NORMAN — As Oklahoma took the field for its annual Red and White spring game, Oklahoma Memorial Stadium had a different feel to it.
There were no signs of the Big 12 on the field or around the stadium; the flags flying in the south end zone that used to represent the Sooners' conference foes were replaced with red-and-white pennants. The Big 12 logos were nowhere to be seen on the Sooners' uniform, either.
The opening stanza of a new chapter of Oklahoma football started being written Saturday at Owen Field in what was the final look at Team 130 before the Sooners officially join the SEC on July 1. It wasn't a full-fledged game, but it was the closest thing we'll get until the Aug. 30 opener against Temple.
Oklahoma went offense (Red Team) vs. defense (White Team) for four 12-minute quarters, with a funky scoring system to spruce up the mundaneness of a typical spring game. The result was a 65-58 win for the Red Team, which sealed the victory with a late rushing touchdown by walk-on running back Chapman McKown.
And with that, the Sooners put a bow on their third spring under head coach Brent Venables, as the team will reconvene in the summer for strength-and-conditioning training, and then fall camp ahead of Oklahoma's inaugural SEC season. So, before the offseason officially begins in Norman, here are Sooners Illustrated's quick takeaways from Saturday's Red and White game.
Deion Burks is the real deal
Buy your stock in Deion Burks while you still can, because the transfer out of Purdue certainly looks like a star in the making and someone who will be a favorite target for starting quarterback Jackson Arnold.
Burks, who has been a standout throughout the spring, continued that with a grand introduction to Sooners fans Saturday at Owen Field. Burks was electric in the first half of the Red and White game, hauling in five passes for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns from Arnold, who was 10-of-20 for 233 yards and two passing touchdowns. The two touchdowns went for 64 and 50 yards, and the 5-foot-9 Burks flashed his speed and athleticism in the open field—while also providing a hint of just how Oklahoma plans to utilize him this fall.
While Burks may have been drawn to Oklahoma by how the team used Drake Stoops in the slot last season, when Stoops led the team with 84 receptions for 962 yards and 10 touchdowns, it's evident early on that the Sooners plan to use Burks a bit differently. While Stoops was reliable and surehanded, he averaged just 11.45 yards per reception and had an average depth of target of 7.6 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Stoops had a handful of deep targets in 2023, but it's clear that Burks has a more natural ability to stretch the field vertically from the slot position.
That makes for an intriguing addition to a room that already features deep threats like Jayden Gibson and Nic Anderson. That's a promising development for this offense heading into the 2024 season.
The offensive line may be in a better spot than expected
There has been plenty of concern surrounding Oklahoma's offensive line this offseason, as the Sooners have had to replace every regular starter from last season's starting unit—as well as multiple other players who made at least one start in 2023—while returning just two players who had multiple starts last fall (Jacob Sexton and Troy Everett). Those concerns were exacerbated when Everett went down with a knee injury midway through spring that will sideline him for the better part of fall camp, if not longer.
However, Oklahoma's offensive line situation may not be as dire as initially expected, if Saturday's spring game is any indication. The Sooners' starting unit, at the very least, looked impressive and held up well in the Red and White game. That unit featured USC transfer Michael Tarquin at left tackle, Sexton at left guard, redshirt freshman Joshua Bates at center, North Texas transfer Febechi Nwaiwu at right guard and Jake Taylor at right tackle. That five-man group held up well against the pass-rush and did fine in run-blocking against the second-unit defense, including paving the way for a Gavin Sawchuk rushing touchdown in the first half.
The second group on the offensive line, however, left plenty to be desired with a unit that included left tackle Logan Howland, left guard Heath Ozaeta, center Josh Aisosa, right guard Eguene Brooks and right tackle Spencer Brown. The Sooners still stand to add a piece, or maybe two, in the transfer portal now that spring is in the books, as an upgrade will certainly be welcome to the room.
Promising signs from the defensive line
It's hard to put too much stock into anything you see during a spring game, and that was certainly the case with Oklahoma's defense, which is widely expected to be the strength of this team come the fall. On Saturday, though, we didn't get a full look at that veteran-clad unit—for a couple of different reasons.
For one, Oklahoma wanted to keep things pretty vanilla defensively without giving too much away in its first spring with Zac Alley as defensive coordinator. The Sooners also held out several key pieces on that side of the ball, including safety Billy Bowman Jr., cornerbacks Woodi Washington and Gentry Williams, and defensive tackle Da'Jon Terry.
While the defense didn't always impose its will in the spring game, there were promising signs from the defensive line—especially when it comes to some newcomers and returning players looking to step into larger roles. Defensive tackle Gracen Halton was impressive while leading the starting unit on the interior, while senior Ethan Downs has a productive first half. Both registered sacks against the second-team offense. Sophomore Adepoju Adebawore also looked like a force to be reckoned with off the edge while getting work with the ones and the twos. Freshman standouts Jayden Jackson and David Stone also had their moments at the line of scrimmage Saturday and made some big plays up front.
If that defensive line can continue to progress through the offseason, it should bode well for the Sooners' prospects this fall as that unit looks to continue an upward trajectory.