Oklahoma

Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts’ Presence in Oklahoma’s Locker Room ‘a Refreshing Thing,’ Says Brent Venables

Published

6 days ago

September 3, 2024

Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts’ Presence in Oklahoma’s Locker Room ‘a Refreshing Thing,’ Says Brent Venables

NORMAN — To the casual fan, Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts are a pair of transfer tight ends looking to make an impact in their first year at Oklahoma. To Brent Venables, they’ve already made a tremendous impact in the Sooners’ locker room.

“They [Sharp and Roberts] love to compete,” Venables said last week. “They’re skilled. They know how to play tight end. They like blocking. They know how to get open. When the ball’s thrown to them they catch it. … They love their teammates. Those two guys have brought a spirit to that, really to the whole offense. Other guys are a part of that too, but those are guys that, they just love it.”

Their talents, and that of others in the position group, have already been utilized in the passing game under offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, who coached tight ends at North Texas, North Carolina and Indiana.

“I love where just the tight end in today’s world is going,” Sharp said. “I feel like in the past, it’s been just a big, heavy guy, you know what I’m saying, but I trust whatever our team has planned for me in the future for these games, we’ll get it done for our team for sure.”

Sharp, a team captain in his first game as a Sooner in last Friday night’s 51-3 win over Temple, was an accomplished pass catcher at Southeastern Louisiana University after making the switch from quarterback in spring of 2022. In his first game in a Sooners uniform, Sharp caught five passes for 47 yards and the season’s first touchdown, a 14-yard connection via Jackson Arnold to complete OU’s first possession as an SEC club.

“Bauer Sharp … he’s been phenomenal. Just a natural leader, done an outstanding job,” Venables said.

Roberts, a Norman North High School alum, didn’t hold an offer from his hometown team as a high school senior in 2020. He signed to play at North Texas (where he played under Littrell) and quickly became a rotation player and eventually a full-time starter. He transferred to Baylor in 2023 and made three starts before transferring to play his fifth year in Norman.

The pair was brought on by tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley to replenish a depleted position group that graduated Brayden Willis and Austin Stogner in back-to-back seasons. Venables was immediately impressed by the tandem’s work ethic.

“They love to practice. They show up in the building,” Venables said. “They’ve got a really positive attitude that is infectious and contagious. … If you work in an office building, if you work in a locker room, nobody wants to deal with people that are funky, you know, they’ve got a funk to them when they show it. … And those guys are the opposite of funky and they like all of it. When the day’s over, they’re not grabbing their stuff and running out of the building as fast as they can. They really have a locker room that’s like that.”

Sharp is a captain for a reason. His and Roberts’ energy has become infectious. Roberts didn’t have any receptions on Friday night against Temple, but quarterback Jackson Arnold did target him in the first quarter, launching a pass that sailed over Roberts’ head.

Sharp, meanwhile, delivered a steady intermediate target for Arnold who could conceivably, if things break right, be among the team’s leaders in catches and receiving yards this year. He ended his OU debut with five catches (one behind Deion Burks for team high) and 47 yards (tying Jalil Farooq to lead the team) and scored a first-quarter touchdown. Arnold targeted him six times, and the subtle adjustment he made on his route to separate and catch the touchdown shows an innate knowledge of the game.

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“I thought our tight ends played well, Jake and Bauer and Kade McIntyre, Kaden Helms got in,” Venables said after the game on Friday, “so that was really good to see as well.”

Well beyond their one-game performance, Venables has been sold on the presence of Roberts and Sharp since their arrival last January.

“They’ve made that group a lot better,” Venables said. “They’ve made Kade McIntyre better. They’ve made Kaden Helms better. Those were young guys that, you know, hadn’t been necessarily exposed to that,” Venables said. “Brayden Willis was a lot like that. Austin [Stogner], Austin was a lot like that last year. … That whole group has transformed. And those two guys, they have a genuine deep, deep, genuine appreciation for their coaches, for the resources, for their teammates, for their opportunity to be able to wear an Oklahoma jersey. They’re like, ‘I can’t believe it.’ It’s like a dream to them. And so that’s refreshing. That’s a really refreshing thing.”

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Oklahoma

Best Performances in Oklahoma State’s Win vs. Arkansas

Published

6 hours ago

September 8, 2024

Press Room

Best Performances in Oklahoma State’s Win vs. Arkansas

It wasn’t quite an easy Week 2 for Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys advanced to 2-0 in a 39-31 win over Arkansas. The two overtime contest left fans on their heels, but Ollie Gordon heroics propeled Oklahoma State to a win in the Big 12/SEC contest.

For a veteran squad, the Cowboys had struggled on both sides of the ball. Still, win and advance — now Oklahoma State can gear up for Tulsa to try and remain perfect through non-conference play. Now ranked No. 13 in the nation, Oklahoma State’s resume should get a boost.

Offense:

Alan Bowman, 73.3 offensive grade: Somehow, someway, Bowman was the highest-graded Cowboy on the offensive side of the ball. He completed 27 of his 48 passes for one touchdown while throwing one interception. He added seven yards in five rushes. Bowman’s performance was far from eye-popping.

