Spring game thoughts?

[Fly]

Ok let’s hear what you Slackers think, Over all, on both side of the ball?

Fly

[WishBone]

Offense Looked Good with JA @ the Helm.......other than that Vanilla?
Defense looked like they could be a dominant force in months to come.

Wasnt there Just TV'd it

[Fly]

I also liked Hawkins ability at running & throwing. Playing behind a backup offensive line, did not help him. But that kid is very
talented. I can see him making some big plays in the future.he is a diamond in the ruff right now. JA the real deal.

Fly

[pippen]

For some unknown reason they played music from the scoreboard throughout the entire "game". Couldn't even hear the PA announcer half the time. Seemed weird to me, but I'm just an irrelevant old man. Past that, the Burks kid looked like a superstar, and he just might be. Gibson needs to make contested catches more often than not. He didn't today. Hester had a couple of nice grabs. The o-line did not look very good. Frankly, I think the D took it easy on them, but even at that there were at least 5 times Arnold would have been sacked in a real game - past the one or two they gave the D on him. Agree that the Hawkins kid looked pretty good. Arnold throws an exceptional deep ball. Was not overly impressed with the defense, but definitely not depressed (unlike some years), and that's probably (no, definitely) tainted by the big plays given up to Burkes. Too early to tell much of anything really, but it was a fun trip.

[soonershok]

I thought Burkes looked like the real deal. O and D line were just meh to me. Not sure why but that's what I thought. I think Arnold is too slow at getting rid of the ball. Not as bad as last season but still too slow. I thought Hawkins looked better than he did in High School. Very elusive and good arm strength. I didn't feel like we used the TE enough...no different than previous years. I think the punter Logan is good. I think the kicker from FSU looks pretty decent even though he missed a kick during the game...at least there was plenty of leg.

[SoonerMike]

Lots of young talent on this team. They all played, so at times we looked weak, and less time also our established defensive players. Hicks is the real deal. Hawkins looked promising. Thought new offensive coordinators have done a good job. We have some talent, now we just have to produce in games.

[captnop]

Random thoughts

Burks is as advertised, the real deal. Hester had some catches too.

JFA looked more relaxed, several good throws and runs.

The running backs Franklin and Hicks had some good runs, Sawchuck was in for a little bit, of course he looked good too. IF everyone stays healthy we should be good a RB this year ( knock in wood).

Hawkins has some raw tools. He needs to work on refining it, but he could be an elite QB.

The D was Not blitzing and I think they were not going full speed. So they wouldn't get hurt and they wouldn't hurt anyone. Bogonawski ( I probably messed up the spelling) look good . Stone had some good plays.
Gracen Halton ( 2 sacks) and P.J. Adebawore looked good and worked good together. Sears got a sack.

The Heniecke ( Hope I got close) kid looks as big and as fast as Stusman. I think he's a Sr. Hopefully he can contribute. Kanak looked good too.

Booty had some good passes and had a long run for a TD.

Peyton Bowen was fielding punts and looked good.

Trey Brown had some catches.

[OU Chinaman]

...NCAA rule changes and the HC's reluctance to risk any injuries have reduced college football's SPRING GAMES to little more than well-rehearsed skits.
Very little to be gleaned other than noting athletic ability.
Speed, throwing, catching, kicking can be demonstrated, but not in the context of an actual "real world competitive game."
(More like super models walking a runway, or bodybuilders posing on a stage.) IMO.

The first game Friday night with Temple will tell us infinitely more about the 2024 SEC SOONERS than any SPRING GAME ever could or will.
Saturday was just an appetizer to help hold off the hunger pangs during the long hot summer ahead.

[soonershok]

....Where the heck was Barnes?????????????????

[OUGENO]

I thought the Spring game was very good and better than last year. I think this team will be very good against the BIG BAD SEC I am certain they will be just fine.

[ColleyvilleSooner]

Although the Spring game typically doesn't reveal much, I thought Tarquin did a decent job at LT. I am very curious if Sexton will stay at LG and Tarquin at LT in the fall. RT didn't look as good. I noticed highly touted true freshman Eugene Brooks worked with the second team at RG. I realize G. Hatchett is injured but I see Brooks as being in the rotation next season. Overall the OL remains a big question mark.

I liked the play of Gracen Halton at DT. He has great quickness and can slide off the blocks and pursue the quarterback. I can see him as a solid starter. I am hoping he puts on more weight and is over 290 for the upcoming season.

I didn't focus much on the other positions as our OL and DL are the biggest concerns.

[StatesEye]

As always, the coaches saw a lot more from the Spring Game than any of us ever will.

The first team OL was surprisingly good in pass pro against the mostly "second team" DL. The OL convincingly won the battel in this area, IMO. As far as the run game and rush defense is concerned when these two units were engaged....IDK. I didn't see enough. More on this later.

