I am trunk or treat’d and trick or treat’d out at this point. Pearl had a great time as Rapunzel, and I had a great time pushing her in the wagon, ha.
Trunk or treat is still odd to me, but whatever. We roll? Yes, indeed. We roll.
Redshirt dilemma(s)
This was actually a question I was gonna ask Brent Venables next week, but was beaten to it this week. We’re starting to get a feel of guys who are guaranteed to be redshirting (like Kevonte Henry, Kobie McKinzie, Jordan Mukes, etc.).
But there are certain guys who are on the fringe where it’s hard to know where it might go in the final third of the regular season.
Here was BV’s answer Tuesday afternoon:
“It's based again on the role that they have now and whether or not somebody else can do it or if you see an expanded role for them. Whether that's injuries or now they're just kind of coming on. The light's starting to go on.
“It's not an exact science. We want to be a developmental program. Certainly don't want to waste someone's year ever in any way, shape or form. I just want to be mindful to that part of it, too. These guys they deserve that type of thoroughness and thoughtfulness to their career, their body of their career. If they're playing a consistent smaller role, that's OK, too.
“I've redshirted guys later in their career when all of a sudden you become loaded at that position. He could go there and be a starter, but these other guys are right there with him. He's the only guy that can redshirt. These other guys are going to graduate.
“Did that with a guy name (James) Skalski at Clemson. Redshirted him. Played in the last four games and championship phase. Played him in the playoffs and the national championship. Saved him but repped him and got him ready, kept him fresh. Now, that's something you're not talking about, but that's something that maybe for whatever reason, you have to play them earlier than you would like and you're always looking at how can we get that year back if there's ever an opportunity.
“But I want to be really respectful to the kids and their future, and certainly for us as a program, we're gonna get every freshman ready to play. And then some of them show that they're ready for it mentally, physically, emotionally. And some don't. Sometimes it takes a number of weeks of practices within the season. One you're staying healthy, and two they're not really responding. Or flipside, you're not staying healthy and they're really growing quickly and maturing quickly and now, you've gotta find more of a role for them.”
So breaking it down even further, it’s guys like Gavin Sawchuk or Joshua Eaton that really stand out. Eaton has now played three games, returning to special teams action in Ames.
Sawchuk has three snaps in two games but has played those two games. Then there are other freshmen like Jayden Rowe (4 games), Kaden Helms (2 games), Nic Anderson (2 games) where you just sort of wonder how the Sooners are going to treat their respective situations.
Does OU have the depth to allow those guys to redshirt? Or will they have to get in that fifth game and lose the year?
***
Moser Musings
Here I am thinking the only news is that OU’s season opener is Monday evening. Whoops.
Still sorta scratching my head about the Matt Brady news. His reputation is outstanding throughout the years, but the timing just makes you skeptical. That’s human nature. It just is.
We’ll speak with Porter Moser later this week to address everything. Curious to see how they adapt with the coaching responsibilities and things like that. Matt Gordon? Clayton Custer?
I honestly don’t know.
Moving onto the ‘secret scrimmage’ vs. Oregon last Saturday, hearing a lot of good things about what the Sooners were able to do offensively.
OU ‘won’ by seven, for what it’s worth. After being so plain Jane and vanilla vs. OCU in the exhibition, sounds like the Sooners showcased their game vs. the Ducks.
Rave reviews continue for Milos Uzan. He is ready right now to play big-time minutes. Everybody is stressing his basketball IQ, which is obviously huge for a freshman.
Because you flip it to Otega Oweh, and the consensus is that dude is physically ready to do whatever is asked of him. But mentally? He’s still getting there, still having them SMH freshmen moments. Nothing terrible, but not sure how Moser is gonna deal with his minutes.
Grant Sherfield is definitely becoming that guy OU needs him to be and wants him to be. I think he’s gonna be a lot of fun to watch this season.
Oregon feels like a good gauge for OU, a fringe top-25 team and you know Dana Altman will have his team ready.
n.rivals.com
We switch to recruiting to close out the Musings and now a week away from the early signing period. All eyes turn to Sebastian Mack and Kaden Cooper.
Mack released his top five, but again, it feels like it’s OU or Florida State. Disappointing isn’t exactly the right word, but I do believe the Sooners thought this one would be over for some time now.
OU has been the strong favorite, and Mack has allowed his recruitment to continue to where other teams (like UCLA) have now entered into the mix.
Still love OU’s chances. Mack has not announced a commitment date.
Moving on with Cooper, and it’s OU or Alabama. The smart money says the Crimson Tide at this point, but OU is not about to throw in the towel.
The Sooners are preaching the hometown (Ada) hero to Cooper, and adding Ryan Humphrey to the staff helps make that resonate even more.
Very interesting with both guys as they have allowed their recruitments to go the whole way. No commitment in August or September or October.