Brennan Presley, 70.5 offensive grade: The star Oklahoma State wide receiver hauled in nine passes for 91 yards and one touchdown, adding a rushing touchdown. His two scores helped propel the comeback, setting the Cowboys up for the two-overtime victory.

Defense:

Collin Oliver, 82.6 defensive grade: Oliver was Oklahoma State’s best defender, though he also went down with a season-ending injury. It was a tough blow for the Cowboys, and now the defensive playmaker will miss the season, leaving Oklahoma State with a void to fill. He played just 24 snaps in the game, though he was efficient in doing so.

Lyrik Rawls, 79.6 defensive grade: Playing just 23 snaps, the safety was sound on Saturday with two tackles and two passes defended — being targeted just twice. He moved all over the field, too, lining up in the box, secondary and slot on different occasions.

Want to join the discussion? Like Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma-Houston Review: PFF Grades, Redshirt Report and More

Published

14 hours ago

September 8, 2024

Press Room

Oklahoma-Houston Review: PFF Grades, Redshirt Report and More

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said several times Saturday night that his team deserved to lose to Houston because of its performance. It was ugly, but the Sooners still prevailed 16-12 to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

“Thankful for victory,” Venables said. “I appreciate our players – their strain and their fight until the end to figure out a way to win – but disappointed in a lot of things that we did today. We did enough things wrong where we deserved to lose and fortunate to find a way to win.”

A look at the numbers reveal it was a disappointing win, if there is such a thing, for the Sooners, especially compared to Week 1. A close game meant less young players getting experience before SEC play starts and those opportunities dwindle significantly. And Pro Football Focus seemed to have agreed for the most part with Venable’s assessment.

Here’s a look at some OU numbers – Pro Football Focus grades, snap counts and more – coming off the Sooners’ Week 2 win over former Big 12 foe Houston.

Pro Football Focus

Pro Football Focus’ grading system doesn’t believe the Sooners’ offensive performance Saturday was all too different from Week 1 against Temple, which on the scoreboard was a 35-point difference, but six forced turnovers and great field position could get a lot of credit for last week’s offensive success. PFF gave the OU offense a grade of 62.8 for Week 2, compared to 64.5 the week before. The passing grade was actually exactly the same (71.4) even though Jackson Arnold had a 4-0 TD-INT ratio last week and 2-1 on Saturday night.

Speaking of Arnold, just as the passing grade wasn’t much different, neither was his personally, according to PFF. After a 72.2 grade in his home debut, Arnold went down a tick with a 71.9 this week. His grade as a runner actually improved from 58.4 to 62.6. His passing grade dipped, though, from 74.7 to 71.4.

Tight end Jake Roberts, who made his first start and recorded his first reception as a Sooner on Saturday night, has the best season PFF grade so far on offense at 86.9. He’s the only offensive player who has played in both games that has a grade higher than 80. The next is offensive lineman Michael Tarquin, also a transfer, at 78.2.

With that grade in 113 snaps this season, Tarquin is fourth on the team and third on the o-line in snap count. Fellow offensive linemen Jacob Sexton and Febechi Nwaiwu have played more snaps than anyone on offense with 120 apiece. Arnold is third with 116 after not finishing Week 1’s blowout.

Arnold, Sexton, Nwaiwu, Tarquin and Joshua Bates were the only players to play all 62 offensive snaps Saturday night. That’s a lot of snaps for four of your offensive linemen, though.

Week 2 specifically, Roberts also had the best game grade – contributing to that top season grade – at 91.8. Tarquin was second with a 76.1. Although Arnold takes the brunt of a poor offensive performance, he actually had the third-best grade, according to PFF, with a 71.9.

Deion Burks was the top-graded receiver and fourth offensive player at 67.6, according to PFF.

Playing 53 snaps, tight end Bauer Sharp received the worst grade on the offense with a 33.7, as the guy in front of him at tight end, Roberts, had the best offensive grade.

Defensively, OU got a PFF grade of 75.2, a big drop from its 87.7 last week. However, Week 1 included six turnovers.

Defensive back Robert Spears-Jennings, who had an intersection late in the game, was the highest-graded defender at 87.9 in 56 snaps, according to PFF.

Fellow defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. led OU defenders in snap count at 66. The next highest was 61 from linebacker Danny Stutsman. Leaders on this defense, Bowman and Stustsman were given grades of 70.1 and 66.8, respectively.

Kip Lewis, playing next to Stutsman at linebacker, had the worst grade at 53.5.

Redshirt Report

Of the 44 players who logged a snap Saturday night, according to PFF, eight were true freshmen. That included Jayden Jackson, David Stone, Reggie Powers III, Jaydan Hardy, Michael Boganowski, Eugene Brooks, Taylor Tatum and Zion Ragins.

For all of them, it was their second appearance this season, meaning they’re now halfway to reaching their redshirt game total, not including postseason.

Of those freshmen, Jackson had the highest PFF grade defensively at 62.4, while, offensively, Tatum received a 66.4, which was the fifth-best overall offensively.

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WATCH: Sooners on SI Oklahoma-Houston Postgame Wrap

Published

21 hours ago

September 8, 2024

Press Room

WATCH: Sooners on SI Oklahoma-Houston Postgame Wrap

RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail.

Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state.

A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder.

Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK.

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