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Why DB Peyton Bowen is Ready to Hit the Ground Running as a Freshman at Oklahoma

The 5-star true freshman is turning heads at fall camp while learning a variety of different positions in Brent Venables' defense.

Ryan Chapman

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NORMAN — Peyton Bowen isn’t shying away from expectations as a true freshman.

Oklahoma landed the 5-star safety after a dramatic final 48 hours to his recruitment last winter, but Bowen was still able to enroll early and go through spring practice with the Sooners.

As a result, he’s already built a comfort level that has him dreaming of a fast start to his OU career.

“I’m still going to try and be that star player that I’m supposed to come here to be,” Bowen said after Oklahoma practice concluded on Tuesday. “I feel like now that I’m learning the defense, now I know my job, I can play my brand of football. And just fly around the field and make tackles, make interceptions, plays on the ball at almost every play because that’s the difference maker I need to be.”

Bowen’s high expectations come with an understanding that college football won’t be easy.

He’s as prepared as anyone, playing high-level football in Texas at Denton Guyer High School, but Bowen is happy to take on any challenge.

“I just want to get thrown in the fire, see what I have to learn to get better at,” he said. “That's the only way you can learn is losing. You're going to lose some reps as a true freshman against these older guys who've gotten all this work.”

Thankfully for Bowen, he hasn’t had to endure many losses to learn throughout the early stages of his career.

He starred all over the field in high school, routinely flipping momentum with interceptions and massive kickoff returns on special teams.

Versatility was a calling card of Bowen’s in high school, and he doesn’t want that to change in Norman.

As spring practice progressed, Bowen grasped Brent Venables’ complicated defense, allowing the coaching staff to move him around a bit more in fall camp.

Venables even confirmed Bowen is one of the bodies working at the cheetah linebacker spot along with getting looks at safety at the start of camp, joining Dasan McCullough, Justin Harrington and Reggie Pearson.

The ability to play multiple positions will only offer the defensive staff more opportunities to get Bowen’s ball hawk mentality on the field in 2023.

“I have moved around a lot,” Bowen said. “… It’s been a challenge but I'm doing great at it. I feel like every day I'm getting better at it. Obviously it's like not perfect because I'm still learning five different positions and I get put in at different places.

“So like every time we learn a new install I'm learning it at this position but they put me at a different position that day. So it's kind of difficult but I'm taking it as a challenge.

“I’m going to keep pushing through it and just do my thing and just learn it so that it comes easier when it's game time.”

Bowen’s progress to digest the playbook has been aided by the veterans in the secondary.

Billy Bowman and Key Lawrence both logged snaps in the scheme last year, and Texas Tech transfer Reggie Pearson has seen a lot of football throughout his career.

The entire group of safeties takes it as a challenge to ensure everyone is on the same page mentally, trying to prevent any weak links from appearing.

That competition day-in and day-out has gotten the best out of Bowen.

“You've got to keep your job around here,” he said. “It's not, you can't just take every day lightly.

“Someone's coming to try and compete for your position. Iron sharpens iron.”

The battle for playing time has fueled even more growth out of Bowen, as he can already feel a difference in his play since spring ball, allowing him to compete for a role once the season kicks off in September.

“I’ve grown a lot technique-wise,” he said. “Like my technique is getting a lot better. It’s still not perfect… So, that’s still one of the things in my game that I think I need to get better at every day.

“… I’ve grown a lot though eye discipline-wise and not just trying to be the hero anymore just do my job and then let the game take it over from there.”

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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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