At the Bye Week, Here Are Oklahoma's Midseason Awards

With seven games behind them and five (or six?) to go, AllSooners hands out the Sooners' MVP, Most Improved, Top Lineman, Best Transfer, Fab Freshman and Top Walk-On.

For Oklahoma, it’s past the halfway point of the 2022 college football season.

But with the Sooners’ open date falling after seven games, and with the mathematical possibility of a trip to the Big 12 title game and possible 13th data point still in play, it seems like a good time to hand out some midseason awards.

OU still has five games left on the schedule, starting with next week’s game at Iowa State and concluding with a road trip to Texas Tech. In fact, there are only two home games left (Baylor and OSU) with a long journey to Morgantown to face West Virginia in between.

Can the Sooners win out? Can they get the rest of the Big 12 to cannibalize itself enough that they can back into the No. 2 spot in the standings? A lot would have to happen with a 1-3 conference record, but as unlikely as it is, winning the Big 12 isn’t officially out of the discussion yet.

With that, let’s get to some midseason awards.

MVP: Brayden Willis

This could easily go to quarterback Dillon Gabriel. OU found out just how valuable he is when they played Texas without him, then beat Kansas with him. Yes, Gabriel is the most valuable Sooner, because without him, OU has no chance.

But nobody has played better than Brayden Willis, the senior tight end who’s getting a chance to shine this year — both in the pass game and the run game.

Brayden Willis / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Nobody works harder, and nobody tries harder. Willis is sure to be elected a captain at the team’s postseason banquet because he sets the curve for everyone else.

Look no further than his effort in the season opener, when he scored two touchdowns but said his favorite moment was blocking three defenders to spring Gavin Freeman for his first career touchdown.

Willis is second on the team with 20 catches and 312 yards receiving, leads the Sooners with five TD catches and showed his versatility at Nebraska (threw a touchdown pass to Marcus Major) and Texas (played wildcat quarterback and rushed for 20 yards).

Willis is the gold standard by which OU coaches can accurately judge the rest of the team.

Honorable mention: RB Eric Gray leads the team with 97 rushes for 695 yards and has five touchdowns. He’s averaging a career-best 99.3 yards per game and 7.2 yards per carry, and also has contributed 14 catches for 105 yards. Gray's confidence has surged, and his teammates have begun to follow his lead.

Defensive MVP: Incomplete

There’s just not a lot of options here. Is it Danny Stutsman or David Ugwoegbu, who led the team and rank among national leaders with 62 tackles each? Or is it Billy Bowman, the sophomore safety who hasn’t played lately — and it shows as the defense has been repeatedly gashed?

Billy Bowman :: Josh Callaway / SI Sooners

Reggie Grimes leads the Sooners with four sacks, but hasn’t been heard from in a while. Jalen Redmond and Ethan Downs have also posted numbers, but not much lately.

Even the big-play guys like DaShaun White and Key Lawrence haven’t been all that reliable lately. Cornerback Woodi Washington showed his value by rolling back and playing safety, but he’s struggled in coverage as well.

The fact is, no one has been consistently good enough.

Top O-Lineman: Anton Harrison

Several candidates have emerged here, but the general consensus is that left tackle Anton Harrison has been the Sooners’ best blocker up front.

Defenses have sacked Sooner QBs way too often, but most of those have been either simple coverage sacks or the quarterback just holding the football too long.

Anton Harrison (71) / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Harrison has been good in pass protection and in his run blocking assignments. A good portion of Eric Gray’s rushing success has come on the left side, where Harrison has become adept at collapsing the edge.

Honorable mention: Right guard Chris Murray is the first player to make a midseason award watch list (the Lombardi). Murray transferred from UCLA in 2020 and is a two-year starter who’s only gotten more confident in the new offense.

Most Improved: Jalil Farooq

Everyone knew Jalil Farooq was a talented prospect when he arrived out of Maryland last year, versatile enough to help in multiple areas and dynamic enough to produce big plays.

After what Lincoln Riley called “a pretty substantial hamstring injury” kept him out most of 2021, Farooq had a tantalizing Alamo Bowl performance, and he’s steadily gotten better and better this year.

Jalil Farooq :: Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports

Farooq is currently third on the team with 16 catches for 195 yards and scored his first career touchdown at Nebraska.

His efforts against Texas — five rushes for a team-leading 60 yards, including a little wildcat action — show what he’s capable of when times get tough. He’s still sharpening up his route-running against big-time defensive backs, so getting the football in his hands in other ways might be a smart play for Jeff Lebby moving forward.

