2019 LONGHORN SCHEDULE
game against a puffed up little brother on the
phenomenal spread-option quarterback in
The big question marks everyone mentions
slate to help restore pride.
Hurts, they weren’t able to get as much value
with Oklahoma are whether they have
out of their best spread-option play, the GT
enough talent at receiver and if redshirt
The 2019 Oklahoma Sooners were a touch
counter-read. Their tackles were beat up
freshman Spencer Rattler is REALLY going
overrated. They coasted on a reputation built
much of the year and struggled to get the
to be able to maintain the standard that Riley
by a big performance against Texas and then
pulls right. But Riley and offensive line coach
has established at quarterback in Norman.
a parting of the Red Sea in league play.
Bill Bedenbaugh didn’t just throw their hands up in defeat, they drew up some other gap
On the former question, the concerns about
They narrowly scraped by a Baylor team
schemes that featured the guards and built
wide receiver are probably overblown. Yes
quarterbacked by an increasingly beat-up
a power run game with an interior line that
CeeDee Lamb is off to the Cowboys, yes
and situationally unaware Charlie Brewer,
went:
Trejan Bridges will be suspended for five
barely overcame Jalen Hurts turnovers against TCU and Iowa State, faced an Oklahoma State team missing Tylan Wallace and Spencer Sanders, and were finally obliterated by LSU in the playoffs.
games and Jadon Haselwood tore his ACL, Marquis Hayes: 6-5, 344 pounds - 4-star recruit from Missouri Creed Humphrey: 6-5, 307 pounds
and Marshall to fill out their wide receiver depth chart to a functional level.
- 4-star recruit from Oklahoma Tyrese Robinson: 6-3, 330 pounds
Their favorable draw, facing many of
they had to summon transfers from UCLA
- 4-star recruit from DFW
the league’s better teams at their worst
However, the Sooners return H-backs Brayden Willis and Jeremiah Hall from 2019, Y receiver/flex tight end Austin Stogner,
moments, combined favorably with Jalen
All three of those guys return, along with
and still have Charleston Rambo and Theo
Hurts having the toughness and durability to
2019’s starting tackles (Erik Swenson and
Wease waiting in the wings. This team will
handle getting 22.5 carries per game during
Adrian Ealy) and then some rising talents
likely spend most of their time in the 21
the stretch run and Big 12 championship.
like redshirt freshman Stacey Wilkins. The
spread sets, playing with Stogner and one of
offensive line will be extra potent in the
the H-backs like they did with Dmitri Flowers
The 2020 Sooners are going to be pretty
power run game and potentially closer to
and Mark Andrews in 2017, and requiring
different.
2017 or 2018 in terms of executing GT
only two wide receivers at a time.
counter, pass protection, and anything One of the more impressive aspects of
else that involves fielding athletic offensive
Beyond that, Rambo was open an awful lot
the 2019 team was that while they had a
tackles.
in 2019 whether Hurts looked his way or not, and the power run game is going to give Riley a lot of options for how to get receivers like him running free off play-action. As for Rattler, he was a 5-star recruit for a reason. His high school film showed a guy with great touch and arm talent throwing down the field from the pocket or on the move. Every insider-y account I’ve heard from Norman suggests that he will be a massive upgrade over Hurts in making on time deliveries from Riley’s vertical passing menu. If you think his performance playing the part of an arrogant teenager in a Netflix series is a basis for hope that he won’t be a capable QB1 under Riley’s direction surrounded by burners like Rambo and a power run game, recalibrate your Sam Ehlinger
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expectations.