All Sooners

Oklahoma Early Enrollees: Peyton Bowen Says a Big 12 Championship Can 'Get That Name Back'

The Sooners might not have an immediate and pressing need for safety help, but Bowen has the kind of skills and instincts that may allow him to push for playing time in 2023.

John E. Hoover

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Editor’s Note: This is Part 4 of a 14-part series on Oklahoma’s early enrollees in the 2023 recruiting class.

Many times, graduating high school early and launching one’s college football career pays off. Many times, it doesn’t.

While early enrollees are navigating new realms of pain and commitment, a lot of their friends are back home — playing basketball, running track or just hanging out and taking full advantage of the affliction known as “senioritis.”

In Oklahoma’s case, 14 newcomers have chosen to make that sudden transition from boys to men. Jerry Schmidt’s winter workouts might seem impossible at first, and then the summer grind is even harder. In between, the coaching staff takes over, and spring football practice puts them ahead of their summer counterparts.

In this series, AllSooners examines each of the 14 newcomers and projects their impact on Brent Venables’ football team in 2023.

— — — —

Peyton Bowen isn’t worried about playing for a first-time head coach at Oklahoma. Remember, he had been comfortably committed to Notre Dame for almost a year. Then he shockingly flipped to Oregon on National Signing Day.

All three programs are guided by long-time assistants who’d never sat in the big chair before 2022.

But while Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish and Dan Lanning’s Ducks posted a winning record in their debut season, Brent Venables’ Sooners went just 6-7.

And Bowen is perfectly OK with all of that.

“I kind of saw the situation,” Bowen told AllSooners. “Like, Coach Venables got put in a very poor situation in my opinion, and he had to start and practically scratched and clawed his way to almost positive record. And we almost beat the 13th team in the country in a bowl game.”

S Peyton Bowen

  • 6-0, 185
  • Denton, TX
  • 247 Sports: 5-star, No. 13 overall, No. 2 S
  • Rivals: 5-star, No. 10 overall, No. 2 S
  • On3: 5-star, No. 15 overall, No. 2 S
  • ESPN: 5-star, No. 14 overall, No. 2 S

Background: Helped lead Denton Guyer to a 28-3 record in his final two seasons as a starter, anchoring the back end of the Wildcats’ defense with consistency and big-play ability. Bowen also played offense and was astonishingly good returning kicks, but his forte is defense, where his confidence and experience blend with an extremely high football IQ. He’s a settling presence, but he also delivers the goods: more than 200 tackles, 12 interceptions and 23 passes defensed in his three years as a starter.

2023 Projection: With the graduation of Justin Broiles and Trey Morrison and a swarm of transfer portal defections, expect Peyton Bowen to slide into the two-deep immediately — it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him listed as the starter for the spring game. Key Lawrence and Billy Bowman have plenty of experience and big-game production to lock down two spots, and Damond Harmon, Robert Spears-Jennings and Justin Harrington have delivered key plays as well. But Bowen’s addition to the safety spot could facilitate a move to nickel back for someone.

Bowen has explained ad nauseam why he finally chose Oklahoma over Oregon and Notre Dame — proximity to his home in Denton, TX, girlfriend on the OU soccer team, best friend Jackson Arnold is the Sooners’ new quarterback, strong relationship with Venables, Brandon Hall, Jay Valai and the Oklahoma coaching staff — but he also recently explained why he’s so excited to get to Norman for the current semester, begin winter workouts and take part in spring practice.

“I think we can win a Big 12 championship and get that name back that we had all those years before,” Bowen said. “And then yeah, win our bowl game, get a get a — get two rings, hopefully. Stuff like that.”

Bowen said his goals for his freshman season are to win a starting job and earn Freshman All-America honors.

Peyton Bowen
Peyton Bowen :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

”It’s s a great opportunity to do that so close to home and share that with all my family,” he said.

Whether it’s one of the two safety positions or the nickelback (or the hybrid cheetah position or somewhere in between), Bowen’s teammates have similar designs on 2023. He’ll have to work for it. But Venables is confident that Bowen will have as good a chance as anyone.

“Peyton brings a tremendous skill set, dynamics, instincts, speed, just great, great instincts, natural feel for the game,” Venables said. “He is a winner. Comes from one of the best high school programs in the country, Denton Guyer. He is going to bring a wealth of experience playing at a very high level from a competition standpoint. He is a humble, hardworking guy.

“Just really excited to add another dynamic piece to what we are trying to build — on both sides of the ball, but obviously Peyton in the return game and on defense in particular.”

Bowen realized while in Orlando practicing for the Under Armour All-America Game that he wasn’t where he needed to be to step into a program like OU and immediately competing for a starting job. He’s got a lot of work to do.

“They're getting us ready for college,” Bowen said of the Under Armour coaches. “That was the goal out of all this was to get some work against the best and come out here and compete. See how college life is gonna be.

Oklahoma’s 2023 early enrollees

“I got started on my conditioning (and) lifting early so we'll see how that goes. Just ready to get going. … Just like, getting healthy.

“And then ... I think in high school, I was getting like, a little lax. So I need to get my work ethic back up just to, like, get in that competing mindset again, you know, to go out there, get my starting position so I can start as a freshman.”

Bowen is all too happy to remind everyone he grew up a devout Clemson fan, so when Venables replaced Lincoln Riley at OU, he was immediately drawn to the Sooners.

Peyton Bowen
Peyton Bowen :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

“Having that so close to home … for me, it was just like my heart was always in it. Like, I just thought that was the best decision for me. Just seeing that and being like a longtime Clemson fan and seeing Venables’ defense work for so long.

“ … So I mean, I see a lot of potential, especially with this class, in what Venables is going to be doing for that defense. It's been tried and true already. Like, we’ve seen it work.”

All the craziness of recruiting is behind him. Bowen turned off social media, got in his own space, felt what was right for him and chose Oklahoma. Now he’s learning the trials and triumphs of Jerry Schmidt’s offseason workouts.

“It’s been a crazy process,” he said, “but I'm happy with my decision.”

“I am incredibly proud,” said Venables, “that he chose the Sooners.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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