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Sooners fall 6-0 to Dallas Baptist

After sweeping TCU in Fort Worth over the weekend, the Sooners looked to keep their hot streak going against Dallas Baptist on Tuesday night.

Sooner starting pitcher Jett Lodes began the game by striking out the side in order.

The second inning did not start as good for Lodes as he gave up lead-off solo home run to Ethan Mann to give DBU a 1-0 lead. Lodes was taken out of the game and replaced by Jace Miner. Miner recorded the last two outs in the second inning and the first two outs in the third before being replaced by Reid Hensley.

After giving up a single to Jason Walk and a double to Anthony Mackenzie, DBU starter Charlie Atkinson was removed from the game with two outs in the bottom of the third. He was replaced by lefty reliever Tyler Schott. He recorded the final out of the inning and eliminated the Sooner scoring threat.

Carter Campbell entered to pitch in the top of the fourth and surrendered a two-run home run to Chayton Krauss which gave the Patriots a 3-0 lead.

DBU got back on the board in the top of the ninth. After Will Carsten gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases, he walked Grant Jay on four pitches to score another Patriot run. Carsten was removed and replaced by Brad Pruett. The first pitch that Pruett threw got to the backstop and allowed another DBU runner to score to make it 5-0. Ethan Mann then registered an infield single that brought home another run and made it 6-0.

The Sooners were unable to muster any offense all night. They only registered five hits and scored zero runs. DBU won with a final score of 6-0.

The Sooners move to 13-7 and will begin their third Big 12 series in Norman against West Virginia on Friday.
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Elite 2025 DL Floyd Boucard on Oklahoma: "It might be home"

REALLY good interview here. Sooners primarily battling Syracuse and Boston College for Boucard, which suggests it'll end up being more of a "can we take him" than "can we land him" conversation.

Porter Moser, Sooners left 'heartbroken' after missing NCAA Tournament

In an emotional 30-minute press conference, Porter Moser gave a glimpse into the last 48 hours for the Sooners.

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Toby Keith Tribute by the Gun Drummer

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Hey ya'll! You might know me from my "HolaKyle" YouTube channel where I used to post Sooner highlight videos. Life got busy, and I had to stop making videos unfortunately. Long story short, I left my 15+ year banking career to start my own photo/video business, got married, having our first kid next week, etc.

Last year, while photographing a wedding, I met the Gun Drummer and since then we have been making videos together on my off days. I wanted to share a video we recently shot for Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now?!"

SPRING SPOTLIGHT: How Caiden Woullard’s “blue-collar” journey led him to Miguel Chavis and OU

Fun feature on a guy that probably should never have ended up at Miami U in the first place.

The Sooners win 9-4, sweep the TCU Horned Frogs

After winning the first two games of the series, the Sooners looked to complete the sweep of the TCU Horned Frogs on Sunday.

The Sooners got their scoring started early against TCU starter Braeden Sloan. Kendall Pettis lead off the game by reaching on a throwing error from short stop Anthony Silva. Kendall Pettis advanced to second base on a balk from Sloan. Pettis proceeded to steal third base. Bryce Madron got on base by drawing a four pitch walk. The Sooners got their first run via an RBI groundout from Easton Carmichael. Madron advanced to third base and scored on a wild pitch to give OU a 2-0 lead.

Peyton Chatagnier started the bottom of the first with a single to left field. However, Sooner starting pitcher Jamie Hitt was able to retire the next three TCU hitters to end the inning.

The Sooners got back on the board in the top of the fourth. Jackson Nicklaus started the inning with a double. Carter Frederick brought Nicklaus home on an RBI single to right field to make the score 3-0. Isaiah Lane followed that up with a single, which moved Frederick to second. True freshman Jason Walk then singled to center field, which scored Frederick and gave the Sooners a 4-0 lead. Braeden Sloan was taken out of the game and replaced by Louis Rodriguez. Kendall Pettis brought Isaiah Lane home on an RBI groundout to stretch the Sooner lead to 5-0.

