If you are what your record says you are, Oklahoma football is the best in college football this century. The Sooners don’t have the number of national championships that some others like Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and Clemson have won since the 2000 season, but in terms of total wins, no Power Five program has […]
In the past week, OU has added Trey Morrison, CJ Coldon and Kani Walker from the transfer portal.
With Oklahoma’s secondary taking on a new look under new head coach Brent Venables, change was expected for the Oklahoma Sooners. On top of that, OU has multi-year staters Patrick Fields (Stanford graduate transfer) and Delarrin Turner-Yell (NFL Draft) this offseason, so the transfer portal was going to be a priority for this program. Venables, Jay Valai and Todd Bates hosted three defensive backs this past weekend, and they went three-for-three by landing promising Louisville DB Kani Walker, experienced Wyoming corner CJ Coldon and versatile North Carolina contributor Trey Morrison.
The sample size isn’t small for Venables, but there’s still a bit of mystery as to what his defense will look like in his first year back in Norman. At any rate, the depth of the defensive backfield is much less of a concern than it was a week ago.
Morrison saw extensive action in his all four of his years at UNC where he played a variety of positions on the football field that range from nickel to cornerback to safety. During his junior season he gained All-ACC Honorable Mention as a defensive back.
If I had to guess where Morrison plays it would be at nickel or safety considering the amount of love Brent Venables has for safeties in his defenses. With Venables’ defense on the field, one can generally expect two linebackers and three safeties. I would say he has a real opportunity to be a key contributor, and I’m sure it helps that Venny has seen Morrison play in person several times in the ACC.
Brent Venables has evaluated his talent in Norman, Oklahoma and has decided that his defensive backfield needs more bodies — larger defensive backs, in particular. Venables gets just that in C.J. Coldon.
The Belleville, Ill. native was the lead cornerback at Wyoming and has seen game action since he’s been a redshirt freshman. In the last couple of seasons, he has been a veteran presence in the the secondary and has gained 2nd Team Mountain West Honors. At 6’1” and 180 pounds, he appears physically ready for Power Five football. Additionally, he comes to Oklahoma with quite a bit of leadership skills and maturity with two years left to play. He’s a very vocal leader in the secondary and has been viewed that way in Laramie, Wyoming for the last couple of seasons.
Established starters Woodi Washington and DJ Graham return for OU in 2022, but rotation is necessary at the cornerback position, so it’s expected that Coldon should be a factor.
Of the three DB transfers Oklahoma was able to add this past weekend, Kani Walker is the most interesting of the bunch. This is due to the fact that he still has several years left of eligibility after transferring from Louisville. Although he didn’t see much of the field as a true freshman, many around his old program expected him to compete for the starting cornerback position coming into this season.
Walker was recruited to Louisville as a cornerback, but at 6’2 and 194 pounds, I imagine Brent Venables could use that frame in a variety of ways in tandem with S&C coach Jerry Schmidt. He has plenty of time to develop, and he could certainly be transformed into that third roaming safety that Venables loves to run, but those will be conversations that Valai, Venables, and Hall will have to have over the coming weeks, months and perhaps years.
After a long and highly fruitful association with the Big 12-8-7 and 6 Conferences, the Oklahoma football program will be changing its affiliation in the not-too-distant future. But before that, it may be part of a 14-team league divided by two divisions. Oklahoma and Texas announced late last summer that they were leaving the Big […]
Oklahoma basketball lost a game at home to Kansas on Tuesday that the Sooners easily could have won. Instead, the Sooners find themselves in a deep hole, dropping a third straight Big 12 conference game, and the road ahead isn’t getting any easier. Oklahoma (12-6, 2-4 Big 12) lost a 67-64 nail-biter to the No. […]
The Oklahoma Sooners showed a lot of fight against another Top 10 ranked team but couldn’t put it away down the stretch, falling to #7 Kansas 67-64 Tuesday night. The Sooners now sit at 12-6 on the season, 2-4 in Big 12 play and have lost three in a row.
The Sooners hung strong with the Jayhawks in the first half, trailing 34-32, despite turning the ball over eight times. KU came out of the break on fire, netting eight points in the first 1:38 to take a 10 point lead. Then it was Moser’s men who did the streaking, putting together a 20-2 run to retake the lead, 52-46. It was neck and neck down the stretch with neither team leading by more than four points in the final four minutes of the game. Coming out of a timeout with 29 seconds to go in the contest, KU’s Christian Braun hit a three from the wing to give the Jayhawks the three point lead, which would prove to be the difference.
Oklahoma was aggressive all night, only losing the rebounding battle by one but getting to the free throw line 18 times and hitting 12, compared to the Jayhawks six total free throws. But once again the three point shot wasn’t falling for the Sooners, OU just 4-17 (23.5%) from long range while Kansas was 8-18 (44.4%).
The Sooners did produce three double-digit scorers, Jordan Goldwire with 15 points, Umoja Gibson 11 and Jalen Hill 10, but it was another off game for leading scorer Tanner Groves who added in eight points on 4-13 shooting.
Oklahoma gave the Jayhawks everything they could handle, once again proving they’ll be a tough out for anyone they match up with, but to elevate and start winning these games the Sooners need more consistent play from their stars and to stop leaning on the three ball. If Oklahoma finds the open man, keeps it close on the glass and doesn’t force up shots from beyond the arc, we’ve seen they can play, and beat, anybody on their schedule, regardless of where, or who, they play.
What’s Next?
The Oklahoma Sooners will try to get back on track this Saturday and snap the three-game losing streak when they get another shot at #5 Baylor, this time in the Lloyd Noble Center. Tip is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
The next few days should determine if Oklahoma football is the transfer destination for not one, but two notable USC players. In what could be the strangest and most intriguing transfer storylines this college football offseason, USC and Oklahoma could be in the process of swapping out quarterbacks and receivers. Former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart […]
