Oklahoma

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

Published

1 year ago

September 8, 2024

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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Oklahoma

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Published

11 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.

Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.

Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.

Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.

For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.

“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.

Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.

The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.

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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.

Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.

“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.

Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.

The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).

OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.

For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.

“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”

On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.

The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.

“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”

Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.

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Oklahoma

Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion

Published

23 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion

The loss was on Ritson Meyer’s mind all week as he prepared for his final state wrestling tournament.

A senior 215-pounder at Elgin, Meyer isn’t used to getting beaten, but he got a wake-up call when he lost against Coweta senior Aiven Robbins by five points in their regional championship match.

For Meyer, it set in that winning his fourth state championship wouldn’t be an easy task.

“I lost to him last week and I’m not a loser, so it was eating on me all week in practice,” Meyer said. “So (in) practice, I really leveled up everything. Everything about it.”

Meyer and Robbins met again on Saturday, this time with the Class 5A state championship on the line.

Intensely focused from the start, Meyer came out aggressive. And although it was another great match, Meyer did just enough to etch his name in the state history books.

Meyer held on to beat Robbins in an 8-7 decision in the new OG&E Coliseum as he claimed his fourth state championship, while Coweta won the team title.

An Abilene Christian football signee, Meyer’s wrestling days are over, but he leaves the sport with satisfaction.

“I came out here — even though it hurt, even though I was tired — I got it done,” Meyer said. “I’m so happy. I got to celebrate with my parents, my family, my friends. It’s a crazy feeling.”

A standout running back and linebacker on the gridiron, Meyer helped his team win the Class 4A state title in football as a junior before Elgin lost to Tuttle 23-20 in the 2025 championship game in December.

It’s a different sport, but that loss fueled Meyer’s wrestling season in a way.

“I like to tell people that wrestling is like offseason football,” Meyer said. “I can’t go out, lose. Everybody wanted me to win this. I won it for the whole entire community. First four-timer at Elgin. And that football (loss) really did eat me alive. It didn’t feel good at all, and I didn’t want that same feeling again.”

Meyer had a great start against Robbins on Saturday and never trailed, but Robbins battled to set up a great finish and both were gassed when it was over.

“I just gave it my all,” Meyer said, “and I got it done.”

This article will be updated.

Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at@nicksardis. Sign up forThe Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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Oklahoma leaders react after U.S. and Israel launch joint attack on Iran

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma leaders react after U.S. and Israel launch joint attack on Iran

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — State leaders are reacting after the United States launched an attack on Iran Saturday morning.

U.S. Senator James Lankford said he is praying for the safety of the American service members involved in the attack.

“Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and has long threatened the United States and our allies. Today’s military actions underscore the seriousness of that threat and the need to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Lankford said. “I’m praying for the safety of every American service member involved in these operations and for their families at home. God bless our troops and God bless America.”

Lankford also said that any Americans in the Middle East should keep an eye out for advisories and guidance from the U.S. Department of State.

U.S. Representative Tom Cole released a statement following the attack:

It’s a time of reckoning for those who chant ‘Death to America.’ President Trump is right when he calls the effort to eradicate Iran’s nuclear weapons program and give its people the opportunity to seize their freedom ‘a noble mission.’ The evil Iranian regime has been the leading state sponsor of terror for decades. It has killed thousands of people within and beyond its borders, including hundreds of Americans. It must be defanged and dismantled.

The President did not take this action lightly or impulsively. He has warned Iran repeatedly that it must change its policies and its actions. He has negotiated with Iran in good faith and with great clarity. It was the Iranian regime that chose to ignore those warnings and make a mockery of those negotiations. In doing so, its tyrannical leaders made an enormous miscalculation.

Our Commander in Chief has made clear that his goal is not just to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. It is also to give the Iranian people a chance to take back their country. Self-determination and freedom will be theirs to claim. I hope they will.

Like every American, my thoughts and prayers are with our brave and capable men and women in uniform who are carrying out this noble but hard and dangerous mission. I know that they will have the unwavering support of every American, and I am confident that they will acquit themselves with honor and distinction.

May God protect our troops and the innocent Iranian people – and once again – as He so often has, bless America.

U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin said he is praying for the United States’ men and women in uniform in a post on Saturday.

“May God bless and protect our men and women in uniform—the greatest peacekeeping force in the history of the world. Americans are praying for your safety in this mission,” Mullin said.

U.S. Representative Kevin Hern said the Iranian regime is a threat to the U.S. and President Trump was left with no other choice than to take action.

As the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, the Iranian regime is an active threat to the United States, our allies, and stability across the Middle East.”

Iran’s refusal to accept a deal left President Trump with no choice other than to take decisive action to ensure the regime never possesses a nuclear weapon. There is no peace without strength, and the United States will not sit by while this regime pursues their nuclear ambitions, fuels their terrorist proxies, and brutalizes the Iranian people. I’m praying for our brave troops in the region. May God bless them, and may God bless the United States.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a social media post that his prayers are with President Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth as they work to achieve a safer world.

“God bless and protect the men and women of the United States military engaged in the Middle East this weekend. My prayers are with our military, President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and our Generals, as they use American force to achieve a safer world for the future of our children and grandchildren,” Drummond said.

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