The Sooners added another run in the top of the fifth inning with a solo home run from Michael Snyder to deep center field. That was Snyder's fifth homer of the season and extended the OU lead to 6-0.

After being held scoreless through the first four innings. TCU finally got their bats going. Chase Brunson started the bottom of the fifth with a single to center field. Logan Maxwell then reached on a walk. With two outs in the inning, Kurtis Byrne launched a three-run home run to left field to make the score 6-3 in favor of the Sooners.

After recording the first two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Jamie Hitt gave up a solo home run to Karson Bowen, which made the score 6-4. Hitt was removed and replaced by Dylan Crooks. Hitt threw 5 2/3 innings, giving up 7 hits and 4 runs.

The Sooners added some much needed insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Kendall Pettis started the inning with a single. Bryce Madron followed that up with a single of his own, which moved Pettis to third. Easton Carmichael was then hit by a pitch. Michael Snyder stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and delivered a two-run single up the middle to make the score 8-4 in favor of OU. Easton Carmichael then scored on a wild pitch to give the Sooners a 9-4 lead.

Carson Atwood pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings for OU. He recorded the first out in the ninth inning. After giving up a single and a walk, he was taken out and replaced by Ryan Lambert. Lambert got the final two outs of the game and secured the sweep for the Sooners with a final score of 9-4

The Sooners move to an overall record of 13-6 and are 6-0 in conference play. Their next game is on Tuesday at 6:00 PM in Norman where they will face off against Dallas Baptist.

Some sourced team and practice notes (Sun 1:30am)

Got some windshield time today on the road to Texas for tomorrow morning’s UA Next camp, so I touched base with numerous different program sources to get some practice insights for y’all. Here’s what I’ve gathered.

— The team donned pads for the first time on Thursday. Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins have both been exceptional; obviously, that is to be expected from JFA, but the amount of praise that’s been heaped on Hawkins is pretty remarkable. Several sources independently talked up the freshman signal-caller’s poise, pocket presence, athleticism and touch. One source said, “Jackson’s spinning that motherf***er. But Mike’s been spinning it too. You can tell he’s ready.” Another said, “If you knew nothing about the depth chart or the roster and just showed up to practice, you might have a hard time figuring out who QB1 is. And that’s no knock on Jackson. Mike’s just been that good.”

Make no mistake: Arnold is your starter this fall. Everyone understands that (none more so than Hawkins, who committed with the knowledge that Arnold’s coronation was due in 2024). Don’t interpret the glowing reports on Hawkins as signs of a controversy. Rather, view it as a strong indication that the Sooners have strong depth at QB and won’t be thoroughly derailed if injury were to befall Arnold. For the time being, General Booty is taking third-team reps with Casey Thompson recovering from his torn ACL and Brendan Zurbrugg still learning the playbook.

Nic Anderson has been bothered by an injury and hasn’t been a full practice participant, but I’m told both Arnold and Hawkins have developed an early rapport with Deion Burks. As a matter of fact, Hawkins connected with him on a deep ball that covered nearly 60 yards in one of the practice sessions this week. Without exception, every source I spoke with raved about Burks, with one of them telling me, “He’s gonna be the dude at receiver this fall. All respect to those other guys, but he’s gonna be the dude.”

Zion Kearney continues to garner acclaim, with one well-placed source telling me that “[OU’s] probably too deep at receiver for any of those dudes to make the rotation this year. But if any of them can, I would say it’s definitely Zion.” I also had a source give high marks to Ivan Carreon, saying, “He’s really athletic and moves really well for being that tall.”

Bauer Sharp and Davon Mitchell have been impressive at the tight end position; that was a common theme in the sourced conversations I had. One source said, “Davon’s the freakiest athlete. That’s not hard to see. But 10 (Sharp) is the guy that looks the best overall, just because he’s pretty athletic too and he really knows what he’s doing out there.”

