How many offensive linemen started at the same position in both of Oklahoma’s games so far this season?

As the slogan goes, there’s only one.

Right guard Febechi Nwaiwu is the Sooners’ only o-lineman who started at the same position against Houston that he did against Temple. Each of the other four positions have had a different starter.

Expect more changes when No. 15-ranked OU takes the field on Saturday afternoon against Tulane. 

Bill Bedenbaugh has shifted his personnel here and there almost entirely out of necessity so far. 

Jacob Sexton started at left tackle in the opener, but quickly moved to left guard and then started there in the second game. Michael Tarquin started at right tackle against the Owls, but shifted to left tackle and then started there against the Cougars. Branson Hickman started at center in Week 1, but got hurt and was replaced that game by Geirean Hatchett, then in the next game by Joshua Bates. After Spencer Brown replaced Tarquin at right tackle early in the opener, Jake Taylor stepped in last week.

Meanwhile, the Sooner offense has been among the worst teams in the nation at converting third downs (131st, per this week’s NCAA statistics). OU rushed for 220 yards against Temple but only managed 75 against Houston, its lowest output in three years. Quarterback Jackson Arnold was sacked three times in each game, which ranks 109th in the nation. The Sooners are also 100th or worse in total offense, passing offense, time of possession and first downs.

The wide receivers are enduring an injury epidemic. The running backs have not been explosive. Arnold has been inconsistent at best.

But the offensive line has been in the crosshairs since all five of Bedenbaugh’s starters last season departed. With five experienced newcomers via the transfer portal, four young returnees trying to break out and five true freshmen hoping to make an early impact, the group has been striving for consistency and chemistry since spring practice opened.

“I think it’s a group thing,” Bates said. “We showed flashes here and there but we need to be as a group together through everything this season. Game to game, we need to have a 1-0 mentality. Every single week we need to come out with that same mindset. How you play offensive line at the University of Oklahoma, it’s a group thing. It’s never an individual at this position. You have to fire on all cylinders as a group, as a team and as a unit especially.”

Bates, a redshirt freshman, has played 78 snaps this season, according to Pro Football Focus. Most of those came last week as he replaced Hatchett, the Washington transfer who has been lost for the season after surgery to repair a torn biceps muscle. Bates posted an overall PFF grade of 55.9, which included 57.2 run blocking and 65.3 pass blocking.

It figures to be Bates again this week, unless Hickman, the SMU transfer, has recovered from his week one ankle injury. Hickman played just 10 snaps against Temple before going down.

Sexton and Nwaiwu lead the OU offense with 120 snaps each, per PFF, and Sexton, a junior, has posted grades of 62.7 overall, 57.9 on run blocks and 76.7 on pass blocks. Nwaiwu, a transfer from North Texas, has an overall grade of 57.7, with a 53.9 on runs and 64.8 on passes.

Tarquin, a USC transfer via Florida, has played 113 total snaps, fourth on the team, and has been terrific across the board: 78.2 overall, 74.0 on runs, 79.6 on passes.

Brown, a Michigan State transfer, got 57 snaps in the opener but didn’t play last week. His PFF numbers are 62.2 overall, 60.5 run and 61.9 pass.

Last week it was redshirt freshman Logan Howland who came in to play left tackle after Taylor went down and Tarquin went to right tackle, and after getting 16 snaps in the opener he got 39 last week. So far this season, Howland has graded out at 67.7 overall, 62.4 in the run game and 76.8 in the pass game.

Taylor, a third-year sophomore, returned from a preseason injury last week and played 23 snaps at right tackle — and, according to PFF, posted a 62.3 overall grade, 54.9 run blocking grade and team-high 79.9 pass blocking grade. But Taylor left the Houston game late in the first half with yet another injury, and his status for this week remains unclear.

And that’s what Bedenbaugh has had to work with through the first two weeks of the season.

“Injuries happen in sports,” Howland said. “We got to be a next-man-up kind of thing.”

Oklahoma currently has more offensive tackles (seven) playing in the NFL than any other college team. That’s the standard that Bedenbaugh has set, and this group is fighting a variety of adversities to try to live up to it.

“The offensive line here is a standard,” Howland said. “We have to live up to that standard every day. You see guys in the NFL doing well right now and we have to replicate them and try to get where they’re at.”

