see how much, if at all, they experiment with Dru Samia inside at guard and what that looks like for the line as a whole.

I have not doubt he can be very successful on the inside, but it then creates an obvious question at RT as all those we’ve heard about as possible candidates for that spot are largely unproven.

* Linebacker is another position that I’d expect would be a popular choice as something to watch, but it’s not really high on my list. For a couple reasons: (1) your top LB, Jordan Evans, won’t (I’m assuming) be out there and (2) several guys who could have a legit chance at playing time this season aren’t even on campus yet.

That said, it would certainly be encouraging to see guys like Curtis Bolton, Ricky DeBerry, and/or Arthur McGinnis flying around out there making plays.

* Had planned to spend some time on OU’s young d-line talent as well, but at this point I’m not sure how much any of them outside of Marquise Overton will probably play. We know Du’Vonta Lampkin (knee) and Charles Walker (wrist) are out after their respective surgeries.

Plus Neville Gallimore and, I believe, Gabriel Campbell have also missed at least some of spring practices dealing with their own injuries, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the coaches take a bit of a cautious approach with either (or both).