— I’m told the defensive line has generally gotten the better of the offensive line thus far, with Caiden Woullard, Ethan Downs, David Stone and Jayden Jackson drawing specific shout-outs. Of Woullard, one source said, “He looks even bigger than he’s listed. And he’s listed at, what, 6-5 and 265? Yeah, he looks even a little bit bigger.” Of Jackson, another source said, “He is the real deal. Y’all are gonna see it. Stone’s the one that can do some five-star stuff from time to time, but Jayden Jackson’s motor is just different.”

On the offensive side, Heath Ozaeta is one guy whose name I’ve repeatedly heard as an early standout, and Jacob Sexton is, well, Jacob Sexton.

Michael Boganowski and Reggie Powers continue to draw positive reviews at the safety position. Of Boganowski, one source commented, “I kind of expected that he would look a little out of place at first, given that he’s never played full-time safety before. But he looks good.” Another freshman that’s made early waves on the practice field is Eli Bowen, and sources certainly believe there’s a chance he sees some rotational snaps at corner in Year 1. Brandon had previously mentioned San Diego State transfer Dez Malone as someone that was doing the right things at corner, and that’s certainly reinforced by the word from the sources I contacted. One told me, “[Malone] looks real comfortable out there at corner. He’s got that level of maturity to the way he handles it all.”

Of course, Brandon and I will continue to keep y’all updated with regular practice insights. The Sooners are on spring break this coming week, though, so our attention will turn to recruiting for the next few days. Lots of nuggets to come from Houston tomorrow. I’ll also have an update on the tight end picture, as I caught up with Chase Loftin, DaSaahn Brame and Nate Roberts in Tulsa on Saturday before zipping down to Houston.

How much do you suck if

In 3 years you fail to make the NCAA tournament at a school that had missed the tourney maybe 5 of the previous 40 years. Moser is a complete failure, does not deserve another year as HC, worst basketball coach at OU since before John McCloud was the HC in the mid 70s. Just a pathetic 3 year run, and am certain he will have to rebuild the whole ****ing roster again, as he will have another mass exodus of players. We won’t fire him, we’ll wait for another shitty season next season and waste another 365 days.

REPORT: Konnor Near to portal after one season in Norman

As On3's Pete Nakos reported earlier, Konnor Near will enter the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining.

It's worth noting that his name did not appear on the spring roster, so do what you will with that information.

https://oklahoma.rivals.com/news/report-sooners-lb-konnor-near-enters-transfer-portal

4-Piece Nuggets: A pair of WR notes and a pair of OL notes

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Let’s start off with Mason James, who was at Oklahoma on Saturday before making his way to Dallas for the UA Next camp on Sunday. He’s been a regular on OU’s campus over the last several months, and Emmett Jones gave him his first offer last fall. I have a FutureCast logged for the Sooners and feel pretty solid about that prediction.

“Really good family environment up there; I think they’re building something really nice,” said James of Oklahoma. “I feel like me and Emmett’s bond has gotten pretty strong. He came up to my school not too long ago, and we had a good talk there. And when I went up to my Future Freaks visit, I had a good talk with Coach Venables. So I feel like it’s starting to get stronger as I keep talking to them.”

James has become a nationally coveted prospect since the calendar flipped to 2024, as he’s added offers from Miami, Michigan, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and several others. He plans to take as many visits as he can throughout the spring and summer, but has previously mentioned to me that he’d like to commit sometime this fall.

“I’m still making my schedule right now,” James told me. “I’m trying to plan to [see] most of the schools that have offered me as coaches send me their schedule. [Looking for] a school that I can get on the field early, and a school that cares about your life after college.”

James’ tape is wondrous, and worth a watch on his Rivals profile page if you haven’t seen it already. Dominant Z receivers are very “in” across college football over the last several years, and James fits that bill. If you want an OU comp, he’s got a little Marvin Mims to his game, but I also see a lot of Charleston Rambo in the way he plays. I expect that he’ll be a four-star and may perhaps make an appearance in the inaugural 2026 Rivals250 later this month.