Speaking of Humphrey, he’s going all-in on that OKPreps/OU connection with 2024 offers TO Barrett (Edmond North) and David Castillo (Bartlesville). Not sure it will work, but it sure as heck isn’t gonna hurt. Love seeing Barrett get that attention. He’s earned his way into this spot.
As for bigs and the 2023 class, OU isn’t looking for ‘em via the high school class unless you count Jacolb Cole. When it comes time to attack the post, it’s gonna be via the transfer portal.
A pleasant surprise has been Sam Godwin (transfer from Wofford) and OU truly believes it found something in Luke Northweather. You’re not going to find your Tanner Groves replacement in the 2023 class, but you can bridge that gap with the portal.
***
Thursday Night Lights
And we’ll end here with some Thursday Night Lights action. A whole bunch of OKPreps games are being moved from Friday to Thursday because of the expected severe weather hitting the state Friday.
Gonna check out Washington vs. Little Axe. This is gonna be ugly, sadly, but might be the only chance to check out 2025 OU tight end offer Nate Roberts and 2024 tight end Cooper Alexander.
Washington is among the best teams in the state, and Little Axe hasn’t won a game in a long, long time. But, again, it’s about the opportunity to see Roberts with pads instead of just the OU camp saw him in back in June.
www.espn.com
Roberts’ brother, Jake, faring a-OK for himself at North Texas.
Going back a couple of weeks, really liked what I saw from Norman North running back Chapman McKown and 2025 Moore wide receiver C.J. Simon.
Getting guys like McKown and Gavin Freeman just makes sense for OU. There’s no reason to not pursue those types of players, if you can make it happen. McKown is shifty, no doubt about that. And Norman North w/ McKown and Kamden Sixkiller have been one heck of a pleasant surprise.
Simon is interesting. Is he OKPreps good? Or OU good? That becomes a problem sometimes when you don’t get to see too many elite guys on a weekly basis. Like how does someone as Simon compare to a Dakorien Moore or guys that are already established for 2025?
As is, Simon has a massive future ahead of him. Just a day after this game, he was offered by Oklahoma State, while on an unofficial visit.
Between Simon, Elijah Thomas (Checotah) and Jaden Nickens (Millwood), the in-state crop at receiver for 2025 is about as strong as I can ever remember.
OKPreps playoffs start next week, just like that.
Trunk or treat is still odd to me, but whatever. We roll? Yes, indeed. We roll.
Redshirt dilemma(s)
This was actually a question I was gonna ask Brent Venables next week, but was beaten to it this week. We’re starting to get a feel of guys who are guaranteed to be redshirting (like Kevonte Henry, Kobie McKinzie, Jordan Mukes, etc.).
But there are certain guys who are on the fringe where it’s hard to know where it might go in the final third of the regular season.
Here was BV’s answer Tuesday afternoon:
“It's based again on the role that they have now and whether or not somebody else can do it or if you see an expanded role for them. Whether that's injuries or now they're just kind of coming on. The light's starting to go on.
“It's not an exact science. We want to be a developmental program. Certainly don't want to waste someone's year ever in any way, shape or form. I just want to be mindful to that part of it, too. These guys they deserve that type of thoroughness and thoughtfulness to their career, their body of their career. If they're playing a consistent smaller role, that's OK, too.
“I've redshirted guys later in their career when all of a sudden you become loaded at that position. He could go there and be a starter, but these other guys are right there with him. He's the only guy that can redshirt. These other guys are going to graduate.
“Did that with a guy name (James) Skalski at Clemson. Redshirted him. Played in the last four games and championship phase. Played him in the playoffs and the national championship. Saved him but repped him and got him ready, kept him fresh. Now, that's something you're not talking about, but that's something that maybe for whatever reason, you have to play them earlier than you would like and you're always looking at how can we get that year back if there's ever an opportunity.
“But I want to be really respectful to the kids and their future, and certainly for us as a program, we're gonna get every freshman ready to play. And then some of them show that they're ready for it mentally, physically, emotionally. And some don't. Sometimes it takes a number of weeks of practices within the season. One you're staying healthy, and two they're not really responding. Or flipside, you're not staying healthy and they're really growing quickly and maturing quickly and now, you've gotta find more of a role for them.”
So breaking it down even further, it’s guys like Gavin Sawchuk or Joshua Eaton that really stand out. Eaton has now played three games, returning to special teams action in Ames.
Sawchuk has three snaps in two games but has played those two games. Then there are other freshmen like Jayden Rowe (4 games), Kaden Helms (2 games), Nic Anderson (2 games) where you just sort of wonder how the Sooners are going to treat their respective situations.
Does OU have the depth to allow those guys to redshirt? Or will they have to get in that fifth game and lose the year?
***
Moser Musings
Here I am thinking the only news is that OU’s season opener is Monday evening. Whoops.
