Oklahoma football: Young receivers grow up in comeback win

With their backs to the wall and CeeDee Lamb sitting on the sideline with an injury, Oklahoma football’s freshman wide receivers started turning potential into production.

Oklahoma football singed what most recruiting services believed to be the best receiver class in 2019 and some went as far as to say the best in recent memory with five-stars Theo Wease, Jadon Haselwood and Trejan Bridges and high four-star tight end Austin Stogner.

However, with Charleston Rambo emerging toward the end of last season and CeeDee Lamb looking like one of the best college receivers in the country (not to mention Grant Calcaterra back at tight end), it seemed as though the younger guys would be more of a luxury than a necessity.

That was until this past weekend when Lamb was unavailable and the Sooners found themselves down 28-3 on the road.

With their College Football playoff hopes on the ropes, it was some of the youngest Sooners making the biggest plays. Yes, Wease, Haselwood and Stogner combined for just five receptions for 55 yards, it was the situations in which the catches came that made a difference.

Both of Stogner’s catches were for touchdowns, the first got the Sooners into the end zone for the first time all day and cut the lead to 28-10. The second came right after halftime and made it a two-score lead at 31-17.

Stogner’s large catch radius (he’s six-foot-six) is probably going to make him a red zone option even after Calcaterra returns.

Wease’s big catch came in the fourth quarter. He caught an out route, juked one defender than finished the play with a physical push to the goal line.

Haselwood’s catch wasn’t quite as dramatic, but it did come on the Sooners’ game-tying drive. He grabbed a 16-yarder from Jalen Hurts that moved the Sooners into the red zone and set up a touchdown pass to Brayden Willis.

Bridges didn’t make a catch against Baylor, but the Sooners’ other five-star receiver has been a contributor on both sides of the ball already this year, catching seven passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns and putting in time in the secondary to help with depth as well.

Will the Sooners’ younger receivers find themselves playing a bigger part down the stretch even when Lamb returns? That remains to be seen, but now we know this talented quartet will be ready when their time comes for good.