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Gun to my head, I would still say Emmanuel Choice is the most likely to end up in Oklahoma’s class as the fourth wideout, and sources in the Switzer Center seem to lean in that direction as well. But Emmett Jones has given himself options, as Choice, Cooper Perry, Caleb Cunningham and Quincy Porter are all set to OV with Oklahoma in June. Caught up with Choice on Sunday in Dallas and over the course of our conversation, it became clear that he’s got a high comfort level at OU.

“It’s been getting stronger,” he said of his bond with Jones. “He keeps it real with me, and like I said, a coach I can trust. So that’s why I picked [Oklahoma] to take an OV to.”

Among his five official visit destinations, Oklahoma is only one of two schools that he’s previously visited (TCU is the other). He’ll be making his first-ever trips to USC, Nebraska and Missouri. I’m keeping an eye on the Tigers here because of their ability to make offers that are hard to refuse, but OU seems to be in the best spot relationally here.

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The first thing I will say about Toa Katoa is that he’s listed at 6-foot-5, but there’s not a chance on God’s green earth that he’s actually 6-foot-5. I would peg him in the 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3 range, but that said, he’s absolutely in the neighborhood of his listed 380 pounds. He’s a tough body to move on the interior, as he plays with a low center of gravity and anchors well. He was on campus at Oklahoma this past Saturday before participating in the UA camp, and it was just his second college visit ever. TCU is the only other school he’s seen in person.

“Everything I heard, I liked it,” Katoa said of his time at Oklahoma. “The facility was good and everything. If you go to the NFL early, you can come back and continue your scholarship and get your degree up there. It’s a good relationship [with Bill Bedenbaugh], even though we can’t really talk or anything. When I went yesterday to the visit, me and him had a good relationship.”

It remains to be seen whether Oklahoma will make Katoa a priority in the 2026 class, as Bedenbaugh is still actively evaluating and offering. But I get the sense that one way or another, Katoa isn’t the type of kid that’s going to go too terribly far from home.

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You ready for a curveball? There’s one particular player that helped spur Felix Ojo’s affinity for Oklahoma, and if I gave you a hundred guesses, you probably wouldn’t land on it.

“I grew up watching OU,” said Ojo, “and watching Hangtime — you know Hangtime, the YouTuber?”

Yep… dead serious. Michael Turk.

Ojo picked up an offer from Oklahoma over the weekend while on his very first visit to Norman, and though he didn’t necessarily grow up a diehard OU fan (he also cited Oregon and Michigan as two of his other favorite schools as a child), he does have some background for everything that Oklahoma can offer to an offensive lineman like him.

“I feel like the campus and the facilities really stood out a lot,” said Ojo. “OU has by far the biggest campus [I’ve seen], and the facilities are way better than all the facilities I’ve seen.”

But obviously, for any offensive tackle, the main reason to take Oklahoma seriously is the presence of Bill Bedenbaugh. Ojo is a prospect I like a lot, as he’s a legit 6-foot-7 and owns the prototypical frame for a left tackle. I get the sense he’ll end up being one of the guys that Oklahoma prioritizes in the 2026 class; he’s got every physical trait that you could want in a star lineman, and his film — albeit impressive — shows plenty of room for technical improvement with proper coaching. Ojo knows he can get that type of coaching from Bedenbaugh.

“So far, after talking to him and being around him, I like how genuine he is as a person,” Ojo said of the Sooners’ revered offensive line czar. “You can tell the relationships he’s trying to build with players aren’t fake. And he’s straight up with you. He’s not one of those fake coaches who will lie to you and stuff. And he’s one of those coaches where you know, like, if I commit there, he’ll be there for years. He’s got a pretty stable spot at OU right now.”