Chemistry doesn’t just happen because the o-line coach wants it to. It has to be organic — but it has to happen if an offense wants to reach its potential.

“We’re tight,” Bates said. “We’re a group that, we all hang out together. We love each other. We’ve gone through these summer workouts with Schmitty. We’ve done all the winter stuff. We feel like we’ve bled, we’ve sweat, we bleed together. And that’s something that, over the last couple of years, we’ve struggled with. And I think this year, this group is tight. But, you know, I think it comes to getting on the field and being able to execute at a high level.

“We’re just gonna keep working. You can’t sit here and say, ‘This happened, this happened.’ This sport, it’s week-by-week, man. You’ve got to take every week the same way. Come together, fix what we need to fix and get after it.” 

The parallels are getting a little too close to home for Saturday’s game between the Tulane Green Wave and the Oklahoma Sooners.

Three years ago the two schools were set to meet in New Orleans, only to move the game to Norman, Okla., when Hurricane Ida came to the Crescent City during game week.

Now, it’s Hurricane Francine rolling through the city. At least this time the game was already scheduled to be played in Norman, the conclusion of a three-game contract between the two schools that had never met before the deal.

Defense has the potential to define this game. While the Oklahoma (2-0) offense was sluggish against Houston, its defense was not. The Sooners held the Cougars to 12 points.

Tulane (1-1) gave up 34 points in a loss to Kansas State. But, in the first half the Green Wave defense held down an exceptional quarterback and pitched a shutout in its season opener. Tulane also has a pass rush that hasn’t been fully unleased yet.

Here are the defensive players to watch for both teams entering Saturday’s game.

DL Patrick Jenkins

It’s time. Two games is enough without a sack for the all-conference performer. This game is the perfect chance for Jenkins to make an impact.

He has seven tackles this season. But he can wreak plenty of havoc. For his three-year career he has 80 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. He’ll be playing on Sundays one day. For now, the Green Wave needs him to crash the backfield on Saturday.

LB Tyler Grubbs

The veteran linebacker hasn’t had that “game” yet, but it’s early. He has nine tackles and a half-tackle for loss. He’ll be partly responsible for helping to defend the Sooners in the shallow parts of the field.

The three-time All-Conference USA and two-time All-Louisiana linebacker for La Tech had 77 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss three sacks and a fumble recovery for the Green Wave last season. His best games have come against opponents like this.

S Kevin Adams III

Guess who’s leading the Green Wave in tackles for loss? It’s the sophomore from Destrehan, La., who has 1.5 on the season. One has to admire the fact that Tulane has spread its 13 TFLs out among nearly a dozen players.

Adams has just four tackles so far. Last year he only played in four games, and he finished with six tackles. But if he keeps stifling players in the backfield like this, the Green Wave are going to appreciate his development even more.

LB Danny Stutsman

Right now the Sooners’ defense is well ahead of its offense, and Stutsman is a huge reason why. The preseason All-America selection is already second in the SEC with his 10.5 tackles per game and first (third nationally) with 7.5 solo tackles. He’s led OU in tackles each of the last two seasons (125 in 2022 and 104 last season) and is coming off a 15-tackle performance against Houston.

In other words, someone — or perhaps more than one someone — is going to have to block this guy.

DL Gracen Halton

Halton, a junior, is one of those players you don’t hear about much but seems to always make critical plays. Take the Houston game. He only made two tackles.

The first was an 11-yard sack in the third quarter. The second was a five-yard stuff on a Houston run play with 1:42 left in the game. The stuff resulted in a safety.

Proof that one doesn’t have to have a lot of tackles to make an impact.

DB Billy Bowman Jr.

It’s safe to say that Bowman is one of the top defensive backs in the country. Last year he was a  first-team All-Big 12 honoree after he ranked third in the nation with six interceptions, with an NCAA-best and school-record three returned for touchdowns (238 INT return yards).

It’s hard to find a defensive back with that kind of big-play ability. Bowman has seven tackles and one for a loss in two games. But no interceptions. This is not the week to tempt him.

One person was stabbed Thursday morning in southwest Oklahoma City, according to police.

Thursday, September 12th 2024, 8:02 am

By:

News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY –

One person was injure din a stabbing Thursday morning in southwest Oklahoma City, police say.

Oklahoma City Police said the stabbing happened near Magdalena Drive and Southwest 44th Street.

It is unknown if there have been any arrests.