Oklahoma football: Top 2021 QB recruit sets July 4 as his commitment date

July 4th is the date Oklahoma football will learn if it has been successful in landing the No. 1 quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class.

Five-star prospect Caleb Williams, the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback nationally in the 2021 class, announced in the weekly blog he has been writing for Sports Illustrated that he will announce where he will be playing his college football on the Fourth of July, which is certain to set off some special fireworks at one of the three college destinations he is considering.

Several weeks ago, Williams, who is from the Washington, D.C., area, informed the college football world in his “All on the Line” blog for SI.com that he had narrowed his lengthy list of scholarahip offers to three schools. As Sooner fans are keenly aware, Oklahoma is one of the three schools, along with LSU and Maryland.

Many college recruiting experts believe Lincoln Riley and the Sooners will ultimately win the recruiting battle for Williams. That is based largely on the contact and interaction he has had with the Sooner head coach.

During all the downtime created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Williams and Riley have had several video chats talking over things and reviewing film. Williams and his family visited the Oklahoma campus in early March just prior to all the shutdowns stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. They spoke highly of the visit and their comfort with Riley, his coaches and the OU facilities.

"“We (coach Riley and I) still do video calls and FaceTime,” Williams told Rivals.com recruiting analyst Adam Friedman. “I have a good connection with the coaches and they obviously want me to be a Boomer Sooner.”"

The March visit was Williams’ second to OU. He also made an initial recruiting visit last September.

"“July 4 is the day that fireworks will be shooting up into the sky with all of the commits,” Williams wrote in his SI blog. “The guys and coaches will be going crazy and hopefully the fans go crazy, too. I’m committing to one of these three schools (Oklahoma, LSU or Maryland).”"

Three weeks ago Oklahoma received the commitment of Mario Williams, the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2021 class, and since then he reportedly has been in the ear of the other his quarterback friend of the same surname,Willitrying to convince him to come and join him as an OU Sooner.

“Mario is on me,” Caleb told Rivals’ Friedman. “We’re really close. We’ve been close since before he committed to Oklahoma, but he’s been all over me and a bunch of other recruits.”

Caleb had said several weeks back in his SI blog that he was also recruiting a number of other top players in the nation who he is close with to come play with him wherever that might be — hopefully in Norman.

Williams has been a top target for Oklahoma throughout the 2021 recruiting process, and the likelihood that other top names could follow is not lost on the minds of both the OU coaches and Sooner fans.

Whatever Williams’ decision comes down to on July 4, it goes without saying the Riley and his staff have given it their best effort to land the best QB prospect out there. That’s worked to their favor before, and all indications are that it should do so again.

The ball is now in Williams’ hands, and the Sooner Nation anxiously awaits his decision.