Oklahoma Spring Game Showcases Playmakers, But More Help is Needed

The Sooner offense is replete with speed and dynamic playmakers, but a handful of potential newcomers in the trenches were watching from the stands.

Deion Burks touchdown / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

NORMAN — Confirmed from Oklahoma’s spring scrimmage on Saturday:

The Sooners have all the offensive playmakers necessary to compete in the Southeastern Conference. 

The offensive line, however, is going to continue to need work.

Lots of work.

Speed, explosiveness, shiftiness, ball skills, power — the OU offense is replete with playmakers. That much was true going into Saturday. Now it’s official. Gavin Sawchuk, Kalib Hicks, Jayden Gibson, Deion Burks, Jaquaize Pettaway — they all have game-changing talent. 

And more than a few of the Sooners’ best skill position players — wideouts Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony and Brenen Thompson, for instance — didn’t even play in the Red/White Game that finished off OU’s spring practice efforts.

Ultimately, the Red team — that is, the offense — beat the White in a 65-58 victory that created applause and gave pause to the thousands in attendance.

Those who did play wowed the crowd at Memorial Stadium. Burks scored touchdowns of 64 and 50 yards on deep throws from Jackson Arnold for the first-team offense. Hicks scored up the middle on a 30-yard run in the first quarter for the second-team offense, and his 16-yard burst in the second quarter left OU tacklers wondering if sorcery was at play.

That number included a massive gathering of what Venables had advertised as “more than a hundred” recruits who watched from the southeast corner, both high school prospects over four recruiting classes and transfer portal candidates from around the country.

Some of those recruits — especially the big ones who make their living in the trenches — no doubt saw opportunity on Saturday.

The first team offensive line, for example, consisted of five newcomers: transfer Michael Tarquin at left tackle, junior Jacob Sexton at left guard, redshirt freshman Josh Bates at center, transfer Febechi Nwaiwu at right guard and third-year sophomore Jake Taylor at right tackle.

The backup rotation consisted of three true freshmen, two redshirt freshmen and a transfer.

Clearly, Brent Venables and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh are going to be actively pursuing transfer portal candidates over the next 10 days.

The promising part, of course, is that if Jackson Arnold (and Michael Hawkins on Saturday, although backup Casey Thompson stood nearby still recovering from last year’s knee injury) — gets enough pass protection, and if Sawchuk and Hicks and other runners get enough space, the Sooner offense should be able to score this fall.

That’ll still be tough against one of college football’s most daunting schedules — a schedule of teams whose defensive lines are certainly more formidable than Oklahoma’s was on Saturday.

OU’s defensive interior — playing without experienced fifth-year senior Da’Jon Terry — included two true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen, but at least goes into the summer with depth and plenty of experience from players like Terry and Ethan Downs and Trace Ford and R Mason Thomas and P.J. Adebawore and Caiden Woullard. Adding talent like David Stone and Jayden Jackson on the inside will make a difference. Those two rookies had plenty of rookie moments, but also showed tons of promise alongside the likes of Gracen Halton, Ashton Sanders and Davon Sears.

The OU back seven also looked OK when they weren’t waving to Burks. Returning starters like Billy Bowman, Woodi Washington and Gentry Williams sat out, but that created opportunity for players like Michael Boganowski (a couple of teeth-rattling hits), Kani Walker (active in both coverage and run support), Reggie Powers and Dez Malone.

The second half consisted of mostly freshmen, newcomers, backups and walk-ons, although third-team quarterback General Booty entertained the masses by opening the third quarter with a 32-yard touchdown run.

Arnold’s first Red/White Game as QB1 was a success — 10-of-20 for 233 yards with two TDs — even though his completion percentage will need to be higher in the future.

Burks caught five passes for 174 yards and two scores in the first half alone, while Hicks had seven carries for 51 yards and a TD, and Samuel Franklin ran 10 times for 54 yards before halftime.