Still sorta scratching my head about the Matt Brady news. His reputation is outstanding throughout the years, but the timing just makes you skeptical. That’s human nature. It just is.
We’ll speak with Porter Moser later this week to address everything. Curious to see how they adapt with the coaching responsibilities and things like that. Matt Gordon? Clayton Custer?
I honestly don’t know.
Moving onto the ‘secret scrimmage’ vs. Oregon last Saturday, hearing a lot of good things about what the Sooners were able to do offensively.
OU ‘won’ by seven, for what it’s worth. After being so plain Jane and vanilla vs. OCU in the exhibition, sounds like the Sooners showcased their game vs. the Ducks.
Rave reviews continue for Milos Uzan. He is ready right now to play big-time minutes. Everybody is stressing his basketball IQ, which is obviously huge for a freshman.
Because you flip it to Otega Oweh, and the consensus is that dude is physically ready to do whatever is asked of him. But mentally? He’s still getting there, still having them SMH freshmen moments. Nothing terrible, but not sure how Moser is gonna deal with his minutes.
Grant Sherfield is definitely becoming that guy OU needs him to be and wants him to be. I think he’s gonna be a lot of fun to watch this season.
Oregon feels like a good gauge for OU, a fringe top-25 team and you know Dana Altman will have his team ready.
Sebastian Mack 2023 Shooting Guard UCLA
Sebastian Mack - 4 Star Shooting guard for UCLA on BruinBlitz
We switch to recruiting to close out the Musings and now a week away from the early signing period. All eyes turn to Sebastian Mack and Kaden Cooper.
Mack released his top five, but again, it feels like it’s OU or Florida State. Disappointing isn’t exactly the right word, but I do believe the Sooners thought this one would be over for some time now.
OU has been the strong favorite, and Mack has allowed his recruitment to continue to where other teams (like UCLA) have now entered into the mix.
Still love OU’s chances. Mack has not announced a commitment date.
Moving on with Cooper, and it’s OU or Alabama. The smart money says the Crimson Tide at this point, but OU is not about to throw in the towel.
The Sooners are preaching the hometown (Ada) hero to Cooper, and adding Ryan Humphrey to the staff helps make that resonate even more.
Very interesting with both guys as they have allowed their recruitments to go the whole way. No commitment in August or September or October.
Speaking of Humphrey, he’s going all-in on that OKPreps/OU connection with 2024 offers TO Barrett (Edmond North) and David Castillo (Bartlesville). Not sure it will work, but it sure as heck isn’t gonna hurt. Love seeing Barrett get that attention. He’s earned his way into this spot.
As for bigs and the 2023 class, OU isn’t looking for ‘em via the high school class unless you count Jacolb Cole. When it comes time to attack the post, it’s gonna be via the transfer portal.
A pleasant surprise has been Sam Godwin (transfer from Wofford) and OU truly believes it found something in Luke Northweather. You’re not going to find your Tanner Groves replacement in the 2023 class, but you can bridge that gap with the portal.
***
Thursday Night Lights
And we’ll end here with some Thursday Night Lights action. A whole bunch of OKPreps games are being moved from Friday to Thursday because of the expected severe weather hitting the state Friday.
Gonna check out Washington vs. Little Axe. This is gonna be ugly, sadly, but might be the only chance to check out 2025 OU tight end offer Nate Roberts and 2024 tight end Cooper Alexander.
Washington is among the best teams in the state, and Little Axe hasn’t won a game in a long, long time. But, again, it’s about the opportunity to see Roberts with pads instead of just the OU camp saw him in back in June.
Jake Roberts - Oklahoma Sooners Tight End - ESPN
View the profile of Oklahoma Sooners Tight End Jake Roberts on ESPN. Get the latest news, live stats and game highlights.
Roberts’ brother, Jake, faring a-OK for himself at North Texas.
Going back a couple of weeks, really liked what I saw from Norman North running back Chapman McKown and 2025 Moore wide receiver C.J. Simon.
Getting guys like McKown and Gavin Freeman just makes sense for OU. There’s no reason to not pursue those types of players, if you can make it happen. McKown is shifty, no doubt about that. And Norman North w/ McKown and Kamden Sixkiller have been one heck of a pleasant surprise.
Simon is interesting. Is he OKPreps good? Or OU good? That becomes a problem sometimes when you don’t get to see too many elite guys on a weekly basis. Like how does someone as Simon compare to a Dakorien Moore or guys that are already established for 2025?
As is, Simon has a massive future ahead of him. Just a day after this game, he was offered by Oklahoma State, while on an unofficial visit.
Between Simon, Elijah Thomas (Checotah) and Jaden Nickens (Millwood), the in-state crop at receiver for 2025 is about as strong as I can ever remember.
OKPreps playoffs start next week, just like that.
