The countdown continues: We’re at T-minus-five, with five days to go before the kickoff of another Oklahoma football season.
Here we finally are: game week. After months and months of previews, hypothetical situations and breaking down practice reports the longest offseason in major sports is ready to give way to actual action.
Yet before we can get into what to expect on the field for the first-ever meeting between Oklahoma and Florida Atlantic, there are still a few more situations to be resolved. Here are four things that still have to happen before the Sooners take on the Owls.
FAU must name a starting quarterback
There are storylines abound in the Owl’s quarterback race. Chris Robison is an OU castoff, dismissed from the Sooners after some off-the-field troubles. Former Florida State quarterback De’Andre Johnson was a star on the Netflix show “Last Chance U” and recent SMU transfer Rafe Peavey is making headlines in the Florida media for his resemblance to Tim Tebow.
It’s a lot of pomp an circumstance, but make no mistake about it all three quarterbacks are talented and capable of beating a Power Five opponent in an opener. The fact they all have varying skill sets makes it harder on Oklahoma defensive staff to game plan for the Owls, who are playing this one as close to the vest as possible.
Don’t be surprised, knowing FAU head coach Lane Kiffin’s penchant for the dramatic, to have to wait until the Owls first offensive play to find out the starter. Be even less surprised if two or even all three play against Oklahoma.
Who will play safety for the Sooners?
The battle to replace Steven Parker and Will Johnson will rage on until the Sooners unveil a two-deep chart sometime this week or possibly even longer. We could see varying combinations of Robert Barnes, Jordan Parker, Patrick Fields Brenden Radley-Hiles, Kahlil Haughton and possibly even Delariin Turner-Yell taking the field at the two spots.
Oklahoma preached depth in the secondary all offseason and now has a chance to show it off.
What about the center
Oklahoma believes both Creed Humphrey or Jonathan Alvarez have the tools to the guy at the center position going forward, but only one of them can occupy the spot.
Were this a Bob Stoops team, conventional wisdom would point toward the senior Alvarez as Stoops leaned toward experience and seniority when battles were close, but Riley has shown to be more likely to play younger players with higher ceilings. Unlike the safety battle, this one probably won’t mean rotation due to the need for consistency with snapping the ball.
Still, we could see the loser of this derby become a part of the guard rotation.
Who is going to return kicks?
One of the reasons Oklahoma hired Shane Beamer in the offseason was to shore up a special teams unit that was not so special in 2017.
Oklahoma relied less on its return game than any time in recent memory, but don’t expect that to be the case this year. CeeDee Lamb, Marquise Brown, Marcelias Sutton and even freshman T.J. Pledger have all been mentioned by coaches as potential candidates to return kicks.