Three Takeaways From Oklahoma's Spring Game

Brent Venables' second spring at Oklahoma closed with the 2023 spring game on Saturday.

NORMAN — Oklahoma closed the spring period with its annual spring game on Saturday.

The contest peeled back the curtain for a few hours, offering Sooner fans their first chance to see a number of new freshmen and transfers.

OU’s offense got off to a slow start, but eventually the aerial attack started to find its footing.

Ultimately, the White Team topped the Red Team 84-82, handing the defense the victory.

Here are three quick takeaways from Oklahoma’s spring game:

Defense Stands Tall

Though the odd scoring system was abandoned in the first half, the defense was the clear winner of the spring game.

Oklahoma’s offense didn’t get into the end zone until the second quarter, when Dillon Gabriel connected with Jalil Farooq.

Indiana transfer Dasan McCullough was everywhere, triggering quickly to disrupt plays all over the field. OU’s new cheetah had two tackles and one pass breakup by halftime, representative of the impact he had early on.

The secondary also looked confident, reacting to the picture in front of them as opposed to thinking their way through each play.

Tip the Freshmen

Oklahoma’s trio of 5-star signees, Jackson Arnold, Peyton Bowen and P.J. Adebawore, all debuted in the spring game on Saturday.

Arnold got off to a slow start against the first team defense, getting a handful of his initial passes tipped at the line of scrimmage.

Despite completing 3-of-9 passes for 22 yards in the first half, Arnold did show off his arm strength, powering the ball through the wind on Owen Field.

Arnold tucked the ball on his first drive, scampering for a 60-yard touchdown run that was called back after Brent Venables declared Danny Stutsman got a hand on his blue jersey.

The quarterback closed the game on a high, finding Gavin Freeman for a 30-yard score in the fourth quarter, putting a nice finish on his day.

Bowen, Arnold’s roommate, announced himself as well.

The highly-touted safety hauled in an interception on the second drive of the game, tracking Gabriel’s pass down while holding off wide receiver Andrel Anthony.

Receiver By Committee

With Marvin Mims, Brayden Willis and Eric Gray all looking to be drafted next weekend, the Sooners will have to build receiver depth behind Farooq and Drake Stoops.

One scrimmage was never going to reveal this fall’s rotation, but offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was happy to spread the ball around on Saturday.

Ten different players caught passes in the first half alone, and running back Gavin Sawchuk paced the group with four catches in the opening two quarters.

Farooq and Stoops were the only other receivers who caught multiple passes in the first half, and D.J. Graham got in on the fun in the third quarter.

Oklahoma didn’t rotate through many wide receivers last year, but if the spring game is any indication, they’ll have plenty of options this fall alongside Farooq and Stoops.