Farooq also leads the Sooners with 163 yards on kickoff returns, including a 47-yard runback against TCU and is averaging a team-high 27.2 yards per return.

Honorable mention: Damond Harmon didn’t play much as a true freshman, getting into just seven games (mostly on special teams) and making four tackles (three in a 76-0 win over Western Carolina). This year, Harmon had emerged as a steady contributor and even moved into the starting lineup at safety before a scary neck injury at TCU. In five games, Harmon made 14 tackles, was solid in coverage and was definitely trending up.

Walk-On Wonder: Gavin Freeman

Most anyone who follows recruiting or high school football in Oklahoma knew Gavin Freeman was a steal when he decided to walk on at OU.

It won’t be long now until his faith in himself and his loyal to OU pays off with a scholarship.

Gavin Freeman :: Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports

Freeman showed his value in the season opener when he took his first career touch 46 yards for a touchdown on a reverse.

Then last week against Kansas, Freeman sprinted under a Dillon Gabriel deep ball and laid out for a 41-yard catch, leading to an OU touchdown.

Freeman is the son of former Sooner tight end Jason Freeman, and his high school highlights at OKC’s Heritage Hall show just how explosive he can be.

His highlights so far at OU — two plays, for the most part — show he has the tools to play D1 football.

Honorable mention: Justin Harrington has delivered a lot more than two big plays. The senior safety-turned-cheetah-turned-safety has played in all seven games and ranks 10th on the team with 20 tackles. After entering the transfer portal last season and then agreeing to return as a walk-on, the former junior college All-American has shown versatility and pop as one of OU’s backline defenders, including an interception and two passes broken up.

Freshman Sensation: Jovantae Barnes

With moderate external expectations on Eric Gray, this was supposed to be the year that Marcus Major emerges as a big-time runner at OU. And he may still.

But for now, freshman Jovantae Barnes has taken his opportunity and run with it.

Jovantae Barnes / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Barnes is second on the team with 72 carries — almost twice as many as Major’s 38 — and has rushed for 316 yards and is averaging a stout 4.4 yards per carry. He and Major each have rushed for four touchdowns (Gray leads the team with five), but it’s been Barnes who has steadily emerged as the Sooners’ No. 2 option.

Barnes was the Sooners’ only bright spot against TCU, with 100 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. He scored two more last week against Kansas, with 69 yards on 21 attempts. And his ability to move the football helped sustain drive after drive at Nebraska, where he rushed 13 times for 77 yards.

Barnes also has four pass receptions for 21 yards and is consistently picking up pass protection assignments.

Keep an eye on Barnes getting even more work as the season wears on and OU needs more options to move the chains.

Honorable mention: Jaren Kanak’s career-high 11 tackles came at Nebraska, where coach Brent Venables lovingly said Kanak “has no idea what he’s doing.” But while Kanak’s time dropped off during OU’s losing streak, he’s stood out several times on special teams, has played in every game and now ranks ninth on the team with 21 tackles. Also, with the injury to Billy Bowman, safety Robert Spears-Jennings could be emerging at safety, especially impressing the coaches with his big hit against Kansas.

Portal Power: Dillon Gabriel

A handful of Sooners have emerged from the NCAA Transfer Portal with a renewed focus on jumpstarting their careers in 2022.

But none have had a bigger impact than quarterback UCF’S Dillon Gabriel.

Dillon Gabriel :: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

Gabriel is averaging 269.7 yards per game through the air, including 403 last week against Kansas. He also has 13 TD throws and last week threw his first interception of the season.

Through six games, Gabriel has drawn criticism for missing throws to open receivers, but he’s still completing 65.14 percent of his passes (that would rank just outside of OU’s all-time top 10 seasons), and his passer efficiency rating is 166.18 (that would rank ninth in school history).

Gabriel is the quintessential leader for this team, and he’ll be the MVP if he stays healthy and can help orchestrate a memorable turnaround.

Honorable mention: Wyoming cornerback C.J. Coldon didn’t play much early but has interceptions in each of his last two games, including a spectacular one-hander last week against Kansas. Cal’s McKade Mettauer looked a little overwhelmed at first at left guard, but he’s settled in nicely and has become an effective blocker. Missouri tight end Daniel Parker missed a couple early games but has been an effective blocker and is better than advertised as a receiver. North Carolina safety Trey Morrison is 11th on the team with 19 tackles and is one of a few defenders who showed some fight against Texas. Hawaii defensive end Jonah Laulu has 10 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Tulane noseguard Jeffery Johnson has gotten the most snaps of any transfer on defense.