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Practice Observations From Oklahoma's Second Week of Fall Camp

A portion of practice was opened to the media on Monday as the Sooners kick off their second week of fall camp in Norman.

Ryan Chapman

Practice Observations From Oklahoma's Second Week of Fall Camp
Practice Observations From Oklahoma's Second Week of Fall Camp /
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As Oklahoma moved into its second week of fall camp, the Sooners moved practice to the Rugby Fields. Monday, the program opened up the first 40 minutes of practice to local media members to observe the proceedings.

AllSooners.com had four staff members — John Hoover, Ryan Chapman, Randall Sweet and Tim Willert — on hand to observe practice.

NORMAN — Last year, OU coach Brent Venables was excited to move a portion of fall camp to Oklahoma’s Rugby Fields as it brought a different energy to the final practice days before the season kicks off.

That energy was felt immediately, as quarterback Dillon Gabriel attempted a summersault at the center of the team to close down the stretching portion of Monday’s practice.

But the team quickly locked back in, diving straight into their individual drills.

  • Gabriel and Jackson Arnold continued to work one after another as Jeff Lebby coached his quarterbacks through some drills throwing on air.
  • In rapid succession, Arnold threw beautiful passes to the left, middle and right that were all right on target.  
  • While Davis Beville’s arm strength continued to be on full display, the touch that both Gabriel and Arnold put on passes set them apart from both Beville and General Booty.
  • Tight ends Blake Smith and Jason Llewellyn were both busy, shuttling between blocking drills and running routes on air with teammates Austin Stogner, Josh Fanuiel and Kade McIntyre.
  • Veteran running back Marcus Major also showed off leadership with the running backs, as position coach DeMarco Murray didn’t have to critique much from the redshirt senior as he carried the football.
  • Murray, a self-described perfectionist, did get after several young running backs during the gauntlet drill. With Murray either throwing a medicine ball at his pupils as they came through the gauntlet or signaling them with a tackling dummy which direction to run, Murray conducted the drill with his usual intensity. When one young running back slipped and fell coming out of the chute, Murray stopped the drill and just stared at him.
  • Defensively, true freshman Peyton Bowen continued to look impressive in the open field, closing down space quickly during kickoff return drills.
  • Once the team broke out into individual drills, safeties Billy Bowman and Reggie Pearson set the tone with the defensive backs, stepping up to take the first reps and model the drills for the rest of the defensive backs.
  • Ever present around the defense, Venables primarily bounced between the secondary and the linebackers during the portion of drills that was able to be viewed by the media. 
  • Jacob Lacey, the transfer from defensive tackle who Venables said was dealing with blood clots, was practicing with his teammates but was wearing a blue "no-contact" jersey.
  • In the pre-practice segment where defensive linemen hit a resistance sled, defensive end Rondell Bothroyd and defensive tackle Da'Jon Terry, both transfers, stacked repeated good reps and delivered powerful blows to the dummy pad each time. 
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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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