It’s not the Red / White Game.
Sooner Nation won’t get to see Sam Bradford chuck it deep to Ryan Broyles. There will be no Samaje Perine running over defenders, no Eric Striker “sacking” blue-hued quarterbacks, no Brian Bosworth taking on Lydell Carr in the A-gap, no James Allen or Jerald Moore slashing and smashing through tacklers.
Don’t expect any spring stars to rise from the depth chart, a la Donta Hickson or Jacob Gutierrez or Derek Gove.
Saturday’s invention — the Crimson Combine — will give fans a peek at a live practice, plenty of individual position drills and lots more.
But what everyone is really coming to the Oklahoma campus to see — quarterback John Mateer, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and the renovated Sooner offense — will stay pretty much wrapped up until August.
That’s too bad. After a losing season two of the last three years, OU fans need something to cheer about these days.
The reviews on Mateer have been strong.
“He’s a natural leader,” said Jaren Kanak. “Comes in and all about business. He’s a pro. He’s up here almost as much as I am.”
There’s another loss for OU fans. The Sooner tight ends have been moribund for most of the last two years, and Kanak’s move from linebacker to tight end — he wears No. 12 now — would have been fun to watch, especially with former 5-star prospect Davon Mitchell opting for the transfer portal.
Anyway, back to Mateer.
“He’s all about ball,” Kanak said. “He’s a pretty simple guy outside of football. He bleeds football and he’s here all the time. He just wants to be great like we all do. He’s not so much about all the distractions that come with college. And I like that about him.”
“It’s been awesome,” said center Troy Everett. “Me and him are locker buddies right now. I like to give him crap. He gives me crap. It’s fun. Just playful fun. We hang out. It’s been awesome. He’s real invested, a great leader, takes over when he’s out there, commands it. That’s what you need out of a guy.”
Everett said Mateer’s energy at practice frequently elevates the whole team. So what until he sees a crowd in Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
“He throws a touchdown, and he’s down there celebrating,” Everett said. “He’s celebrating with us. He’s talking. It’s what you need out of a guy, especially when — sometimes, when guys go out there to practice, you’re not always there. He goes out there, and he brings it all the time. So, it’s good to have him out there.”
“John Mateer, he’s a dude,” said safety Jaydan Hardy. “He’s a competitor. He just wants to go out there and push everybody to their limits. Having that guy, seeing him every day, going against him and competing against him has definitely made the defense better.
“Just playing against his mind and trying to confuse him, that’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.”
There’s a caveat, of course. Whatever plague it was that decimated the OU wide receiver population last season may still be lingering. Transfers Javonnie Gibson, Isaiah Sategna and Keontez Lewis will all miss the combine due to injury. Gibson suffered a broken leg last week and is expected to miss significant time, while the others are not expected to linger much into the summer workouts.
In an ideal world, 50,000 fans descend on Owen Field and Mateer entertains them all day with tight spirals to Gibson, Sategna and Lewis as the centerpiece of new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle’s offense.
That won’t happen.
They’ll see plenty of fun and games on Saturday, some entertaining one-on-one matchups and lots of other types of competition. But fans will definitely have to wait until fall to see how much Arbuckle has transformed the Oklahoma offense.
“Mr. Energy, man,” said offensive tackle Michael Fasusi. “That’s what you can say about him; Mr. Energy. He has the rhythm of the game. He’s going to bring that intensity every single practice, you feel me? Good practice, bad practice, he doesn’t care. He’s on to the next.”
“He’s an energetic guy,” Everett said. “He brings it every single day. If you’re out there, and you’re walking around, he’s going to get on you. If you’re out there, and you’re not hype, he’s going to be on you. He’s very passionate. He loves football. He loves to score points, and that’s all he wants to do.”
“It’s been awesome,” said transfer tight end Will Huggins. “It’s my favorite offense I’ve ever played around. And he’s a great guy, he’s a great coach. A lot of energy, and I’m blessed to play in his offense.”
Mateer’s outrageous success last season at Washington State in his first year as a collegiate starter portends great things for the OU offense. He led the nation in total touchdowns and was fourth in total offense. He’s a fearless, dual-threat quarterback with a rocket-powered arm and elite speed and elusiveness.
And the thing about him is, he’s already played two seasons under Arbuckle — so he’s spent much of this spring teaching the scheme to his teammates.
“I think, like I said earlier, being in the third year of this offense, there’s a lot that we can do,” Mateer said. “A lot of the gadgets. And then I can spend time working on other things, not having to learn an offense. I can learn my teammates and build relationships and learn the culture, rather than just having to sit in a room and learn the offense. “
With minor differences, players say schemes are pretty much the same at most programs, it’s just a matter of terminology and application. But while Arbuckle sets himself apart with his energy and enthusiasm, he also has his own style and tempo for calling plays and building connections with subtle alterations.
“Different scheme, different play calls,” said running back Gavin Sawchuk. “But a lot of the same routes, some of the same schemes, same runs. It’s just adjusting to his call style, what he likes to do. Some minor tweaks, some of the blocking, some of the route assignments. But ultimately, he has some good stuff, he has some smart stuff, I like what he’s doing.”
“They’re good as hell,” said transfer linebacker Kendal Daniels. “It’s crazy just how Coach Arbuckle calls plays. The way he uses everybody. It’s really hard to go against and figure them out because they have so many different things. Going against John and Mike (Hawkins), they can run the ball. That’s a different aspect of the game you have to account for. Just going against guys like that, it’s great for the team.”
“Just like a different style of offense,” said linebacker Kip Lewis. “ … I feel like it’s a really well-oiled offense over there.”
Like many of his teammates, cornerback Gentry Williams plans to have fun on Saturday but says he will miss the intense competition of the traditional spring game.
“It’s definitely different,” Williams said. “But I think college football is probably at a different point right now and everything is changing and everything’s evolving.”
“Saturday should be a lot of fun,” Huggins said. “We encourage the fans to come out and show some love. It should be a fun day for the fans. It should be like a practice environment. They can kind of see inside of a practice and what we do on a day-to-day basis. So, should be fun.”