NORMAN — On Wednesday, Oklahoma held its first traing camp practice ahead of the 2024 season.

A few areas of the Sooners’ roster are still looking to settle position battles heading into OU’s first year competing in the SEC, and players will be looking to perform well in hopes of securing their spot on the depth chart.

One of the position groups with the most uncertainty after a complete overhaul this offseason is Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line unit.

After Cayden Green transferred to Missouri, Tyler Guyton, Walter Rouse and Andrew Raym left for the NFL and McKade Mettauer played out the last of his eligibility, Oklahoma’s offensive front will look completely different in 2024.

With multiple spots along the o-line seemingly up for grabs early in training camp, one young trench player has stood out to his teammates so far.

“I think Eddy (Pierre-Louis). Eddy’s caught my eye,” veteran center Branson Hickman said on Thursday. “He’s just a freak athlete. He has all the tools. Just got to get some things going, but obviously he just got here. It’s been two days. Really athletic, he’s a really good kid and he works really hard. So I’m excited for him for sure.”

Hailing from Tampa Catholic (FL), Pierre-Louis was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school, rated the No. 33 overall recruit and and No. 1 interior offensive lineman in the country, according to Rivals.

With great size and remarkable speed for someone of his stature, Pierre-Louis’ athleticism gives him the potential to develop into one of OU’s best offensive lineman under Bedenbaugh.

Pierre-Louis was clocked at 12.97 in the 100-meter dash in high school, and is already listed at 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds despite arriving in Norman this summer.

While it will be difficult for a true freshman to earn a starting spot along an SEC offensive line, the talented interior player could see more time on the field as the season progresses, especially if Pierre-Louis continues to improve and the Sooners’ other options at guard underperform.

In 2023, Green wasn’t a starter in Week 1, but worked his way into the starting group and never relinquished his spot.

Hickman isn’t the only person who has been impressed by Pierre-Louis early in training camp, as head coach Brent Venables shared his praise for the newcomer on Saturday morning.

“Just humble, his work ethic, his pride in being prepared everyday. You can coach him hard, he’s really tough and demanding on himself without crushing his own spirit,” Venables said.

“He’s just ready to learn every day. He loves his teammates. He was a highly-recruited guy, he’s got tremendous respect for the game and the learning process and a great self-awareness of where his weaknesses are and things he needs to do to improve. Has a great sense of self-awareness of where his weaknesses are and where he needs to improve. That helps the progress happen sooner (rather) than later.”

With North Texas transfer Febechi Nwaiwu likely secure in his spot as a starter at one of the guard positions, Pierre-Louis will have to battle Heath Ozaeta, Geirean Hatchett and others to earn time on the field in 2024.

Even if Pierre-Louis doesn’t get many snaps this season, however, it appears that the highly touted freshman has a bright future in Norman.

In 2023, Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State struggled to find their starting quarterback early in the season.

The Cowboys played Alan Bowman, Garret Rangel and Gunnar Gundy through the first four games of the season before Bowman finally took full control of the starting job. Despite the seemingly open competition last fall, then-true freshman QB Zane Flores didn’t see any action, recording zero snaps in his first season of college football.

That could change this year, however, as Flores battles Rangel and true freshman Maealiuaki Smith for the Pokes’ backup signal caller position.

After his team completed practice on Saturday, Gundy commented on his confidence in the redshirt freshman quarterback.

“I think he’s ready now, he’s just not experienced,” Gundy said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he’s smart, he’s tough. His attitude is good. He’s humble, he’s hungry. He hasn’t played. That’s the difference now, compared to this time last year.”

If Flores is able to beat out Rangel and Smith for the Cowboys’ backup quarterback spot, the 6-foot-4 signal caller would finally log his first collegiate action, gaining the experience Gundy alluded to in spot situations.

With the possibility of Kasey Dunn’s offense jumping out to an early lead against Tulsa in Week 3, the Pokes’ backup quarterback may get on the field for a few drives late in the game against the Golden Hurricane.

Additionally, Bowman dealt with injuries during his time at Texas Tech, meaning OSU’s backup QB will have to be ready to step in and run Dunn’s offense, incase he is thrust into action.

While Flores has great size and high upside as a quarterback, beating out the more experinced Rangel will be a tall task. In his two seasons with the Cowboys, Rangel has played in nine games and started four, throwing 147 passes and tallying 883 yards and six touchdowns in his young career.

In addition to earning valuable reps behind Bowman this season, whoever wins Oklahoma State’s backup quarterback job will also have a good chance at starting for the Pokes in 2025 when Bowman’s college career is over.

Flores came to Stillwater as a 3-star prospect from Gretna, NE, rated the No. 27 quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

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With the beginning of the school year for several Oklahoma districts only weeks away, teachers across the state are confused by a new mandate involving the use of Bibles in the classroom.

Educators and parents, both for and against the new mandate, are protesting with signs and chants at Wednesday’s state board of education meeting.

Additionally, some teachers could lose their teaching certification if the board votes accordingly.

In total, six teachers from across the state could have their teaching licenses suspended or revoked.

One of those is Ardmore band teacher Alison Scott, who gained national attention in early July when she posted a comment on social media that seemingly supported the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

After the post made waves on social media, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters spoke out and threatened the teacher’s license.

“I think it was absolutely disgusting to see an Oklahoma teacher out praising or celebrating the assassination attempt on President Trump,” Walters said. “This is incredibly dangerous territory that we’re in, and it’s just completely inexcusable behavior for a teacher.”

Walters is also expected to discuss teaching using historical documents such as the Bible, and what the meeting agenda is calling “rogue” district administrators.

Also, according to the agenda, Walters says he’ll discuss illegal immigration and what he says burdens Oklahoma schools.

The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m.