Brent Venables Lays Out Format for Oklahoma Spring Game

The OU coaches will split up the starters and then conduct a draft to make it a true Red/White Game.

After imploring Oklahoma football fans to show up to the annual Red / White Game on April 23 — regardless of the weather; it’s a huge recruiting weekend, after all — Sooners coach Brent Venables revealed the format of the spring scrimmage.

Venables spent around 10 minutes explaining how he wanted his team to meet the high standards of OU’s rich college football history, and how he expected them to be supported by a fan base that meets the same standards.

Then he had something else to get off his chest.

“We’re gonna split the teams up,” Venables offered after his press conference ended. “We’re gonna split ‘em up and have a draft and go true Red/White. Kind of dummy down the game somewhat, because we’ll take our two best guards and we’ll put them on opposite teams, and we’ll take our two best tight ends and split ‘em up. We’ll be doing that kind of a format, just so you’ll know.”

OU fans may not have any country crooners to sing along to when the scrimmage unfolds in two weeks, but they’ll be able to welcome Baker Mayfield back as the university commemorates his 2017 Heisman Trophy by unveiling his “heroic-sized” statue in Heisman Park.

They’ll also be treated to their first real taste of the Venables era, coordinated by Jeff Lebby on offense and Ted Roof on defense. A new quarterback, nearly a dozen newcomers via the transfer portal, half the 2022 freshman class — there will be a lot for Sooner Nation to take in.

One popular method coaches use for spring scrimmages is to have the first-team offense go against the first-team defense, and No. 2 vs. No. 2, etc. Another is to have the 1 offense against the 2 defense, and the 2 offense against the 2 defense.

Venables said this year, the coaching staff will split up and simply select which players they want on each team.

“The coaches will draft their offense,” Venables said, “one will draft the defense, then one will draft the other offense — gonna do it like that, so we’ll split everybody up.”

The spring game was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, and in 2021 attendance was limited to 25 percent capacity.

But in 2018, an all-time record 52,000 fans braved chilly weather conditions to watch the Sooners scrimmage, and in 2019, attendance was estimated at 50,000 as Lincoln Riley made the spring game the centerpiece of his recruiting calendar. Venables wants to recapture that momentum — and then some.

“You know, everybody has a part,” he said Friday. “Everything that we do matters in this program. How we show up for the spring game matters. We're gonna have recruits here. It matters.

“We've talked about this program being one of the most tradition-rich and best programs in the history college football — then show up with some pride on the 23rd.”