It’s early, but I’d at least be willing to bet right now that Oklahoma ends up one of the finalists for Ojo. He’s one that I’ll be watching closely in the DFW area.

DrummBeat: A few quick team notes | Linebacker room | Cheetah talk | Thoughts on possible scheme and personnel | Justin Harrington update

*** First, I want to touch on something interesting that I heard about the linebacker room, along with the future of Dasan McCullough.

I was discussing the defense with a few sources over the last week and McCullough came up in all but one discussion. The first source said that he would be 'a major piece of the defense' in the 2024 season. Another source pointed out that new defensive coordinator Zac Alley has always liked to have more athletic defensive backs on the field with how he has done things in the past. That, naturally, has a role in who plays the cheetah spot.

Now, before I dive further into what I’m hearing, I want to make sure you all understand that during the spring, the Sooners have always tinkered with things and moved some guys around during practices and walkthroughs. So, I don't know how long this will last, but when I asked a source specifically who they felt would be the second best linebacker behind All-American Danny Stutsman this year, the source said, "Dasan McCullough." Obviously, the next question is, "he not playing cheetah?" The source said that he would be working some at linebacker and they felt he would be a good fit there with his size and speed. They also added, "[Dasan] McCullough has the makeup to be a really good player at linebacker because he is a good blitzer and it minimizes the times he will be stuck out in open space covering a slot or TE. (Cheetah) might fit him better."

Again, it's just something that OU is tinkering with, and I don't think the door is completely shut on cheetah at all -- at least not yet. What is a head-scratcher, is that the WILL and MIKE spots are loaded with talent. Oklahoma also Kip Lewis and Jaren Kanak also competing at those spots (obviously with Stutsman leading the charge) , along with Kobie McKinzie, Sammy Omosigho and Lewis Carter. So it's not going to be easy for McCullough to beat them out. That's why I will be interested to see if McCullough eventually just stays at cheetah when all the dust settles.

*** On the flip side of things, I have also heard that Woodi Washington is getting work at the cheetah position. A source told Ouinsider that Washington makes sense there since, "He likely fits the nickel position in the NFL as it is."

Much like with McCullough and the LB spot, I don't know that Washington and the cheetah spot is sure thing, because Oklahoma also has Kendel Dolby returning at the cheetah spot(and Justin Harrington, but more on him below). Again, with the idea that OU wants more sure-tackling defensive backs on the field at one time, there is a sense that you could see OU in a three man front more in 2024. The 30 front scheme gives OU more versatility in how they attack via blitzes and personnel. But that is also just me guessing on the how much OU will use that scheme. However, I do say all of that because Coach Alley seems to be very comfortable with a 30 front, from what I have been told, and what we have seen. So with that in mind, I wouldn't be shocked to see a secondary lineup of...

FS: Robert Spears-Jennings
SS: Billy Bowman
Cheetah: Woodi Washington/Kendel Dolby
CB: Dez Malone/Makari Vickers/ Jacobe Johnson
CB: Gentry Williams/Jasiah Wagoner/Jacobe Johnson
NB: Peyton Bowman

I get that is six DB's, but if the Sooners go to a 3-2-6 on obvious passing downs, or even a 3-3-5, you just take the nickel back off the board. In that scenario, I would bet that Peyton Bowen is the free safety. If PB isn't, and he stays at the strong safety, you can't go wrong with Robert Spears-Jennings. RSJ has been a good safety for OU when he has played, and sources I talk with say that he has a chance to be an NFL guy. Once again, that is a testament to Brandon Hall and what he has done with that safety room since arriving back at OU in 2022.

*** Lastly, I know questions have been asked about cheetah Justin Harrington and his appeal for a seventh year of eligibility. From what I have heard, and as of this past week, I was told that Harrington was still working with the team and involved in the functions they do together. However, I wasn't told whether or not he had gotten his approval yet. What I have been told was that OU continues to be optimistic about the situation.

So, we still wait...
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