Anyone not name Burkes was pretty much shut down. The "second team" back seven looked great in pass coverage for most of the day. This is the main reason for JA's lackluster completion percentage. The OL gave JA plenty of time under a basic pass rush from the "second team" DL, but there wasn't much there except for the few times Burkes broke free. However, we will only need a few times a game for Burkes to break free next season. He is DANGEROUS! Holy smokes! For most other times JA pulled the trigger receivers lost the battle against tight, tight, tight and contested catch attempts. This was the general theme over the first three drives where first team O went against "second team" D.

The mostly "first team" DL laid waste to the second team's OL pass protection most of the day.....wasn't even close. The OL was embarrassed on every single pass play. Hawkins and Ivan Carreon (Fr, 6-6, 219 lbs) had a couple of wonderful connections on the sideline early, but that was shut down the rest of the game. Carreon is a fantastic looking specimen. We'll hear more from him going forward. Hawkins was great avoiding what was an overwhelming pass rush. But you can only do so much. Hawkins look to be a very high-level talent. I would love to get a gander of him behind the first team OL.

Defense.....
This team will field and excellent defense. There just isn't much space in the passing lanes. Everything is contested....except for when Burkes gets lose. No team will make a living trying to get to the outside against this defense. Odds are that such plays will result in TFL's. There seems to be blazingly fast head hunters everywhere in the back seven and there will be names you have not given much thought that will come to the forefront this season. The DL will eat alive the OL's of Temple, Houston, Tulane, South Carolina and Maine. The teams that can keep OU's front four pass rush in check will find it very, very difficult to consistently move the ball down the field throwing the football. It will take the talent level akin to JA and Burkes to get the big play in the air. Of course, there are probably a few teams in the SEC with that capability.

Offense....
We should all be jumping for joy at where the first team OL is in it's development. It's far beyond anything I could have hoped for. Bedenbaugh is an absolute master miracle worker. The defense out there during the spring game is better than the one last year by a wide margin. That defense embarrassed one of the better OL's in the country against Arizona's during the Alamo Bowl much like they did against OU's second team OL in the spring game. Go back and watch that game again if you don't believe me. The first team OL during the spring game completely neutralized the "second team" defense's basic pass rush. Unless you have a shutdown back seven like the one I think OU will have this year, then giving JA that much time to find targets like Pettaway, Gibson and Burkes; much less those three with the addition of Anderson, Farooq and Anthony; is a recipe for giving up tons of points. Lastly, on the offense as a whole, it's interesting that Brown (Michigan State transfer) and Howland (Washington transfer that started on UW's playoff team) did not find a starting role on the OL during the spring game. Hmmmm.

Good or Bad?......
Both defensive units LB's still show the tendency to get their eyes drawn to trash during misdirection plays leading to abandonment of gap assignments and big gash running plays. Together, Hicks, Franklin and Sawchuck averaged 5.44 yards/carry, and most of that production was on such plays. On the other hand (especially for Hicks), to get those type of plays the RBs showed great vision and explosiveness to take advantage. Still, a couple of those were scoring plays. Those kind of plays make a big difference in close games.
Both Gibson and Pettaway lost more than one battle in close-quarters tight-coverage situations. I mean, who do you want to win these types of matchups in the spring game?

Disappointing......
Missed a 45 yard field goal Yep, that's a long one, but there will be a game next year when we will need it. This is still a concern.
TE. I've had high hopes that TE production would pick up with the addition of Bauer Sharpe (6-4, 250 lbs). There has been nothing but good reports about him during all of spring practice. He was supposed to be one of JA's favorite targets. He got one pass attempt his way which Michael Boganowski (6-2, 212) made a bad memory for Bauer Sharpe.

Names/units that stood out for me....
Deion Burkes....duh
First Team OL
Second Team DL
Back Seven of both defensive units
Owen Heinecke (R-So, LB, 6-2, 228)
Kani Walker (R-Jr, DB, 6-2, 208)
Ivan Carreon (Fr, WR, 6-6, 219)
Michael Boganowski (Fr, DB, 6-2, 212)

Correction.... Hatchett (not Howland) is the Washington transfer and he did not play due to injury.

[captnop]

No One at the game mentioned Barnes, but I think Since he's had injury issues, the thought was why risk it.

[RussC]

....Where the heck was Barnes?????????????????

Apparently he is not in OU’s plans?

[Fly]

Some Great comments from you guys. Chinaman some s it up very good, in that’s not the play we will see in a game. We know that,
of corse but it is some what of a gauge. It shows we will be good in our over all with receivers. Our OL needs have been helped. QB,s
Looking good. Hard to say about Defense with them playing under control. My biggest question is are we going to have a Identity
In the type of Offense we run? We look like a Plan Jane style of foot ball. In the past when we played the wishbone, or Mike Leach
type offenses it was harder for teams to prepare for us. I know the ole saying it is not the X & O,s it’s the Jimmy & Joes that win
football games. But even with that said having your own brand of style of offense brings in kids that fit that style, & keeps the
team more in sink to what type of system they learned the year before. My point is this, the wishbone days we got our best running
Backs, Washington, Sim,s ect. Stoops years we got the best QB,s & receivers. Those offenses made a difference. JMOHOP.

Fly